Electric ECB

[morkfrompork]

 all you Masterbuilt Smokers.

FNG here with my used 5 times, so far, Brinkmann.

Did a search for others like me and came up pretty dry on posts.

Am I alone out here?

I`ve got a of question I think y`all could answer, cause I`m thinking many have had one of these in your past, or still have one you just won`t tell anyone about.

I found a $5 WOK at the local China Outlet Store(yes, I mean Wal Mart), that I cut the handles off of and am using it to hold my wood. So far it seems to be working pretty darn good. Better than foil packs or those little loaf pans.

It`s a good size in width and depth. It holds a fair amount of wood chunks and will go for 2-3 hours of great smoke only a quarter full.

Around an 1/16th thick aluminum, with a no stick surface. It does sit right on the element and once it gets  hot, it stays hot for quite awhile which I`m thinking is good for maintaining a steady temp.

My question is, will this thing do any damage to the heating element?

I know the foil packs will melt right onto the element, cause that`s what happened the first time I used it and that just can`t be good.

 

[bmaddox]

I have an electric ECB but I haven't used it in a while (actually I just parted it out for a UDS build). When I did use it I had lava rocks around the element and placed the wood directly on that. The rocks kept the wood from sitting directly on the element and they smoked perfectly. I would actually use splits sometimes and they would smoke for 3 plus hours.

 

[morkfrompork]

Thanx for the reply.

Being the committedly lazy person that I am, I wanted to get away from EVER having to clean out the base.

Soooooo I tried some loaf pans and then saw this WOK.

Guess I`ll just keep going with it and see what happens????

Worst case I bugger up the element.

Best case it works for a good long time.

 

[rgautheir20420]

I can't see why it would hurt the element. I had an Old Smokey electric and the chip pan sat directly on the element. It might not have been as heavy, but it didn't harm the element at all.

 

[bmaddox]

You could get some stainless steel bolts to create "feet" for the wok to raise it an inch or so off the element. That should keep it from causing any issues.

 

[bmaddox]

And on a side note, I am always leery of cheap non-stick finishes. That metal will get screaming hot that close to the element and will stay that hot for hours so it would worry me that it would start to off-gas (but I always tend to be over cautious). 

 

[morkfrompork]

I got a PM that mentioned problems with the non stick finishes, so off to the Google I went.

From what I could gather, as long as the temp dosen`t go above 300-350 there isn`t a problem with off gassing.

But thanx for bringing that up.

It does stay hot for awhile after the smoke is done, but I`m thinking that is a plus..in that it should be a help in keeping a constant temp??? That makes sense, or am I blowing smoke.

 

 

[chef willie]

 
I got a PM that mentioned problems with the non stick finishes, so off to the Google I went.

From what I could gather, as long as the temp dosen`t go above 300-350 there isn`t a problem with off gassing.

But thanx for bringing that up.

It does stay hot for awhile after the smoke is done, but I`m thinking that is a plus..in that it should be a help in keeping a constant temp??? That makes sense, or am I blowing smoke.

 

you sir, have a good sense of wit about you......welcome to the fray....I doubt from WM the non stick would last long anyways. Coupla good burns in there and it's probably gone. Liken the 'feet' post a few above....later, Willie

 

[morkfrompork]

Yup, the "feet" idea is pretty good on a bunch of levels...

The level I like the most is, it`s easy and cheap.

One of those, Man, why didn`t I think of that things.

Thanx for the replies, I do appreciate them.

 

[morkfrompork]

 
You could get some stainless steel bolts to create "feet" for the wok to raise it an inch or so off the element. That should keep it from causing any issues.

I like the "feet" idea a whole bunch.

Thanks...

Now, a word of caution about what I did.

Doing up some pork roasts and around the 2 hour mark I noticed my smoker was jetting up into the 300 deg. range.YIKES......

The pork was right at 145 internal so I went to off load it into a wrapper.

The wood had caught fire.

Burning away happily.

Flames as high as the water pan.

Could have got ugly if I hadn`t been paying a bunch of attention.

So, that tells me the heating element got the WOK to over 300 to cause ignition.

Shazam sports fans.

I wouldn`t have thunk it would do that, but there you are.

Which is why I like the feet idea so very much now.

 

[bmaddox]

I never tested the element but I bet if you hit it with an infrared thermo a few hours into a smoke it is well over 300 degrees and probably over 350. I never made it through a smoke session without some wood catching fire in mine (but the food was always great so I didn't worry too much).

 

[danbono]

Hi All Question , I have E smoker like the Brinkmans, is the wood supposed to flame or just smolder. I was told in my COS offset that the wood need to flame, is it the same for my E smoker?

Thanks Dan

DSC00949.JPG

• danbono
• May 27, 2013

 

[bmaddox]

Electric smokers are not supposed to burn the wood but have it smolder. Some bullet style ones like the ECB are known to cause flare ups regardless of what you do to try and prevent it. When mine would flare up I would move the burning piece further away from the element itself to try and get it to stop.

 

[morkfrompork]

 
Hi All Question , I have E smoker like the Brinkmans, is the wood supposed to flame or just smolder. I was told in my COS offset that the wood need to flame, is it the same for my E smoker?

Thanks Dan

DSC00949.JPG

• danbono
• May 27, 2013

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/groups/show/37/ecb-owners-group

Great spot to get some answers.

I`m brandy spanking new to all this as well, but my last cook just about scared the rubber off the soles of my shoes.

These little red wonders usually never get above the 230-250 degree level, but if your wood is burning away it can skyrocket into the 300+ degree level in a big hurry.

If you had a goodly build up inside your smoker, well it could get ugly fast.

There are a slew of ways to keep your wood from, well, going up in flames.

Foil packs, but the element WILL melt the foil.

Covered containers for the wood, like smoker boxes.

I`ve used loaf pans with foil covers and am now playing with another container.

I saw a few people have just added a slew of lava rock to completely cover the element and tossed their wood onto it. Never tried that, so can`t say how that worked out.

 

[danbono]

Hi All With my E smoker I have only used chunks. Most of time they just smolder but other times they flame up.

Thanks Dan