I've got a CS-680, and I love it but it seems to require a ton of pellets to maintain temp. The smoke and low settings are useless and I have to be somewhere between low and high to maintain 220. After that it becomes a little unpredictable, burns a ton of pellets, puts out less smoke, and doesn't maintain temp as evenly. I know that one solution could be a different smoker, but I'm losing my job and probably changing careers so money could an issue for a few years. Any advice? I'm wondering if making some sort of insulated jacket for the barrel could help, although Country Smokers are made of pretty high gauge steel. Also wondering if there could be too much air leak around the lid, although I really don't see how that could matter too much given that the vent holes are good sized and higher up.
Any Country Smoker users out there?
- Thread starter addlime
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MossyMO
New member
- A welding blanket works well as an insulator.
- High heat silicone sealant will safely fill the cracks as it designed for use with ovens. If you want to seal the hood area better with it apply some sealant to the lid and put some Saran Wrap over the sealant and close the lid for it to dry overnight. This should form a nice tight gasket to cut down on heat loss also.
- An A-MAZE-N smoker burns pellets and will definitely add to the amount of smoke for about a $40 investment. Here is a good example - http://www.pelletsmoking.com/pellet-smoking-com-lounge-9/new-maze-n-pellet-tube-4435/
- High heat silicone sealant will safely fill the cracks as it designed for use with ovens. If you want to seal the hood area better with it apply some sealant to the lid and put some Saran Wrap over the sealant and close the lid for it to dry overnight. This should form a nice tight gasket to cut down on heat loss also.
- An A-MAZE-N smoker burns pellets and will definitely add to the amount of smoke for about a $40 investment. Here is a good example - http://www.pelletsmoking.com/pellet-smoking-com-lounge-9/new-maze-n-pellet-tube-4435/
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No, everything seems to run fine. It is the auger design. There does seem to be a tiny amount of air leak around the base of the firepot, so I need to re caulk that. My oven caulk doesn't seem to hold very well, maybe I need to prep the surface better. Honestly, I think it may be because I have the 680 model. Its a full barrel size, but only uses the same auger/firepot mechanism as the other, smaller models.
Air is key, so if that fire pot is not seating correctly that could be the root of your issues. I have a lot of experience with the 680s, and the issues you are having are usually always related to the fire pot not fitting right, (letting air escape other places other than the fire pot holes) or improper placement of it. Orange high heat silicone should work fine. It should seat up nicely. Also you do not want to block any of the exhaust holes...that will cause issues as well.