Cold weather advice?

[coalescent]

Hello!

I just recently picked up a Bronco (non-Pro model) and I’m loving it so far, but I’ve struggled to keep the temps up when it’s below freezing with a strong wind here in New Hampshire.

I’ve been using standard Kingsford briquettes. I’m hoping to take a drive today to find some B&B in stock as I’ve noticed a lot of folks using that brand for longer smokes.

Open to any advice. Thank you!

So far I’ve smoked beer can chicken and the double-smoked ham recipe on the Bronco and my whole family is loving the results.

Bronco Beer Can Chicken





Double-Smoked Ham

[rickgregory]

Welding blanket.The only way to protect against winds is to have a wind break. If it were warm but winds were the issue, anything doing that would be fine. But if it's also very cold, draping a welding blanket over the cooler helps insulate things to.

HOWEVER. Not tarp, not anything else. Why? Because a welding blanket will be OK with the high temps it's exposed to when touching the Bronco. Think flame retardant

[Spinaker]

Yep, I use a felt welding blanket.

Some of the welding blankets are fiberglass, avoid those for obvious reasons, as the tend to shed. The felt ones are great.

Try this one here.

[RiverJeff]

The article along with this blanket says that one guy placed a moving blanket on top of it yet for even more heat retention!

[bbqLuv]

A cheap shed in which to cook, stabilize temperatures, and cut down on the wind.
Only a suggestion that works for some.

[STEbbq]

You could buy a Fireboard with a fan to help keep the temps up. However, blocking the wind is key to help the smoker get to temp. Once it is there, it can hold it much easier provided it has ample fuel (use more than usual!).

[Uncle Bob]

Ditto on the welding blanket solution for insulating. As for the wind, the suggestion about a wind break is appropriate. For the cooker the wind doesn't affect ambient temp around the drum, but it can mess with the exhaust draw, usually a siphon effect making temp management more difficult. If you've got a charcoal chimney you can set that over the stack to act as a wind break and not restrict airflow.

[Sid P]

First of all, your chicken looks amazing 👍👏😎.

Did you have any problem initially getting it up to temp? You’d obviously use more fuel, but I’m wondering what would happen if you started with twice as much lit charcoal, or maybe 50% more?

[coalescent]

Thank you!

I did have issues getting the drum up to temp with the chicken... I tried using only half a load of charcoal, and I used the lighting technique recommended in the manual (fire starter buried in the top layer of charcoal). With the wind chill inducing low-teens temps, it never got as hot as I wanted for the chicken, but I was able to get close enough for long enough that it still turned out great.

[coalescent]

Thank you all very much for the advice!

I will order a welding blanket right away, and will consult the wife on where we can add some kind of wind-break near the house for smoking purposes.

Thank you Uncle Bob for the tip with the charcoal chimney... I'm going to try that. I live on a hillside and it's almost always windy this time of year. I did have issues stabilizing the temperature, which surprised me given all the praise I've read of the Bronco's temp stability. Hopefully it's just a product of the wind situation and my inexperience.

Edit:

The Bronco's temporary home while I think of a wind-break location...

[rickgregory]

It looks very cold and lonely. You should feed it some meat.

BTW, the welding blanket will help the wind situation by itself since it will be between at least some of the Bronco and the air.

[Uncle Bob]

Poor little guy, standing out in the cold. I can hear him now......."Please let me in where it's warm, I'll be good, promise."

As for the lighting process you noted above, for short cooks where temp is desired to get up there "quickly" I prefer starting a batch of coals in the chimney and then dump them on the fuel bin load. That buried starter method is too slow and takes longer to get hot enough to clean up the smoke.

[HawkerXP]

Pull up your zipper.

[Finster]

Good info.
planning a cook for Christmas day with temps expected to be in the mid 20s. Not sure what wind conditions are expected to be. This will be my first time smoking in sub freezing weather. I don't have a welding blanket, but I'll load more fuel than usual, and expect the cook may take a little longer. My usual lighting method is dumping a chimney of lit coals, so I should be good there.
will be interesting to see how this plays out