New MasterBuilt 40" Propane Single Door Smoker Temps

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richardpharvey

Newbie
Original poster
May 2, 2016
3
10
Hello Everyone,

I'm new to propane fired smoking but NOT new to smoking meet at all. I have had electric and charcoal smokers for many years but several years ago I installed a whole house generator that's propane fired so I took that opportunity to have the propane installer give me connections for my two gas grills and my lobster pot.  It's been great to not have to deal with filling those 40lb tanks. When my last electric smokers door hinge broke last summer I was certain that it would be replaced with a propane unit and Master Built 40" was my choice.   I assembled the unit last weekend and fired it up to season it, however I was never able to get the internal temp past 225 degrees.  That will be OK for actual use but I fear when I put cold meat inside that the temp is going to struggle to even get up to 200.

It's connected to one of the two low pressure ports I have both of which have been used for gas grills successfully.  The lobster pot uses a different connector which I'm told is full pressure and not lowered by the pressure regulator.  The hose and regulator that came with the unit was not used but rather I put on the hose that I have been using with gas grills, it's has no regulator as the wall mounted gas distribution system has it's own regulator built in.  I do see that the flame on the burner is very low which would suggest that pressure may be to low.

Any guidance here would be very helpful...!

Rich
 
Yes I have only used the door built in thermo, and I have heard that they are very inaccurate ...!
 
You might do a boiling water on stove top test of your thermometer. Once water is boiling, insert the thermometer.  Should read around 212*
 
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Be sure that you have other thermometers that you know work well to use as a set point to test your new thermometers against.

Also, be sure you know at what temperature water boils for your location and altitude:  http://www.callbpi.com/support/alt_temp.html

That website should find you the closest city near you, and then just use the chart at the top to find what the boiling point should be.

Also, from the sound of having low flames, it sounds like a pressure issue to me. I would try putting the factory hose and regulator back on and testing with a propane tank to see if you still have issues. 

Are you attempting to use natural gas instead of LP? I know that when converting LP grills to use natural gas, you typically have to replace the regulator with a new regulator that has a higher flow and pressure rating, as well as replace the nozzle on your burners with a nozzle with a larger opening.
 
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