Even heat

[scottm]

Ok so im the newbie here now. i've played around like most of yall in here with backyard smoking. my ribs are good so ive been told. but im getting serious now about buying a good smoker (if i can find one i can afford for my back yark w/o breaking the bank) but once i get it and get the wood smoking how do you keep the heat evenly around in the smoker to cook the meat evenly? mmm

[serialgriller]

first off, welcome to the forum. the answer to your question is tuning plates. the idea is to space them apart in such a manner that you're getting fairly even heat distribution end to end or however else you want your heat distributed.

[jshively]

How big of a smoker?

I have a 40x20 and from firebox to away from firebox can vary by 40 degrees or so. I never really worry about it just keep items that like hotness on left side and items that do not like high heat on the right.

[scottm]

first off, welcome to the forum. the answer to your question is tuning plates. the idea is to space them apart in such a manner that you're getting fairly even heat distribution end to end or however else you want your heat distributed.


tuning plate.???? whats that?
scott

[serialgriller]

tuning plates are steel plates usually between 1/8" - 1/4" and between 6" - 8" wide. the bigger the pit, the more tuning plates you'll have. they fit in the horizontal about 2" - 3" under your cooking grates. some guys on here have some really good pictures of tuning plates. maybe they will repost them or direct you to the thread they are on.

[TexLaw]

You also want to make sure you get a good cooker with a good airflow. That helps, as well. I have a fairly small 20x36 pit, and I don't have a lot of problems with uneven cooking.

I don't put much on the hotspot right over the vent from my firebox, but I'm fine with the rest of my pit.


TL

[carnivore]

As far as maintaining an even temp.. one thing that I think is critical is to DO not open the lid if at all possible during the cook... A quick peak makes a big difference in even heat.... but hey..you can call me superstitious...

[M38A1]

Not sure I can add much more other than a pic of a tuning plate setup. On my home unit (20" diameter x 40" wide offset) I pretty much keep stuff away from the immediate area just past the firebox. Only experience will help you in this area, but just knowing it's considerably more hotter will help you quickly. Many install a baffle of some type to keep the heat deflected coming out of the firebox as well.

Here's a shot of some large tuning plates in a 24" diameter pit. The first one is welded in place, and the rest are stacked side by side resting on angle iron supports.
http://www.m38a1.com/Other/MajorMess/060611j.JPG

[TB]

..... once i get it and get the wood smoking how do you keep the heat evenly around in the smoker to cook the meat evenly? mmm
Good to have you on board. The short answer is "design". Some offsets use baffles for distributing the hot gases from the firebox equally around the cooking chamber (that's what tuning plates do). Some smokers stir the cooking chamber air (rcirculating fans on some vertical smokers) and some smokers stir the meat (ferris wheel type moving cooking grates). Short, vertical smokers (Weber Smoky Mountain) with heat on the bottom use baffles (or pans) above the heat to distribute heat.

[cleglue]

As far as maintaining an even temp.. one thing that I think is critical is to DO not open the lid if at all possible during the cook... A quick peak makes a big difference in even heat.... but hey..you can call me superstitious...

I don't open the lid to the smoker either if I can help it. I smoked a butt Saturday on a WSM. I opened one time to foil it at 170* opened it again at 195* to remove it.