Canadian Bacon problems with MES, help..

[reeko]

So,
Smoked the CB yesterday.
Smoked about 4 hrs at 180. Had 2 pieces, each about 3.5 lbs on the middle rack.

Anyway, I only had one remote probe so I put it in the front most piece in the thickets section.

After 4 hrs at 180, the front loin wwas only reading 130 degrees. So, I wanted to cook it to 155ish, so I cranked the heat up to 225.

After an hour it was bairly to 140. At that point I decided to finish in the oven at 250. When I brought them in they were much darker than pics I have seen here.

Also, the back most loin half was at 165. OOPs, need 2 probes.
The front one took about another hour at 250 to finish. Also, It seemed like I got vary different readings depending on where I probed the loin.

So, what am I doing wrong?
I added a 6 x 8 tile in the back right to help with the hot spot there. Measurements seem to show that most of my temps are in about a 10 deg window. But, perhaps there are more fluctuations that I did not measure. Wonder if there is a better way to even the temps. Perhap a fan inside like a convection oven?

Should I have moved the 2 pieces half way through to even out the temps? Or is it better to put them on sperate racks, above each other.

I am starting to worry that when I do sausage next week I will have to probe every link to make sure they all get up to temp.

 

[oneshot]

Hang on reeko, I'm sure Ronp will be here to help you shortly. Ron is our all knowing, all wise, MES Guru.....

 

[ronp]

About the only thing I would do differently is smoke at 225'.

I also use my top rack if I only have a small smoke going on.

Did you have water in the pan?

What size MES do you have?

Did you have the vent fully open?

 

[reeko]

OK, will try moving to upper rack.
Yes I had water in the pan and the vents full open.
Very happy with smoke level using Hickory Chunks that I split to fit. The 1x1x3 in "sticks" lasted over an hour with a nice steady smoke.

I guess it is just a trial & error thing.
My main concern is undercooking the sausage I plan to do. But I suppose that I really don't need to fully cook it , since I allways cook it again anyway (in Gumbo usually).

Perhaps I should chill a little. Perhaps part of my problem is I didn't drink any beer while smoking.

It is the 30 in MES.

I recall seeing someone that made a heat baffle using cement board (Durarock) where they cut a piece that was the full size of the smoker, then they cut wholes around the perimeter to allow the smoke to escape. Can't recall who did that, but it seems like that would give a good even heat distribution.

 

[mballi3011]

Yes breathe it's all right. First you have Ron here to help you and dan for the sausage. Believe me your in good hands. I have done what they tell me and I have turned out alright just don't aske them two. But things are easy here just relax and everything will work out just fine.

 

[oneshot]

Can he ask me????