Helllp

[brismoke]

First time smoking a turkey on a new smoker.. Vertical smoker, master forge charcoal smoker...put on turkey at for this morning but for the life of me I cannot get the temp above 200 and that is the high...I'm averaging about 170 and am worried about bacteria...any ideas to help me out on getting the temp up...i keep adding coals but they dont seen to help and I don't want to choke the fire...

 

[hoity toit]

Give it some air and open your dampers so it can breath.....Once its up to temp then you can choke it down some..

 

[ellymae]

Is your fire up off the floor of the cooker?

So you have the vents all the way open?

What was the temp when you put the bird in?

What kind of charoal are you using?

 

[chef jimmyj]

Did you inject it? how long in the Smoker at 170*?...JJ

 

[SmokinAl]

Sounds like an air flow problem, like elly said open up all the vents all the way.

 

[brismoke]

Hey everyone, thanks for the thoughts..i realize its an air problem however, that is the problem with this model of smoker, there are no vents to open, just one open hole in the bottom of the pan that is non adjustable...I'm gonna have to rug up my own vents and find some way to keep the charcoal off the bottom of the charcoal pan...in answer to your question, I've been using kingsford briquettes in it, is that ok??? I broke down and put in the oven to finish out off..had five hours on the smoke so I'll have the flavor...any thoughts for future smokes???

 

[brismoke]

Brined it, not injected...approx 200 degrees when it was put on but ranged between 150 -200 for the five hours on the smoke...

 

[SmokinAl]

Hey everyone, thanks for the thoughts..i realize its an air problem however, that is the problem with this model of smoker, there are no vents to open, just one open hole in the bottom of the pan that is non adjustable...I'm gonna have to rug up my own vents and find some way to keep the charcoal off the bottom of the charcoal pan...in answer to your question, I've been using kingsford briquettes in it, is that ok??? I broke down and put in the oven to finish out off..had five hours on the smoke so I'll have the flavor...any thoughts for future smokes???

Check out some of the mods in these threads.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/search.php?search=Master+forge+vertical+smoker+mods

 

[ellymae]

Lots of folks use Kingsford so I think you are OK there.

You said you had 5 hours in the smoke - what temp did your bird get to in that time?

As far as getting the fire up off the floor you have some options - fire bricks to hold up the grate, one of those Wok Toppers that has a bunch of holes in it etc.

Were the briquittes covering the hole in the pan and squashing your fire perhaps?

Is your cooker the square one or the round one?

Don't let this cook discourage you - firse few cooks on a new cooker are always a learning experience.

 

[jirodriguez]

Also do not trust the stock thermometers that come on the unit, they can be off by as much as 100°. So the door therm may read 170, but in reality you may be at 250+. As for making adjustments in mid-smoke you are somewhat limited. You can drill some 1/2 holes from the outside of the smoker near the bottom to add airflow, then later date add a sliding cover to be able to adjust the air flow. Also run to a big box store and buy a BBQ Wok basket, scoop your coals into that and put it in your current coal pan. The wok will be elevated a bit and the ash can drop out of the coals instead of choaking them.

Good luck!