Brick in smoker

[Northener]

When I recieved my #2 little over a year ago I was following talk on here about large temp swings during smoking. It was suggested to add a brick wrapped in alum foil and placed on rack above smoke box to act as a heat sink to moderate these temp hi's and low's. So I found a brick added it and have been using it ever since.

I have not smoked without it so I can give no recommendation for or against. Is any one else doing this? Maybe it's a waste of time.  Thoughts?

 

[SuperDave]

Jeff, had you done any smokes with and without the brick to measure temperature swings or were you just reading and trying to mitigate an issue in advance?  Personally, my opinion is that your meat acts as your heat sink.  Maybe if you had a very small item in the smoker an additional mass might be beneficial.

 

[NDKoze]

Are you talking about a regular 3-4"x7-8" or so brick? Got any pics of your setup?

I would be interested to see some comparison with or without the brick.

The swings don't bother me a bit as my temps average out and turn out just as good of results.

 

[SconnieQ]

Seems to me the brick would not be necessary, unless smoking meat without a lot of "mass" like shrimp, or one chicken breast, or something. You'll get temperature swings without the brick, but nothing detrimental to the majority of things.

 

[DivotMaker]

I've recommended a brick, or loaf pan full of sand, on the floor (not above the smoke box), when smoking small items.  But, I don't recommend wrapping it in foil...that's counterproductive.  The idea is to absorb heat, not reflect it.  I don't think it is necessary for large pieces of meat.

 

[Northener]

Thanks for the replies, think I will skip the brick idea. Yes, it was a standard brick used 2"x4"x8".  I only used the smoker a couple times when new without the brick,so I have no base line to say if it made much of a difference. I read somewhere about the brick idea to moderate temp swings. So I thought ,what the hay, I just really never thought much about it after I put it in there.

 

[SuperDave]

Reminds me of the great Pink Floyd song, "Another brick in the smoker". 

 

[JackT]

Reminds me of the great Pink Floyd song, "Another brick in the smoker".

Or, "if you don't eat your meat, how can you have any pudding? How can you have any pudding if you don't eat your meat?"
Certainly everyone on this site must get their share of pudding! Nuff said

 

[Pork Belly]

Seems to me the brick would not be necessary, unless smoking meat without a lot of "mass" like shrimp, or one chicken breast, or something

I have smoked everything from shrimp through 2 Hogs heads in my #3 mass of meat does not matter leave the bricks out.