New to Smoking - Seasoning my #2 Now

[Triggerpresser]

I am just a little over 2 hours into my seasoning process for my #2 smoker from Smokin-it.  My power lit is off and has been for the past 30 minutes at least.  I still have a very small amount of smoke coming out of the top vent hole.  I am on a 20 amp breaker and I have checked it, it is good.  Is this normal?

 

[Triggerpresser]

Just tried unplugging my smoker and plugged it back in.  Still the power light did not come back on?  I plugged something else into the outlet and it worked so I have power.  I am thinking my smoker is not working?
Does it cycle on/off dependent to the temp inside the box?  Even if it did, would I have burned up the three blocks of hickory that came with the unit in less than two hours.

 

[Triggerpresser]

Guessing I answered my own question.  Just went out and checked it again, the power light is on again.  So, I figure it cycles on/off to regulate the temperature.  I am surprised that after less than two hours the three chunks of hickory are burnt up.  In any case I will continue the seasoning process for the full 4 hours without opening the door.  Once complete and cooled down I will see what the wood pieces look like.

 

[LarryD]

Hey... welcome to the forums and to the Smokin-It family!  The #2 uses a rheostat which will definitely cycle.  Because the unit is essentially empty, it will also cycle oddly with greater than normal temperature swings.  It's also insulated, so it won't need to heat the entire time.  You might smart getting smoke again when it does turn back on later.  This is one of the reasons the seasoning process takes a while.

How much wood did you put in and at what temperature setting?  You've checked that you have power and you indicated you got smoke early on, so this would suggest that both are (or at least were) operational.  I would suggest that there is no need for panic yet. 

 

[LarryD]

In any case I will continue the seasoning process for the full 4 hours without opening the door.  Once complete and cooled down I will see what the wood pieces look like.

There is a decent chance that the chunks caught fire and burned up...  That won't necessarily be the case when you have a load in the smoker.  You can also put some aluminum foil in the smoke box and only punch some of the holes out to limit the amount of oxygen getting to the wood and keep it from combusting if that ends up being a problem in the future.

This also serves as your first experience of having to just leave it alone and trust it.    Truly, that is the most difficult part of using the SI...  learning to just leave and let it do it's job.  Do yourself a favor and don't even monitor the internal smoker temperature.  Shove a probe or two into your brisket, butt, or whatever and pull stuff out when it hits the target internal temp, but just ignore the box temp.

 

[Pork Belly]

It does not matter if the wood burned up before the end of the four hour 'Seasoning".

Your running the smoker hot for an extended period to burn off manufacturing oil and residue. It's a smoker not a cast Iron skillet, your not to build up a protective layer.

 

[Triggerpresser]

Thanks guys, guessing the SI is doing what it is supposed to do and learning to trust it is what I need to do.  It was smoking pretty good to start with, so I may find the chuck burnt up?  With chips, I have soaked them in water, is this a good idea with the chunks of wood?

 

[Pork Belly]

Wet chips make steam then they smoke. I have combined a section of wet chips with some dry chips to delay them smoking to prolong low temp smokes.

Generally chips are only used on low temp smokes.

 

[Triggerpresser]

I just open my SI to see what the wood chunks looked like after the seasoning process.  All three chunks were nothing but ashes, so I have to assume they were dry (low moisture content) and burnt up quickly?  Is this a fair assessment?  I have read on here about smokinlicious.com and their wood, the moisture content is supposed to be greater?
Seasoning is now complete, so I now need to plan and prepare my first smoke.  More reading/studying to do...  Thanks for the input and suggestions.

 

[nvw-ssv]

Welcome to the family, Phil.  You are going to love that #2.  Follow the advice of the good folks on here, and everything will turn out great.  I suggest doing a search for DivotMaker's recipes for things you want to attempt.  He has never steered me wrong. 

JsM

 

[old sarge]

Welcome Phil from SE Arizona.  First smoke?  Bone in pork butt.