Temperature difference on OKJ-Longhorn-reverse flow

[dhubler]

Have been working with my new OKJ-Longhorn-reverse flow for a few weeks now.
I have done many modifications; hardly any smoke leakage.
Cooking results have been good.

What I am confused/concerned about:

The temperature difference. . . . . right-to-left.........in the cooking chamber is around 50 degrees.
Have done many measurements using my external temperature probe(s); always same results.


I thought that the reverse-flow was going to deliver a tighter temperature range.

Any thoughts/comments would be appreciated.

[JeffJ]

I have the regular-flow Highland and have done 2 dry-runs and 3 cooks. At the end of the day the OKJ is a cheap offset smoker and because of that maintaining consistent temps is a challenge. Even with mods its thinner walls makes it hard to evenly distribute heat.

[NapMaster]

I don't have any answers but I do have a question. Is it hotter next to the fire box or the other end? The answer might help more knowledgeable folks to offer some advice.

[RonB]

The temporary fix seems to be to be to switch sides with your product mid way through the cook until you get this figured out.

[dhubler]

Responding to some of the replies/comments:

-Maintaining temperature has not been a problem; at least it is not outside of my expectations.
The actual temperatures...............right-to-left............is where my question/problem lies.

-The hotter side is the firebox side.

-Right; have been compensating for this by moving the meat around on the cooking surface.

[Mr. Bones]

I'm at least as puzzled as yerself, an would love to know any additional details ya might have to spare...

I don't have OKJ's reverse flow, I have an earlier Highland, but my temp variant, side to side, is typically well less than half that, often more like 10% of what yer experiencin...based upon frequently calibrated Tru-Temps, at jus above grate level.

[jecucolo]

I would expect it to be hotter near the fire box unless you insulate the plate close to the fire box. I don’t see how it can be avoided. But there are a lot more experienced folks around here that will probably chime in.

[NapMaster]

I think your going to have to play with the baffles. I would pull the baffle furthest from the firebox and place it on top of the one closest to the firebox. This might increase insulation closest to the fire box and speed up heat movement toward the other end.

Another alternative would be to lengthen your stack to increase draw. With the stack next to the firebox end, the distance to pull the heat/smoke is about double that of the conventional stack position.

Just thinking outloud. Feel free to flush my thoughts. I often do.

[Jerod Broussard]

One thing about reverse flow is your are bringing heat BACK to the side it came out of. I placed a water pan on the fire box side to help out some.

[Henrik]

I haven't used that smoker in real life, just looked at some photos off of Amazon to get a better picture. How many baffles have you placed closest to the firebox? I.e. how far does the air have to travel before 'turning around' back up and over the food?

The smoke stack looks short. Can you lengthen it?
What fuel do you use. Wood? Charcoal? Briquettes?

[Ahumadora]

You need to specify which side is hotter. Firebox side? 50f difference? not always a bad thing to have uneven temps for different cuts of meat at the same time.

[jfmorris]

I like Jerod Broussard 's idea of putting a water pan on the baffle plate at the firebox end. I would imagine that the heat from the firebox is heating up the baffle plate on the reverse flow at that end, and causing radiant heat from the baffle plate to heat things up.

On some of the large reverse flows I have used, they were built to allow you to fill the entire baffle plate with water, and drain it out after the cook (I was cooking in a gravel parking lot, and dumped all the water and grease into a storm drain - probably not something you are supposed to do!). I think this helped even the heat out more. I've also used at least one where it was hotter at the opposite end from the firebox, where the hot air made the turn around the baffle to start coming back towards the stack.

Short of that, use this to your advantage. Knowing it is 50F hotter at one end, use that end to allow you to cook stuff like chicken or finish your ribs and so on to set the sauce, while smoking lower temp at the other end. If you have a smoker full of the same meat - say butts, you will just need to rotate them several times throughout the cook.

[JeffJ]

According to Franklin, the temp variance is usually a good thing. He always sets up his briskets with the points closer to the firebox than the flats.