Need a little help

[jsmith1560]

Hello All,

My name is Jason and I'm from Chicago,   I've been smoking on and off for about 10 years or so on relatively inexpensive set ups.  I recently purchased the Brinkman Trailmaster Vertical smoker, made the recommended modifications, and seasoned it properly.   I started my first smoke last week and was a little concerned about how the vertical chamber would perform.   I purchased some spare ribs, and a  pork shoulder.   I stacked the tips, in the middle of the smoker, the ribs above that, and then the butt on top.   It seemed like the items on the lower shelves took a lot more heat and were dried out, and the butt on top took a long time to cook.   I just figured that since the chamber is vertical the heat would be evenly distributed.   Am I a moron?   Also,  should I buy a pizza stone to place on the bottom rack to serve as a deflector?    Thanks for any advice .  Cheers

 

[themule69]

Glad you joined the group. The search bar at the top of any page is your best friend.
About anything you wanna know about smoking/grilling/curing/brining/cutting or slicing
and the list goes on has probably been posted. Remember to post a QVIEW of your smokes.
We are all smoke junkies here and we have to get our fix. If you have questions
Post it and you will probably get 10 replies with 11 different answers. That is
because their are so many different ways to make great Q...
Happy smoken.
David

 

[dockman]

Pork shoulder takes several hours

 

[gary s]

  Good morning and welcome to the forum, from a sunny and cool East Texas. Lots of great people with tons of information on just about  everything.

           Gary

 

[5oclocksomewher]

Not too familiar with your unit, but if you type your model in the search bar, you will find many existing threads that discuss your smoker. Good Luck!!!

 

[gary s]

Is this your smoker ?  Like 5-oclock said try the search bar for other members that may have this type smoker.   You might another temp gauge further down., Also were you cooking by time or the temp of the meat ?

 

[kc5tpy]

Hello.  The bottom rack ( nearest the heat source will always be hotter no matter what smoker you have.  The same with an offset smoker.  The nearer the firebox the hotter the temp.  A pizza stone is quite expensive and not really necessary.  A heat deflector may be necessary.  Couple things come to mind.  Pizza pan/cookie sheet near the bottom to deflect the heat.  Second:  I am not an advocate of water pans but in this case I might add a water pan below the bottom rack to even out the temps.  Easily added if your smoker doesn't allow for one.  Just drill 3 equally spaced holes in the smoker and put in 3 long bolts to hold the pan.  When you drill those holes be sure to treat them well with high temp paint!  Don't want rust to get a chance to start.

Welcome to our addiction!  Keep Smokin!

Danny

 

[hickorybutt]

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/149947/new-brinkmann-trailmaster-vertical-smoker

The link above is a thread on this smoker and Wayward Swede did some nice (and necessary) modifications.  This is a nice smoker and I almost bought it several months ago.  It just needs a few modifications.

The biggest thing is to make sure that the door is sealed.  If you haven't sealed the door, it will leak out a lot of heat and smoke.  So naturally, if heat is leaking out, the top racks will be a lot cooler.  The bottom racks will have all of the heat pass over them and you will lose a lot of that heat before it makes it to the top.  You can seal the door with oven gasket and then get some clamps, as mentioned in the above thread.

Secondly, I would suggest putting your meats that can take on more heat on the bottom racks next time.  Even with proper modification, your bottom racks will always be a 'little' hotter since they are closer to the fire.  You mentioned that you put the pork shoulder above the ribs - next time put the pork shoulder on the bottom.  It can take on more heat than ribs.  You can do the same with chicken, since it needs higher heat.

 

[GaryHibbert]

Hey Jason

Welcome to the Smoking forum. You’ll find great , friendly people here, all more than willing to answer any question you may have. Just ask and you’ll get about 10 different answers—all right. LOL. Don’t forget to post qviews.

Gary