I have a Rodeo and have noticed that when I am cooking larger quantities of meat that I can't get the temp back up to my desired 250-275 range until the meat is almost done. I prep my fire the same way. I start with a fully lit bead of coals before closing the firebox and smoker lids, then wait for the temp to get to the 250-275 range before putting the meat on. Once the meat is on the temp goes below 200 and takes quite a while to get above 200. I open the firebox dampener all the way, firebox vents from 4 turns open to fully open and it doesn't seem to help. My last cook of 60 lbs of chicken leg quarters took over 2-1/2 hours to cook the top rack, which normally takes 2 hrs. After they came off I moved the quarters from the 3rd rack to the top and finished them in a little over 3 hours. Almost got me into trouble with a timed meal for our school.
Is this out of the ordinary or is the mass of cold meat just going to take longer? I thought about letting the meat warm up on the counter some before putting it on the smoker. Does anyone have any ideas?
Smokin Joe