In news:IZJEc.952924$oR5.225709@pd7tw3no,
Dirty Harry > typed:
> "Robyn" > wrote in message
> ...
>> Hi,
>> So one of the next shows I see is "Good Eats" and Alton built
>> that amazing looking ceramic smoker. Sounds good to me, so I made
>> one. This time I tried country style ribs. No good. The temp in the
>> smoker initially went up to about 220, but after the meat went on I
>> couldn't get it any higher than about 170 or so. And we're in the
>> middle of a scorcher of a heatwave, it was 120 degrees in there even
>> without the burner...
>
> If it gets windy I just toss an old towel over the top of the pots,
> my pot smoker has gone up to 275F, and do u have the hole in the top
> pluged? A lot of heat can escape through there. Did u have the
> burner on max the whole time? I drilled a bunch of 1/2 holes around
> the edge and in the middle of my pie plate to help the heat rise up
> past the plate...

That's a good idea, drilling holes in the pie plate, maybe I'll try
that. There's just no reason why that blasted thing shouldn't have come
up to temperature. I was using a 1000 watt burner on max, maybe that
wasn't enough? I had the thermometer in the top hole, so I don't think I
lost too much heat there, but it *was* a little windy, maybe that
contributed. Maybe I'll fool around with it more over the weekend.
Thanks!!

Robyn
--
To avoid grizzlies, the Alaska Department of Fish & Game advises hikers
to wear noisy little bells on clothes and carry pepper spray. Also watch
for signs of activity: Black bear scat is smaller and contains berries;
grizzly scat has little bells in it and smells like pepper.