Hi all,
I have a Yoder YS640 pellet smoker. I love it and have decided to use it on an annual BBQ competition cook-off fundraiser tomorrow. I have a question and was hoping someone could help me.
I am going to be cooking two 13-14 pound full briskets on the smoker. I have cooked briskets before and I haven't had any problems. However, this will be the first time I have tried to smoke them when the outside temperature is low. It is supposed to be about 39 degrees here with a light 5 mph wind when I plan to put the briskets on. It will warm up later in the day to about 60-68 degrees but I worry the early morning temperature. I have never used the smoker at this temperature and I don't want to have problems at 3 0r 4:00 am.
I read in the directions several months ago about using the H1, H2 or H3 feature but I can't remember the particulars. Also, I thought I would just ask the experts here what would be the best way to get to my desired temperature and keep it there. I plan on smoking the briskets at 250-275.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!!
Just do as you always do. The cooker will compensate automatically. The only difference that you will see is that the pellet consumption may be more than normal, as the cooker will feed more pellets to the fire to compensate for the colder ambient temperature.
The "H1, H2, H3" is only used during heat up mode The controller will switch to the different values automatically as required. There is no need to manually set this.
I've used my YS640 for 2 winters in temps below zero Fahrenheit. At these temps, it won't self-light unless I cover the igniter with extra pellets. My theory is the extra pellets shield the igniter keeping the heat where it needs to be.
I'm in New England and the winter temps obviously get quite cold... I have never had my 640 fail to start in the cold due to the cold itself. The only time it failed to start, I had not cleaned out the fire pot after the previous cook and there was an ash plug getting in the way of the igniter. Once I cleaned the ash out, it started up immediately.
The key with a pellet smoker in cold weather IMO is to keep it covered, either with the nice, custom Yoder insulating jacket, or with a welding blanket and/or other heat resistant insulating materials if you don't have the custom cover. Does 2 key things: 1) saves a ton on pellet consumption, and 2) helps to stabilize the temps so the unit isn't fighting the cold and wind and can just chug along at a very steady temp. I now cover mine all year round no matter what the outside temps are. A 90 degree wind is still cold to a 200F metal box...not just a 0F to 30F one...the pellet savings is enough alone, but the stability of the temps is a bonus.
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