I’m on my 5th smoke with my new recteq and have a question on the varying temps with the smoker. It could be normal, but it keeps dropping and raising 50deg past the set point of 225°. Is that fluctuation normal or does it seem excessive? Would love some input on this
by emclaur1
11 Comments
That seems like too much fluctuation, 5 plus or minus 5 maybe 10 degrees I would say is normal, but not 50 that’s a lot.
Not normal I don’t think. Once I get to set temp mine stays within a degree or two unless I open the lid for a prolonged time.
Not normal.
This is my experience. I see dips and spikes when I open the lid for a while (like the graph around noon or so). But nothing like what you are seeing.
https://preview.redd.it/niduus47jw6g1.png?width=1007&format=png&auto=webp&s=d766ed384a1f8ee181aced59ec77798dba08f020
This was in 40-50 F temps outside. I use Bear Mountain Gourmet Blend pellets very exclusively. And get very consistent results.
I’m not saying its your pellets. But there’s something not right.
Mine holds within 2 degrees of the setting once it reaches temp. This looks like the chart for a Traeger.
Is the blue line the temp of your meat? If so, that seems like a very smooth temp increase.
No way the temp inside your smoker is swinging that much. Could be a problem with the sensor and it should be addressed, but I don’t believe the temp could be spiking and cooling that quickly.
You need an extra air probe
Are you doing anything crazy during preheating?
There is either something wrong with yours or you are causing it. This image the was 15 degrees F outside. As you can see, during preheat it does is PID tuning. That’s where it determines exactly how much of the current pellets in the current weather will I need to be able to adjust the temp as I want. It does this by getting to temp then purposely dropping down then getting to temp again and it will do this until it’s confident that it has the right algorithm to hold temp.
It will give you a notification on when it’s “preheated” and that’s when you can start opening the hood and adding food. Then you can see after I opened the hood, the changes are so small you can’t see them in this view.
https://preview.redd.it/6ky0kubu3z6g1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5fb32729e8d48cfdcd09631003129bf9eb4f9b4d
My Bullseye Deluxe holds temp within a couple degrees with Bear Mountain pellets and wild swings using Traeger pellets.
Check your exhaust tube, see if it’s clogged with creosote. Pellets are wood and it can build up and cause you airflow restrictions which in turn can cause odd problems. Ask me how I know.
I had some temp swings when I first started using it, but nothing quite as big as 50 degrees over and under the set temp. Mine usually fluctuates maybe 10-15 degrees.
Have you tried moving the temp probe or making sure it’s super clean? Also, wind and outside temp can mess with things. For me, making sure the fire pot wasn’t overfilled and cleaning out ash helped a lot.