Bull Offset to reduce "LOW" Temp?

[rgreenberg2000]

Hey, RT'ers!!

I've been thinking of ways to use my RT-700 main chamber as a sausage smoker. I prefer to smoke my sausage at temps that are 160F or lower. From the factory, "LOW" runs the main chamber (I have a smokebox, too), at 180F. I know that I can use the Offset setting, and put an offset of -20F in there to reduce the chamber temp to 160F, but my question is whether or not the RT will run reliably at this low of a temp, and what kind of smoke will be produced.

Has anyone done this? What were your results? I can definitely do some testing on my rig, but figured I'd ask first to see if anyone has done this already.

My grand plan is to build a smoke rack with at least two hanging rods which should allow me to get 15-20lbs of sausages (maybe more) hung in the main chamber. I'd prefer to not have to monkey with dropping some sort of electric element in there, so hoping that I can make this work with the firepot and a simple offset adjustment.

Thanks for any input !!

Rich

PS: Of course, I'd need to adjust the offset each time, but that's an easy process, so not to concerned about that.

 

[Greg Jones]

I’d be concerned with flame outs at 160*, but there is only one way to find out. Good quality pellets will help. It might also be worthwhile to test running the Low at 180* and prop the lid open 1/4-1/2 inch.

I’m sure you know this, but for others reading this, the smoke box will give you temps of around 80-100* less than the main chamber.

 

[rgreenberg2000]

I’d be concerned with flame outs at 160*, but there is only one way to find out. Good quality pellets will help. It might also be worthwhile to test running the Low at 180* and prop the lid open 1/4-1/2 inch.

I’m sure you know this, but for others reading this, the smoke box will give you temps of around 80-100* less than the main chamber.

Greg, yep, you are right, only one real way to know for sure and I won't hurt anything testing it out! I'm running mostly Bear Mountain and Lumberjack pellets, so I think I'm good on fuel quality. I hadn't thought about propping the door, so that's a good additional thing to test.

You are totally correct on the smokebox, and that's why I bought it. If I'm running the main chamber at 200F, the middle rack on the smokebox is typically at about 145F, which is perfect for putting some smoke on sausages without cooking out the fat (works well for salmon, jerky, etc., too.) The reason for exploring what I can do to drop temps in the main chamber is just for capacity. I've also toyed with building a larger smokebox, and just connecting it in the same manner as the original. I'd have to get that by my EVP of Backyard Design, though.

Thanks for the input!

R

 

[Greg Jones]

I thought you were looking for more capacity. I for one would be interested in what you come up with, so please keep us posted.

 

[rgreenberg2000]

I messed around with this a bit yesterday. First, I checked my Thermoworks Smoke probe and one of the RT probes in some ice water. The TW probe was right on, but the RT probe was reading 30F, so I adjusted that in the controller settings. I set up both probes in the center of my grill, and fired it up to 300F to get a baseline on grill temp/accuracy. The TW probe settled at 295, and the RT probe read 301.

Then I set the grill to LOW to get a baseline at that temp. With the grill locked at 180F, the TW probe was 175F, and the RT probe was 179F (I gave it 30 minutes to settle once the controller said 180F.) Looking at the numbers, I decided that I would try an offset of 10% and see how that went. The results were that the grill wouldn't lock on a number. It would get to what it thought was 180F (offset should have made that 162F), but it couldn't stay there. It would drop to 177F, and jump to 185F, etc. I think that what I was seeing was the effect of the controller perhaps fighting to maintain a fire, and it was probably running at the minimum feed rate. The probe temps ranged during this time from 162F to 173F as the temp porpoised a bit.

More importantly than any of the temps, I felt like the quality of the smoke being generated was not good. It was more like acrid startup smoke than good cooking smoke. Due to that factor, I think this method of trying to run the smoker at 170F or below is not going to result in good food coming out of the pit. I may just have to revisit my thoughts about building a "smokehouse" that is fired by the RT. I'm certain my wife will be pleased.....?

R