Yoder Smokers Community Forum

After putting up with various big box store smokers, I've finally taken the plunge and purchased a real smoker. While I wait for the new unit to be delivered, I have a couple of questions.

First, are there any guidelines for meat placement in the smoker? I've seen posts where people say they do the large cuts (brisket/ butts) on the bottom grate and all others on the top rack. Is this the general consensus, or are there other considerations? I can see doing this when cooking multiple meats like in a comp, but if you are just doing some ribs is this still the case? Also, if you have to increase the controller temperature to get the necessary grate level temp on the top rack, why wouldn't you just use a lower setting on the controller and use the bottom rack?

Second, if you open the sliding door on the YS1500 HMP to increase the temp on the left side of the smoker, wouldn't this increase in heat directly from the burn pot cause the thermocouple which is located right above the opening to think the smoker is getting too hot, and the controller would slow the feed of pellets, effectively causing the rest of the smoker to get cooler?

Welcome aboard!

I cook full loads of food with no issues. The choice is yours as to where you cook. Here is an article on grate temperature versus suspended air temperature: viewtopic.php?f=49&t=1368

Here is the Yoder Smokers 101 series (I am working on part 3 and 4 for the YS1500, which will be posted soon): viewtopic.php?f=36&t=1923

The HMS plate damper will even out the temperature if opened sparingly, but, if you yank it wide open, yes, you will be grilling directly above the opening. More here: viewtopic.php?p=9070#p9070

Thanks Yoder_Herb! I've read all of those articles (and more) during my decision making process. I guess what I was looking for is some real world experience on where people like to place their meats and why, such as, "my ribs always burn or dry out when doing them on the lower grate so I always do them on the top", etc.

Also, I know that if you open the sliding plate all the way you would be direct grilling over the opening. My point was that with the thermocouple directly above the sliding plate, doesn't opening the plate even a little bit cause more heat to hit the thermocouple, therefore it would cause the controller to think that the whole smoker was getting hotter and reduce the flow of pellets to try to cool it down, which would cause unintended affects elsewhere in the smoker?

I invite you to be the first to read Part 3 of the YS1500 series: viewtopic.php?f=62&t=1941

No, opening the HMS does not influence the thermocouple, as the thermocouple guard in the YS1500 keeps this from happening.