I have the same smoker. The temperature will drop when you put the meat in seeing it is cold, also when you add water to the pan or open the door. It should recover, but it will be a little lower than the set temperature. When it was cold out 15-30 degree I would set my temperature at 300 degrees to maintain 250 degrees. A warm day 50-65 degrees I set it at 250, it'll drop then recover to the 245-250ish temperatures.
I have issues similar to this. I live in Upstate NY so it's a cooler climate. I have done many things to help stabilize the cooking temps. I have purchased a blanket, Heat Deflector Mod & stainless steel Flame Diffuser. I am still waiting for the new control panel that Pit Boss shipped, should be here Friday. One of the things I just started doing on my last cook was adjusting the smoke stack cap. All of these things help, but you still have to keep an eye of the cooking temp at the center of the grill where your cooking. Mind you, I have only been smoking now for just about a month. It's a learning curve and nice to have a place like this forum to talk about everything with others.
