Are two electric burners better than one?

Question

I built a smoker. It is 3 x 3 inside. well insulated. i put one electric hotplate burner inside and I can bring the temperature up to 145°. I need the temperature to reach 200° for my jerky. The question is this...... Will a second burner like the first raise the temperature more or not. I personnally feel two will still only heat to the 145° mark.

Answer 1

A second burner will add heat. If you could theorhetically continue to add burners eventually the temperature inside the enclosure would be exactly the same as the surface of the burners. So an additional burner should give you a sizable increase in temperature. You are close already, so a second should push you over the top.

Answer 2

It should raise the temperature of the smoker. The heating elements should be capable of going somewhere above 212 degrees (temperature needed to boil water), so the extra heating capacity should raise the temperature inside the smoker. Be careful how you arrange them inside your smoker so that they don't overlap.