Temperature or wood issue?

[TJ]

My smoker is about 8 years old. Lately I been noticing after the meat is done about 1/4 to 1/2 of the wood chunks are still in the pan. Cooking temperatures seem to be good and my smoking times have been about the same.

Is it time to replace the heating element or is the issue with the wood?
Or should I forget about it altogether?

 

[old sarge]

IF you are using a remote box temp probe and smoker temp is good, your wood might be too moist.  I would not worry about it. If your box temp is lower than what you are setting it, you may need a new element. With the smoker empty and box removed, fire it up at night for a minute or two and see if the element is uniformly bright with no black or gray areas. If not, get a new element. Elements through Smokin-it are inexpensive.

 

[swthorpe]

What old sarge said is a good way to check the element.  Another idea--if you use a temp probe inside the smoker box and you are getting up to temp in the normal heating time, then it probably is the wood.    When I start smoking meat, it always takes about 45 minutes to complete the initial heating cycle up to 230-240*.    If I started noticing that it was taking much longer to get through the first cycle, I would be thinking the element might be going bad.

My #2 is 9 years old, I believe, and I did replace the element a few years back--inexpensive and easy to do. 

 

[TJ]

Must of been the wood. Last smoke 85% of the wood chunks turned to ash. I did remove the wood box and turned the smoker on. Once the element was hot it was red its entire length.
Thanks for the info

 

[swthorpe]

Sounds like you are good to go, TJ!  Happy smoking!