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[Bentley]

Always ask the experts!  That is 5lbs. of Eye of Round Jerky.  And 8lbs of Pork Belly.

OK, specifics, set on Smoke, no water in water pan, but a full steam pan half full of frozen water.  We have to go out at about 3, if it is not done, may just let it run all morning, afternoon and evening!  Lets see how long we stay under 135°...That is my target!

I would think you could fit 1.5-2.0# jerky per rack.

[Bentley]

[Bentley]

Would not have thought you could keep an "active" pit below 100° even for an hour set on Smoke (170°) even with a full pan of ice.  Now I have to wonder, how long, and am I to low to even be working on the jerky?  I guess we may have a huge cold smoker here?

[Bentley]

Yeah, 3 hours and I have not been above 100° yet!  I was thinking the same thing and am going out side to pull it right now.  Will take a picture since I have to open the pit!

I would pull out the pan of water or you will have that going forever, and may be a challenge to dehydrate the jerky with the water in there.  If you can keep the pit in the 150°-170° range, it should be good for the jerky.

[Bentley]

[Bentley]

I don't say this as a criticism, just an observation.  Never have I had to adjust a pit cus it was running so low!   

I have had to turn to 175° to see where we get to.  It will be wonderfull if the 4th probe stays low, as that is the Belly shelf and 2 & 3 run hotter as that is jerky!

[reubenray]

This is what my wife wants, especially the jerky.

[Bentley]

I am going to assume that the jerky is appx the same temperature as the Belly.  But I think I will take racks out and rotate 180° just because it is so easy, and move top to bottom, bottom up one and middle to top, again, just cuz it is so easy to do!  So that is why the graph is getting ready to drop!

[Bentley]

So started with 5lbs of beef, end with 2lb. 11oz or 47% loss, pleased with that.  Pleased with the texture.  I was always the super thin and dry jerky guy as a young man, with younger teeth.  Now I like the strips much better, could be more teriyaki for me, but that all comes down to what brand you use I guess

I like the color of the bacon, and it smells a whole lot better then my last cold smoke attempt.

I am not a jerky cook, but it sure seems like a jerky machine to me!

[Bentley]

Pretty self explanatory!  I should have taken the boiling water photo to show the electric skillet...oh well, I really don't think you all think this stuff is staged!

[Bentley]

I have no explanation for you on the discrepancy on Controller numbers and Tappecue numbers. 

I assumed it would struggle to even get to 450°...So, it looks like I will be cooking some bacon at 350° on the middle shelf, then turning up to high and cooking a burger on that lower shelf, then putting them together some cold smoked cheese...the things I have to do for this site!

[Bentley]

I am editing a smoke output video now.  It was about 35 minutes compressed into 4 minutes.  The unit was set on Smoke, and it seems to cycle through about every 5-7 minutes.  SO THE UNIT DOES NOT PRODUCE SMOKE LIKE THIS CONSTANTLY!  As noted, this is a compellation of what it does over 35 minutes!

Pit Boss Vertical Smoke Output

[Bentley]

My suggestion to the winner and any potential owners who want to keep their glass clean.  No more then 2 cooks without cleaning.  I just spent an hour cleaning it, the 1st time I cleaned it took 10 minutes...  I am glad there are only a couple more cooks to go!

[Bentley]

I remember Smoke, 150°, 200° and 225° it doing about the same.  I did not pay attention when I did that 250° run, will have to try it tomorrow!

Looks like pretty good smoke to me...  does it do ok on up towards 250F?

Amazon Pegboard Hooks

Bentley, when you get a chance, can you post a pic of the hook that goes into the side walls to hold the racks? 

[Bentley]

Right!  Let me get the business out of the way 1st incase anyone follows the Tappecue. Ribs on top rack, probe one in rack nearest front, aslo probe 3 on that slelf.  Chicken on 2nd shelf, with probe 2 in large piece and probe 4 on that rack!  Water in water pan, just to make clean up easier.  Pit set on 300° Want to see where it settles in 1st hour, may adjust!


OK, questions...10 racks will fit easy, assuming that it cooks as evenly from top to bottom as you like...but as I say and did on the jerkey cook...to change rack heights and rotate rack 180°, it only takes seconds!

I'm thinking this smoker at $400 is a really good value... jit seems you could very easily get 10 racks of ribs on it (without rib racks,  which I never liked using )

Difficult to tell right now, water in pan and food on, so I do not want to move around.  I can't tell by these photos, so if I don't answer this afternoon when cook is done rattle cage again and we will try and get definitive answer.  For me, the caster would be one concern for competitions, but I would have to put braces around all of the legs to stiffen!

Bentley, does it look as though it would be easy to replace the castors with larger ones from a big box store?  You know, does it have sort of a standard way of mounting them?