Need Help on my New Vault Cabinet Smoker

[edible hen]

WORD! #stickburnersunite

I ran my Yoder the other day on 2 racks of ribs. I had my fire management such that I had nearly clear smoke the entire 6hr cook, at the most I'd have 20 mins at a stretch of thicker (but still thin, almost-clear) smoke. The results were odd, a very minor, almost subtle smoke flavor. I prefer it a little heavier. I love playing with fire.

That is my issue on the majority of my cooks. The smoke is in the background, like a seasoning. I never ever get that dark bark on anything. More of a mahogany color. I don't spritz anymore and only wrap for cambro purposes. But I do get awesome smoke rings.

Apologies PaulstheRibList for jumping on your thread.

[Huskee]

Yes, that sure sounds easy. Lol.

[PaulstheRibList]

Well my brother, you're not alone! I've done that more than I like to admit. The great news is, as you've plainly said, the food is still great! Thus proving that a rock steady temp isn't necessary, except if only to satisfy one's OCD!

Meathead and all of you have plugged into me to do a Side-By-Side Test to find out!

One Stickburner with perfect fire management.
2nd one right next to it, with the occasional lack of fire attention.

Then, taste test the results!

This would be easier if you would just pack the fam up and move to Louisiana.

[Huskee]

#Word

That just means you need to throw on some Mesquite on that clean fire to play with the wood-smoke-flavor-perfection-ratio.

I have yet to smoke a brisket with a good fire the entire cook. Always have to leave and come back 45 minutes later than I wanted to and the pit is 150 degrees. Food is still great!

Well my brother, you're not alone! I've done that more than I like to admit. The great news is, as you've plainly said, the food is still great! Thus proving that a rock steady temp isn't necessary, except if only to satisfy one's OCD!

[PaulstheRibList]

WORD! #stickburnersunite

I ran my Yoder the other day on 2 racks of ribs. I had my fire management such that I had nearly clear smoke the entire 6hr cook, at the most I'd have 20 mins at a stretch of thicker (but still thin, almost-clear) smoke. The results were odd, a very minor, almost subtle smoke flavor. I prefer it a little heavier. I love playing with fire.

#Word

That just means you need to throw on some Mesquite on that clean fire to play with the wood-smoke-flavor-perfection-ratio.

I have yet to smoke a brisket with a good fire the entire cook. Always have to leave and come back 45 minutes later than I wanted to and the pit is 150 degrees. Food is still great!

[Huskee]

Again, without being there to play with one, I suspect the reverse flow part is what hinders heat-up. Heat & airflow are channeled around & down (right?), heating from outside in, instead of heating up from the inside out. I bet you're losing a lot of BTUs in the exhaust that's not heating up the innards.

[Huskee]

WORD! #stickburnersunite

I ran my Yoder the other day on 2 racks of ribs. I had my fire management such that I had nearly clear smoke the entire 6hr cook, at the most I'd have 20 mins at a stretch of thicker (but still thin, almost-clear) smoke. The results were odd, a very minor, almost subtle smoke flavor. I prefer it a little heavier. I love playing with fire.

[PaulstheRibList]

This experience is reinforcing my Zeal for cooking over Wood Logs! #StickburnersRule

[PaulstheRibList]

Love the pre-heating ideas! I'll try both of those.

And I'm hoping I become a bigger fan of them as I practice more!

[Huskee]

I'm betting smoldering wood is what you'll get with an insulted cooker. I could be wrong, but this is my suspicion. Similar to burning wood chunks in a kettle with an SnS.

Regarding preheating, what about placing a a bowl of well-lit charcoal up on the middle cooking rack to help heat the bulk of the unit, or even a chimney full of coals in the chimney? (I'm sure the plastic part of the handle could handle 250 degrees).

Regarding the rest, I'd be a fool to try to offer help w/o being there to play around, not having used one of those. I'm not a huge fan of the idea of reverse flow, especially on a vertical.

[PaulstheRibList]

Well, we've added another smoker to the stable, a Vault from Pitmaker.com. I've heard several folks use that particular pit, and many of the Breathren praise their insulated cabinet smokers in general. So, when I'm done with the learning curve, I'm expecting great things! The Vault is an insulated, reverse flow vertical cabinet smoker. (I've told you guys about her before, but it's just really fun showing this picture!)




In between all the near constant rain days for the last 2 months, I've cooked on her about 6 times, and ran test burns another 4 or so. I've found it takes several hours to get her up to temp, using the coals in the firebox to heat her up. Pete at Pitmaker.com recommends using a propane torch to preheat the cooker, about 10 minutes overall (2 minutes per shelf and sides). I don't have any propane at the moment, but I've ordered a torch and will add that to the equipment mix. They also say that they rarely put water in the cooker, as it's not needed to get great results.

They recommended:
1.) Preheating with the weed burner.
2.) Making an "L" shape of charcoal, generally 3 across and 2 high of briquettes. General rule is 1 pound of charcoal per 10 pounds of meat in the cooker. Put wood chunks on top of the charcoal.
3.) Generally run the 1.5 inch ball valve at 45 degrees to keep the cooker at around 250 degrees once it's hot.

Since I don't have the pre-heating equipment at the moment, and want to learn to use it without pre-heating, here's what I've done:

A.) Put the charcoal in the L shape. Sometimes being precise on the count and stack, and sometimes less precise.
B.) Putting wook chunks on top of the charcoal with spacing.
C.) It takes 3-4 hours to heat up the cooker, with the ball valve between open and 45 degrees.
D.) I've reloaded coals when needed, repeating the L Shape.
E.) When the cooker has been slow to re-heat, or I've choked the coals too much to tap down the temp, I've opened the charcoal door, slid out the basket, and let the live coals re-engage and get a chance to get going again before I put it back in.
F.) I've gotten better at putting in the right amount of fuel to keep it from overheating.
G.) I've put water in the bottom as a heat-diffuser on the last couple attempts, including today.

Results so far:

i.) I'm getting radiant heat from the bottom of the cooker, charring the bottom of the food, even if I put it on an upper rack. (Haven't cooked much with water in the bottom, will try that tomorrow.)

ii.) The wood chunks in the firebox appears to be smoldering rather than burning? From my experience on the stickburner, smoldering wood is BAD, and the flavor is not good.

iii) Once the cooker is up to heat, it's not hard to get it too hot, either from having more fuel than needed, or running the valve too open. Once it's too hot, it's not quick to cool down. Once overhot, cutting down the airflow makes the wood/coals smolder even worse, and down goes the flavor.

iv.) Really poor smoke-ring. I'm guessing this is 100% from having too little airflow and a smoldering fire as a result. I'm guessing I need to arrange the amount of fuel so that I can leave that ball valve open and not overheat the pit.

v.) Inferior flavor. Nothing I've cooked in here has tasted great or even good yet. Again, I think its from a smoldering fire. Reminds me of my first days on the WSM, where I was choking the vents down to about closed to keep the temps in line.

Looks good, but tasting sub-par, and with ratiant heat negatively impacting the texture


I'm testing again tonight, with this fuel setup (3 on the bottom, 2 on top, with wood chunks):


I welcome your advice to help me up the learning curve with this type of smoker!
Thanks, paul