"Dirty Harry" > wrote in message
news:WjXEc.961486$oR5.745910@pd7tw3no...
>
> "Robyn" > wrote in message
> ...
> >
> >
> > In news:IZJEc.952924$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.
> >
> Yea 1000W on max should do the trick...I found the wind makes a huge
> difference. When I fired it up in my basement it got nice and hot, nice
and
> fast. Outdoors in the breeze was a different story, could only maintain
> about 225F max, with the towel it gets over 250 outside...I use an oven
> thermometer placed on the grill, when I need to check the temp I just use
a
> flashlight and look in the top hole...
>
Forgot, make sure you leave some room without holes for the wood. I put
some wood over the holes in the middle of the pan and they caught on fire.
Now I just put the wood where there are no holes :-)