Its me or the smoker temp gauge is really off?. Mine is about 50-70 off at 225F compared to my thermoworks dual
300675
Temp gauge is useless. Get yourself a Maverick ET-733 long range dual probe thermometer. You can keep an eye on your meat temp as well as the temp inside your smoker from inside the house. It's very accurate. My Smoke Vault temp gauge always says it's around 210-225 inside when in fact it's around 240-275.
300676
The gauge is off so I use a electronic gauge that has a remote one I can keep in the house and keep track of the temp. I really like the smoker it does a good job.
300677
Yeah, it seems to not be all that accurate. I use a Bluetooth ambient gauge and monitor temp that way. You could probably swap out the thermometer with another but I've found this solution fits my needs better.
300678
I also found that by taking the tray you put the water in and putting playground sand covering that with alum foil. Then taking an alum pan and putting water in that and setting it on top of the covered sand helps to maintain the heat better.
2050206
Yes, I measured the temp. and it is not at all near that range. That's why I sent mine back!
1232680
Jason, I've had a hard time getting it up to the desired smoking temp when it's cool & windy or just cool. I think one of the problems is that they only recommending using 12 or so starter coals. Yesterday I increased this number to 20 or so and that seemed to work better. I'll keep fooling with it and could see using up to half the coals in the chimney starter. And I've found that I need to have the top holes open more than the 5/16 they recommend. I'd say open them all the way up and then throttle them down. I also think it makes a big difference and significantly slows down the process if the meat isn't close to room temp to start. But I'll tell you, the more I use the device the more comfortable I feel with it. I'm having a retirement get together this coming Sat so started preparing for that this weekend. Using a rib rack I smoked 6 full racks of ribs on Sat and 6 more on Sun. I'd never have dreamed that 6 racks of ribs would fit on the Weber but they did. I baby sat the Sat batch pretty closely but once the Sunday batch was up to speed I only looked at about once/hour to stir the coals, add water & wood. We ate one last evening and it was good but will put the rest in the oven for 2 or 3 hours to get them more tender before serving. I hope that this (long) answer is of some help and encouragement. Dave McCartney, Marion, OH dkmcpa@yahoo.com
986075
I have had no issues getting the temp down to about 225. I am NOT using the thermometer used in the lid which has shown to be about 30 degrees off on my grill, but rather a digital probe specifically designed to measure the temp of the grill at about an inch off the grate where the food is actually cooking.
978539
I am having the same problem...brought it back 3x without success...also temp guage not working properly either
2053762
same problem, im sure it is due to the sensor that reads the return air temp. my wire has moved, getting erratic readings too. long yellow wire in the unit, not sure where it should be mounted though
2021379
I have spoke with Char broil just this morning as my Brisket turned out tough and over cooked EVEN tho I followed the directions that came with the unit. They advised me they are going to work on changing cooking times i the manual BUT the lowest temoerature this unit will get is 250*. It is NOT a true smoker. You CANNOT smoke on a low fire at 160* HOWEVER they claim that my 10 lb brisket should only be 10 minutes per pound and when I checked it at that time it was done BUT I followed the instruction manual and it turned out tasty BUT dry! Use a wire thermometer, cut the cooking times in half. Rely on the temp probe and not the cooking manual for accuracy on the doneness of the meat and you will be happy with the unit.
1357385
Don't thank it goes that cold bud ! You could build a box for it and insulate the box I think it goes to 10 degrees ! I'll check when I get home and let you know for sure !!
1865578
I'm guessing something is broken, as the thermometer should give an accurate reading of the ambient air temperature whenever you don't have it in the compost pile. I doubt that you live in a place where it's always 60 degrees. Did you ever drop or bump the thermometer?
1903881
Yes, just keep the temperature below 250. I've noticed if the smoker gets over 250 you will start to see all of the pellets smoldering at one.
1710356
That's where I like to cook and it does an excellent job. Just know that you will need to check it every few hours. Changes in outside temperature and the level of water in the pan and even the increasing meat temperature can affect the actual cooking temperature. This is the easiest smoker I've ever used.
511675
I'm sorry that I cannot give an absolute answer to your question because I have not ever needed to run mine at the highest temp since I use it mostly for fish at a lower setting. I did smoke some turkey legs though a few months ago and set the thermostat to 225 degrees. It had not trouble reaching that temp, and the thermostat was only a little above half way. I have found by using a separate thermometer though that it usually runs about 10 degrees hotter than the dial thermometer on the door says. Hope this helps. I just ordered a cold smoker adapter to keep the temp down more for cold smoking lox. IKE I'm sorry that I cannot give an absolute answer to your question because I have not ever needed to run mine at the highest temp since I use it mostly for fish at a lower setting. I did smoke some turkey legs though a few months ago and set the thermostat to 225 degrees. It had not trouble reaching that temp, and the thermostat was only a little above half way. I have found by using a separate thermometer though that it usually runs about 10 degrees hotter than the dial thermometer on the door says. Hope this helps. I just ordered a cold smoker adapter to keep the temp down more for cold... » Read More I'm sorry that I cannot give an absolute answer to your question because I have not ever needed to run mine at the highest temp since I use it mostly for fish at a lower setting. I did smoke some turkey legs though a few months ago and set the thermostat to 225 degrees. It had not trouble reaching that temp, and the thermostat was only a little above half way. I have found by using a separate thermometer though that it usually runs about 10 degrees hotter than the dial thermometer on the door says. Hope this helps. I just ordered a cold smoker adapter to keep the temp down more for cold smoking lox. IKE « Show Less
19232
Seems to be mostly hi or low it's kinda hard to set an exact temp but you don't really need to preheat much unless your smoking. I'm still loving my SRG I feel it's been a very well worth the money I spent.
2069361
When you say you "turned it off" did you mean that literally? As I understand it each time it is turned off it has to calibrated again. I find that annoying but understand that for this unit to work the unit has to stay on once calibrated. Otherwise you can be "calibrating" inadvertently to your husbands smoke. Is that a possibility? Bruce
1960250
Hi John,I was able to adjust mine at at least 2 settings. Granted I'm running a 180 degree thermostat. Iniallialy it was opening around 170 with the running to often. I now have it opening between 178 and 180 degrees. Are you running a 200 or 210 thermostat? Maybe there are less options at higher temps. Not sure on that one. Perhaps you have faulty module. Make sure you have your probe a short distance from the radiator inlet. I know the closer to the inlet the truer the temp readings are.Good Luck John
1265565
Hi Harold - there must be a defect then. I set mine for 345 and it stops at that - it will fluctuate a few degrees down when in use - but nothing major. I would contact them and have it replaced
1369684
I've found I can keep the temp at approx. 225 with back vent all the way open and temp on lowest setting. Other things that help are adding ice cubes to the water pan when i'm trying to cook/smoke at a lower temp.Outside temp can be a big variable too. I use a maverick remote thermometer and that gives me my box temp as well as my meat temp while i'm in the house. That's what works for me.