Various temps at different points--for a full load, what temp to hit?

[Tatdave]

Howdy folks,

I just got my new Lang 36" Patio and it's great. I've seasoned it and just did my first dry run to check temps. This is my first offset smoker. Previously, I've used WSM and smoked on a Webber kettle.

The good news, the built in thermo matches my ThermoPro at the same spot.

The firebox side is about 35-40 degrees warmer than the far side on the bottom rack. On the top rack, the top left matches the bottom firebox side. The center top is about 15-20 degrees cooler and the top firebox side is about about the same as the bottom left. In a grid, it would look something like this:

Top: 265--245--225
Bottom: 225--X(didn't test bottom center)--265

I'm not unhappy with the variation and know that it's normal. I also expect this will also change a bit as I use it and over time. My temp test run was only 2 hours.

My question is at which measure point do I use for my target temp? Let's say I put 6 racks of ribs in--3 on top and 3 on bottom-- and I want to cook around 225. Which temp point should I use? I'm fine with rotating them if necessary and I have liked my results with a 3-2-1 method. I'm assuming that using the bottom left would be fine since that means that there's no point below my target and rotating a couple of times should be sufficient.

So what point in your smokers' temp continuum do you target?

Thanks.

 

[Tatdave]

Odd that no one else has debated which temp point to use as their reference.

I'll just stick with using the lowest temp as my target and adjust from there. I'll report back with the results.

 

[weedeater]

Tatdave, Just saw this thread. I think using the lowest temp as your target is a sound decision. I don’t from my own experience on most cooks see that a difference of 30 to 40 degrees matters much. If you are smoking 4 or 5 butts, you just put the largest in the hottest spots and the smallest in the coolest spots. Check your temps and if one finishes ahead of the others, so what. You can’t pull all that pork at once anyway. You can rotate stuff but from my experience that is a “pita”.

Good luck with the new Lang. I hear nothing but good things about them.

Weedeater

 

[SmokinAl]

I have a Lang 36 too. And I found that if you put a small water pan (I use a 5x9 inch bread pan) filled with water on the bottom grate right against the firebox end wall, the temps across the bottom & top grates will be perfectly even. Although the top grate will run about 15 degrees hotter than the bottom grate. I figured this out by putting 4 thermometers in the smoker, 2 on top & 2 on the bottom. One on each end. You will also get more smoke flavor from the top grate. I was a little upset when I saw the different temps when I first fired it up, cause the reason I bought a Lang was I thought the RF would produce even temps across the smoker. but I think it's just to short lengthwise to even out the temps, but the water pan works perfectly. And I like to use a water pan in all my smokers anyway. Here is the thread that I figured this out on. You can see by the therms how even the side to side temps are wit the water pan.
https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/first-brisket-burnt-ends-on-the-lang.250864/

Al

 

[watboy2000]

Odd that no one else has debated which temp point to use as their reference.

I'll just stick with using the lowest temp as my target and adjust from there. I'll report back with the results.

my uds shut off for about 20 mins. I had a pork butt in there and i took it out ans started new fire. Took 20 mins to get pork butt back on. Before fire went out porkputt as at 163 it dropped to 138 in 20 mins but i got back up to 158 in about 12 mins of putting back in. Will this be safe to eat of even edible? So again temp of meat dropped to 138 for 20 mins and took about 12 mins to get up to 158

 

[lancep]

Personally, I would go by the door gauge if it’s reading correctly. At the end of the day you’re cooking the meat. Definitely, try Al’s water pan and see if that evens things out for you but I wouldn’t get too hung up on the exact temp in every part of the cooker. After a few cooks you’ll know what range your smoker likes to run in and how things cook in that range. Congrats on the new smoker!

 

[Tatdave]

Thanks for the replies.

I love the water pan idea and will definitely try it. I have two full and a half racks of spares to go on the smoker tomorrow.