Snow.....Big problems?


 
Mike Gray

Mike Gray

TVWBB Super Fan
Tomorrow is the big day to fire up the new smoker. Everything is all set up but the weather is not going to cooperate with my plans. It's supposed to be about 34 degrees which is not the major issue, but we are now expecting at least 3 inches of snow. I know that rain can be an issue as well as wind but what about light snow?

I'm making ribs and plan to keep the temp between 230 and 250.
 
never experienced snow in socal but have smoked in the rain.

"all those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain..."

back on topic, I think wind is the biggest problem when smoking since it makes it harder to control temps. i think light snow should be just fine and fun!
 
I've not had too many problems smoking in light snow. Assuming you can get your charcoal lit w/out too much snow accumulating on it (which shouldn't be too hard), you should be find so long as snow doesn't build up inside the charcoal bowl. Once you get the smoker up to temperature, the snow will melt as soon as it hits the lid.

The biggest annoyance I've found with smoking in the snow is keeping the path from the door to the smoker clear so that I don't track snow into the house.

I will say, though, you might need to use a bit more charcoal than you normally would to account for the cold conditions.
 
Snow's not a problem. But Wind is.

You can cobble together a wind break easily, anything that blocks the wind's direct access to the bottom vents.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by TravisH:
Snow's not a problem. But Wind is.

You can cobble together a wind break easily, anything that blocks the wind's direct access to the bottom vents. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I would recommend blocking the wind from as much of the smoker as possible, not just the vents. The cold air moving across the smokers body will pull heat from the smoker and make it more difficult to maintain a constant temp and you will use more fuel. Snow will have the same affect as the wind but to a lesser extent depending on the amount of snow. If the snow melts immediately after landing on the smoker, then the effect is little but if you get a build up of snow before melting, then there is a heat pulling effect. I use a triangle shaped plywood wind block and have another piece of plywood to go over the top if the snow is too bad.

This info is just personal experience and observation of my cooking a lot in the cold and snow but as with my home fermenting, I track on paper every aspect of my cook and have enough data to show there is an effect from snow and wind that I adjust for those factors.
 
Mike, no worries... continue your cook AS PLANNED.
As stated above, keep away from wind (it's a smoker killer) and, if possible, keep your WSM covered from the snow...
lower outside temps do nothing to disturb your cookin', however, lack of enthusiasm does!
So... get out there an' smok'em!
 
No fear! The smoker is up and running and the ribs are going on in about an hour. Thanks all for the advice.
 
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