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| New 2400 watt element |
Since I had already cut a hole in the bottom of my smoker to accommodate my previous 1000w element which came with a control box, I had to cut out a new plate to cover up this hole. Otherwise, I would have had a great deal of heat loss through the hole. I still had some stainless steel plate left over from my door, so I cut out a small piece of that to fit over the hole.
I also had to notch out a hole in the plate to allow for the power prongs on the new element.
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| Existing hole made for previous burner element |
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| New cover plate with slot for power plug |
Everything fit very snugly in the bottom with minimal air gap for heat loss. I found the new burner was far more efficient in heating up the smoker. From a heat up time (to 200F) of about 30-45 minutes depending on outside temperature, I dropped to about 10 minutes. I was also able to gain and maintain temperature while cooking far more efficiently. This is great as I like to open up the smoker every 30-45 minutes to spritz on a "mop solution" to add flavor to the meat as well as some moisture.
In fact, the element was so good at maintaining heat that I had to keep unplugging it to prevent it from overshooting my desired temperature of 200F. Even after I unplugged it, the temperature would continue to rise another 10-15F before settling down. It would hold its temperature very well and would really only drop significantly when I opened the door to apply my mop. It would then drop to about 185 at which point I would plug it back in for about 5 minutes to get the temperature back up.
I am thinking that instead of a thermostat, all I really need is a simple toggle switch to either turn the element on or off. The thermostat would let me set a temperature and walk away but since I like to keep the meat mopped/basted every 30-45 minutes, I won't be doing much walking away anyhow.
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| New burner and plate in place |
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