I may be getting a little too caught up in this as I'm already considering the next smoker. Had a Durango 24 delivered less than a month ago to our seasonal cottage and then moved it to our winter quarters a week later and have almost certainly determined that I will NOT be moving it again next year. Besides my aching back, there are other factors motivating my curiosity. I have so far used the cooker 1-2 times a week and have cooked brisket, whole chickens & turkey, a lot of ribs, etc. (some simultaneously) and, as I type, I have other people's meat in my freezer who would like me to cook their stuff each time I fire the thing up which I'm happy to do. As a consequence of potential requests, capacity is going to be a major consideration along with the ability to cook a small variety of meats in any other smoker I get. With that I have a number of questions for both the guys who put these things together as well as practical insight from anyone who might be using them day-to-day.
Suffice to say that I am not disappointed in the quality of the Yoder so it's from their livery that I'm making my future selection. I already had an eye on the Frontiersman on the competition cart until the ServiceMaster in the "Custom" category got my attention so these are the two cookers my questions are primarily focused on. I should qualify these questions by pointing out that I am as amateurish as one can be on the topic so some of this stems from my logic and is not entirely empirical.
I have noted a pretty substantial difference in temperature from right to left in the horizontal chamber on the Durango with the heat management plate in position. Being much longer, what kind of difference can be expected from one end of the horizontal chamber to the other in these two cookers and does the difference occur at a fairly consistent rate across the two sections?
Relating to the previous question, it's assumed that some of the difference in temperature across the horizontal chamber of the Durango results from heat escaping into and warming the vertical chamber as it should, but is there a significant difference in the end to end differential in the Durango when compared to the Kingman for example and could a similar comparison be made between the ServiceMaster (having a vertical chamber) and the Frontiersman? If so, what kind of differential can be expected when comparing each of these cookers?
On the insulated firebox: How much does the insulation reduce the interior dimensions of the firebox? Is there any concern that a fire may be so efficient that a small bed of coals would provide sufficient heat to cook (especially at lower cooking temps) and that the addition of flavor wood might create too hot a fire?
If any of these questions are stupid, please consider the source.
Thanks in advance!
I can only speak to the temp difference in the Durango 24. Once the unit settles in, much of the temp differences is based on convection. The more airflow the more even the temps in my experience. Assuming favorable wind direction, adjusting the fire size to the the desired temp vs. closing off the damper.
I generally run around 270 as an average, but have found the following to be true when I maintain temps at 300 and 350 as well.
I get the same/consistent temp from left to right across the top shelf of the horizontal chamber and the right side of the lower shelf. The left side of the lower shelf will run 20 - 30 degrees higher. In the vertical chamber I get 70 degrees lower at the bottom to 100 degrees lower at the top. Of course airflow will change based on how much product you load. While my maverick readouts will fluctuate more when the horizontal chamber is fully loaded, based on meat cooking times, I still maintain consistency throughout.
The key here is getting the cooker well beyond your target temp to get everything heated up. As it starts to settle in, add your preheated cooking wood and add your meat with clean smoke. Open the doors as little as possible. I usually time any peaking around adding wood.
As for the other units you mention, plenty of space and the mobility is a plus. I expect the same rules apply and you will see some difference from left to right, front to back. However, with plenty of meat being cooked the differences will be in the not material to manageable range.
Thought I'd give this thread a bump. I'd like to make a decision on a new smoker sooner than later as I gather orders are about three months out and, anymore, time flies whether I'm having fun or not!
Thanks for your insight and observations TcircleT. I've been running my pit in very much the same way as you are though I do often cook at lower temperatures (225-250) for ribs, shoulders, rib roasts, chicken, etc. with briskets (275) and turkeys (350) the only items I've cooked at higher temps. Since I received the smoker in October, I have yet to cook in ambient temperatures warmer than the mid 40's and lately most of my cooks have been in near zero to lower double digit conditions. In fact, I pulled an all-nighter recently preparing brisket for my wife's church with the Hg hovering around 1 deg. As a heathen myself, I will NEVER do that again! But I digress.
I have also noted more consistent temperature across the upper shelf and how the cooker is loaded definitely matters but, generally speaking, I am seeing a temperature difference of 80 deg and usually more from right to left on the lower shelf and the left side is definitely never warmer. Keeping the damper completely open helps a lot if the lower shelf is completely covered with product but does not appear to have as much effect for smaller cooks. The vertical chamber is much cooler still with temps there getting to 200 or better only when the main chamber is approaching 400 deg or more. FWIW, I've used a Maverick, ThermaQ & BlueTherm Duo to monitor temps and do not rely on the external thermometers for anything other than gross indication and I am using the HMP and it is correctly placed. In conferring with Yoder on another smoker, they believe that my results with the Durango are atypical and I'll furnish them with some documentary information at some point so they can troubleshoot where I'm going wrong. Getting a little long winded here but did want to respond as you kindly did.
I discovered that the ServiceMaster is actually the name of the client and not the template for a common pit. I haven't ruled something like that out as of yet but I am kind of leaning toward the Frontiersman on the comp cart for its more compact dimensions. I realize that there are probably not quite as many folks out there using these as there are with, oh say, a YS640 but I'd love to hear from anyone who's using a Frontiersman with or without vertical chamber. Particularly with regard to temperature consistency across the pit or any other comments of interest to someone considering one of these.
Thanks again!
I have found that the best way for me to keep my temps consistent in the horizontal chamber on the bottom shelf is to open the vertical door from time to time when cooking. if I'm only using the horizontal chamber. After a few minutes, it usually pulls the chamber fairly close to even side to side.
Now I'm not sure. Today I smoked a brisket. The temp outside was mid 70s. The side to side temps were within 10 degrees of each other without opening the vertical to assist.
A lot of what you are experiencing can be the environmental conditions, especially the direction and strength of any breeze or wind. The absolute best thing is to have the wind blowing in the direction of the normal air draft through the cooker.
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