Temperature come up times

[SoloQue]

OK, so I finally have my large scale smoker and I really think I have it tweeked to run even temps from left to right after everything gets settled. I still don't know if the beast is running efficient. How long is considered normal to get a big smoke chamber up to 230F. I have been running up to 260 and drifting back down as the firebox end will climb faster so I basically get the nose to just over my 230 target temp and back down on the oxygen which allows the butt end to finally drop back even with the nose. What I am seeing is about 45 minutes ramp up time after I have the coals and wood sticks fully lit and the box is seriously hot. I have some fiberglass rope ordered to really seal the doors as I am seeing smoke quite a bit before I get full draft but I am still curious what a good benchmark would be. As always thanks for sharing your experiences and opinions.

[Rick]

Solo heating the air up only takes five minutes - what you're waiting on really is all that steel - you're looking probably at least an hour would be typical if there is such a thing - every smoker's different - every day is different whether or not you're in the sun or shade - yada, yada, yada and it's all that hot steel that's making the whole thing stable for temperature.

[k.a.m.]

SoloQue, my R/F takes roughly 1hr to 1.5 hr to fully get stable. By stable I mean all the metal is equal. Super heating your firebox will only cause premature burn out of your metal. Slow down and let it come to temp on its own. When the middle upper grate reads 250° about 45 min. into the heating we are putting briskets on, that does mean the rest of the cooker is stable yet but it does mean we start cooking.
If your doors are leaking smoke during the warm up then you are sucking air when it is pulling a full draft.
You can seal the doors with black high temp RTV if your cracks are minor I use this for final sealing.
What I do is spray a light coat of Pam on the cooking chamber where the door makes contact, then apply a bead of RTV to the door strap (the door strap needs to be clean) then let the door down gently with out pressing letting its weight set on its own. Let the RTV cure then trim off any excess and your door is sealed.
I hope this helps.

[maccas66]

Thanks Kam!, thats a nice little tip there!, I have the same problem but not for long!!

[PvilleComp]

Solo - it takes my dinky Trailmaster 45 min to an hour to come up to temp. If your beast is only taking 45 min I think that's great!

[SoloQue]

Thanks guys. I was a bit concerned that I was indeed overheating the box because of impatience. The other concern was that I had told TQ some bogus specs for the airflow and that I was choking the heat in the box. I'll set some more realistic temp goals and let things push a little smoother. 6 slabs in the sink thawing out for tomorrow. I will post the cook results. Will be the first time I have ever had 6 slabs on the same grate ... and the neighbor has requested room for some chicken Go figure, he hasn't said squat in 6 months and now he's my best bud

[Smokeone]

I would agree that 45 mins is not a problem. Just let it take its time to come to that sweet spot.

Hope the neighbor also made sure you had room in the beer fridge!

[SoloQue]

Looks like we are doing drunkin chicken next Saturday. I guess he's gonna bring a case, 12 for the birds and 12 for us. Damn if I aint gonna gain some weight and that's not a good thing!

[TuscaloosaQ]

THOSE FRIENDS ARE COMING OUT OF THE CLOSET AREN'T THEY!!!!!!

[alleyrat58]

I light mine 2 hrs before I plan to start cooking. Like KAM said, I like it warm up slowly and then I can run a smaller fire throughout the entire cook. Within an hour I am usually close to cooking temp, then take the last hour to get it dialed in right where I want her.