I have used my Char-Broil Electric Water smoker for a couple of years now,
but have never been able to get the cooking temperature to 200 degrees or
more. Max's out at about 190 on an 80 degree ambient day with bright sun
shining on the unit ! This is like hitting on seven out of eight cylinders.

I've installed my own thermometer to verify the temperature. The factory
sent me both a replacement thermostat and heating element and neither fixed
the problem. I dissassembled the themostat/control and ground down the
control tab so I could turn up the control higher. This got me about 10
degrees, but I'm still stuck at 190.

I'm using water in the bowl and water soaked hickory chips. I like the
results but everything seems to take longer to cook, and the unit is not
useable during the winter.

Any ideas ?

In article >,
"wayne burgess" > wrote:

> Any ideas ?

Take it to the landfill. Buy a Weber Smokey Mountain.

I'm on my third season with a WSM and it's an amazing cooker. It's
almost impossible to screw up with a WSM.

Just last weekend we cooked a 9 pound pork butt. Used the minion method
to get going (see the link below) and the WSM hit 250 degrees in just a
few minutes. At around 4.5 to 5 hours I noticed the temperature starting
to drop a bit. Throw in a few more handfuls of lump and refill the
water pan...right back to 250 degrees. At around 8.5 hours or so the
port butt was registering 195 degrees internal temperature. Let it rest
for 30 minutes and used two forks to "pull" the pork. Stuff was so
good...it's amazing. Best damn BBQ I've ever had.

Ribs take around 4 to 5 hours. They're done when you pick 'em up in the
middle and they easily bend down on the ends. Again, better ribs than
you'll ever get in a restaurant. Brisket...same way. Cook to 195 and
let it rest. Chicken's great...cook it to about 160 or so.

Lots of good info he <http://www.wiviott.com/>

BTW, to other WSM owners...I've had good luck by slightly modifying the
minion method. I put some lump in the bottom and dump a chimney of lit
coals on that. Then put a little more lump on top of that. Then,
maybe, a few hickory lumps on the very top.

When I have to put more lump in, usually around 4 to 5 hours later, I
leave the front door off for about five minutes...it really gets the new
lump goin' good. Then put the door back on.

wayne burgess wrote:

> I have used my Char-Broil Electric Water smoker for a couple of years
> now, but have never been able to get the cooking temperature to 200
> degrees or more. Max's out at about 190 on an 80 degree ambient day
> with bright sun shining on the unit ! This is like hitting on seven
> out of eight cylinders.
>
> I've installed my own thermometer to verify the temperature. The
> factory sent me both a replacement thermostat and heating element and
> neither fixed the problem. I dissassembled the themostat/control and
> ground down the control tab so I could turn up the control higher.
> This got me about 10 degrees, but I'm still stuck at 190.
>
> I'm using water in the bowl and water soaked hickory chips. I like
> the results but everything seems to take longer to cook, and the unit
> is not useable during the winter.
>
> Any ideas ?

Your electric smoker has its limitations, I doubt you will ever get
the temperature up to 200 or above. You can get the Temp up by taking
the water bowl out. It does work great for smoking Turkeys, put it on
and forget about it for 6 hours. Buy a Charcoal grill and use both of
them, dpending on what you are planning on cooking.

--

"wayne burgess" > wrote in
:

> I have used my Char-Broil Electric Water smoker for a couple of years
> now, but have never been able to get the cooking temperature to 200
> degrees or more. Max's out at about 190 on an 80 degree ambient day
> with bright sun shining on the unit ! This is like hitting on seven
> out of eight cylinders.
>
> I've installed my own thermometer to verify the temperature. The
> factory sent me both a replacement thermostat and heating element and
> neither fixed the problem. I dissassembled the themostat/control and
> ground down the control tab so I could turn up the control higher.
> This got me about 10 degrees, but I'm still stuck at 190.
>
> I'm using water in the bowl and water soaked hickory chips. I like the
> results but everything seems to take longer to cook, and the unit is
> not useable during the winter.
>
> Any ideas ?
>
>

I'm not familiar with your unit (I have a Weber Smokey Mountain cooker
too) but I assume that the unit is *supposed* to be capable of higer
temps...

I'd then ask you otherwise have too much air flowing through the
chamber.

You could try putting very hot (or boiling) water in the pan to help the
process.

Do you have a long extension cord on it ? Maybe the element isn't
getting enough power ? Try a shorter or heavier cord.

On 10-Jul-2006, "JohnO" > wrote:

> >
> > Any ideas ?
>
> In the long term, what Paul said. In the short term, get rid of the
> water. I've taken to using sand in its place, but why not try a oook
> with nothing but the pan?
>
> Also, your AC line voltage is ultimately going to control the max temp.
> Higher is better, and if the voltage at the smoker plug is 110, that's
> maybe on the low side. Voltage in my house typically runs 123 to 125.
> You can troubleshoot the voltage using the standard methods, then make
> sure you're using a very large (diameter--not length) extension cord,
> if you're using one at all.
>
> -John O

I have a Farberware Electric grill and rotisserie. It requires a heavy duty
oultet and 14 Ga power cord. A 16 Ga cord gets hot and standard wall
outlet gets hot and melt the faceplate. For my Hurricane generator I
have a 12 Ga 50 ft triple outlet cord and two 14 Ga cords to feed each
refrigerator. The generator is 5.5 KW. Home Depot and Lowes carry
such extension cords in a variety of lengths and outlet configurations.
Expect to pay a substantial price for the good stuff. Heavy duty outlets
are pretty reasonable though, US$3.00 or less. The heavy duty outlets
are very aggressive. Plugs are difficult to remove.

--
Brick(Found a motor..Trying to get it started.)