MeatyOakerSmoker
is Blowin Smoke!
- Joined
- Nov 15, 2010
- Location
- NJ
Hello
Weather around here is showing signs of Old Man Winter's arrival. I've always pretty much MacGyver solutions to the elements he throws at me but this year I wanted to take a more strategic approach. My tactical solutions worked well mostly because I always used my UDS which has I feel has a small exposed surface area compared to say an offset. Going through a good deal of previous posts I found some parts of the solution here and there but never a complete solution.
Precipitation
This is the most annoying one to me especially because weather forecasting sucks. I'd like to really solve this because it would help year round. In the past I've used upside down cardboard boxes over the openings to block rain/snow from getting into the smoker. However the boxes get soaked, smoker still gets wet lower temp, opening the smoker is difficult to wrap or do anything is a pain in the neck. I've seen people attach umbrellas to their smokers but I feel that's only good for a UDS/WSM sized smoker. The other thing I've seen is suggestions to use a fire retardant tent. Any recommendations on a reasonably priced tent? Or any other suggestions?
Wind
For this problem I just put my smoker somewhere where it's partially sheltered from the wind or try to put something to obstruct the wind from the vents. However moving the smoker isn't always feasible and sometimes it's obstructions don't always shelter the smoker from the wind well. I also have a smoker controller which helps with the USD and WSM but not so much with the offset. Really the worst case here is consuming more fuel and more fire tending but I was hoping to find a better solution than what I'm doing.
Cold
Welding blankets seem to be a popular choice for offsets. I've also seen some crazy concoctions for UDS's. Any other inexpensive choices?
I'm also going to get some snapware type container to put my HeaterMeter inside so I can use it in bad weather without worrying about it.
Thanks in advance for the input.
Sam
Weather around here is showing signs of Old Man Winter's arrival. I've always pretty much MacGyver solutions to the elements he throws at me but this year I wanted to take a more strategic approach. My tactical solutions worked well mostly because I always used my UDS which has I feel has a small exposed surface area compared to say an offset. Going through a good deal of previous posts I found some parts of the solution here and there but never a complete solution.
Precipitation
This is the most annoying one to me especially because weather forecasting sucks. I'd like to really solve this because it would help year round. In the past I've used upside down cardboard boxes over the openings to block rain/snow from getting into the smoker. However the boxes get soaked, smoker still gets wet lower temp, opening the smoker is difficult to wrap or do anything is a pain in the neck. I've seen people attach umbrellas to their smokers but I feel that's only good for a UDS/WSM sized smoker. The other thing I've seen is suggestions to use a fire retardant tent. Any recommendations on a reasonably priced tent? Or any other suggestions?
Wind
For this problem I just put my smoker somewhere where it's partially sheltered from the wind or try to put something to obstruct the wind from the vents. However moving the smoker isn't always feasible and sometimes it's obstructions don't always shelter the smoker from the wind well. I also have a smoker controller which helps with the USD and WSM but not so much with the offset. Really the worst case here is consuming more fuel and more fire tending but I was hoping to find a better solution than what I'm doing.
Cold
Welding blankets seem to be a popular choice for offsets. I've also seen some crazy concoctions for UDS's. Any other inexpensive choices?
I'm also going to get some snapware type container to put my HeaterMeter inside so I can use it in bad weather without worrying about it.
Thanks in advance for the input.
Sam