Hi All :)
I am new to the forum and new to curing and smoking so you will probably hear a lot of questions from me in the near future.
I have just purchased the 6 rack digital. I set it up and seasoned it (smelled great) but I did notice a variation in temperature IE: set at 1500F the range was 1250F-1900F is this normal?
Everything seem to work OK so cant wait to give it a go!!!!! I shall be searching around the forum for some good cold and hot smoked Trout recipes as I will be smoking mainly Trout with fish up to 5kg in weight. I am still unsure about the procedure from curing to smoking but am looking forward to eating some smoked trout.
Thanks.
Itchy
W E L C O M E to the Forum itchybeard!
With no load in the box you will have some temp swings. It should settle down with some food in there. If they temp swings are still to much you can add on a device called a PID that will tighten it up significantly. But I would try it without the PID first.
Make sure you check out our recipe site. you can get the by clicking on the ribs at the bottom of this post.
Welcome to the forum itchybeard. Yep temp swings are normal, I put a couple of bricks in mine to help witht the temp swings. Keep the vent open while smoking.
Welcome to the Forum itchy.
Good to have you with us.
Welcome to the forum itchybeard. You will want to wrap those bricks in tinfoil first, that way when they get to gross you just rewrapped them. I put one in the bottom beside the water bowl away from the smoke generator and the other I put on the v-tray or the first rack if it is not being used.
You want to keep your vent open at least a 1/4 but usually 1/2. And for poultry wide open.
With the meat load in you will still get a temp swing of ten to 20 degrees but this will lessen as the meat comes up in temp. It is not a problem unless you are doing sausage or smoked salmon where you want a tighter control of the temps. That is where the aid of a PID comes in. With it you will only get temp swings between 2 to 4 degrees which keeps you from fatting out you sausages or getting the dreaded boogers on your salmon.
Thanks for the quick replies guys I really appreciate it. Lots of good ideas I will be looking at.
I knew this forum would be good!!!
I can concentrate now on getting some smoking done. I shall start tomorrow with some trout and who knows what after lol.
Forgive my ignorance but what is a PID? and if I need one where can I get one?
Also are you pleased with your digital smokers I must admit they look the buisness..
A PID is an accurate temp control device.
You can build your own PID if you are skilled in the electrical/electronic way, or you can buy a plug and play unit.
Plug and play PID http://www.auberins.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=14&zenid=14d105b3bc074b309bf86564fcca7325
Quote from: FLBentRider on April 25, 2010, 05:07:07 PM
A PID is an accurate temp control device.
You can build your own PID if you are skilled in the electrical/electronic way, or you can buy a plug and play unit.
Plug and play PID http://www.auberins.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=14&zenid=14d105b3bc074b309bf86564fcca7325
Thanks FLBentRider.
That has cleared up any confusion. I have put your recipe site into my favourites, looks good.
The really great thing about a PID is you can set it so the temp ramps up at set points. Like say you want to smoke at 120 for 2 hrs and then ramp the temp up to 160 for another amount of time and then ramp up again. This will do it so you don't have to.
Make sure you try Boutch's Smoked Trout (http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?445-Smoked-Trout)
Quote from: Quarlow on April 25, 2010, 09:12:52 PM
The really great thing about a PID is you can set it so the temp ramps up at set points. Like say you want to smoke at 120 for 2 hrs and then ramp the temp up to 160 for another amount of time and then ramp up again. This will do it so you don't have to.
Thanks Quarlow
That sounds good, could you tell me which one this is, the single or dual sensor PID, Also when connected how does it affect the digital smoke generator, eg do you use the one side only? Thanks.
Welcome itchybeard I have a 6 rack and love it. you will work out all the bugs and it will be fun
Quote from: Ketch22 on April 26, 2010, 03:17:31 AM
Welcome itchybeard I have a 6 rack and love it. you will work out all the bugs and it will be fun
Thanks Ketch22.
I cant wait to give it a go, just ordered some more briquettes Maple, Cherry, Apple, Hickory allready have a few oak. I have to order in bulk as it saves me
a fortune on shipping also not many places you can get them from here. :( I can now try some recipes from the forum having a variation off briquettes :).
I will keep you posted on how I get on. thanks for your help so far, keep it coming please I need it.
Cheers!!!
Quote from: itchybeard on April 26, 2010, 02:49:28 AM
Quote from: Quarlow on April 25, 2010, 09:12:52 PM
The really great thing about a PID is you can set it so the temp ramps up at set points. Like say you want to smoke at 120 for 2 hrs and then ramp the temp up to 160 for another amount of time and then ramp up again. This will do it so you don't have to.
Thanks Quarlow
That sounds good, could you tell me which one this is, the single or dual sensor PID, Also when connected how does it affect the digital smoke generator, eg do you use the one side only? Thanks.
You can get either one. The dual probe is the latest and greatest. With it you can monitor the cabinet temp and the food temp or if you get a second food probe you can monitor two different meats. I don't have one yet but I beleive it just controls the heating element and monitors the temp in the cabinet and meat, the smoke gen works seperately.
Don't let the folks scare you into getting one, I've had my digital for a while now and don't have the PID. It works just fine without it. That's not to say I'm not interested in getting one, but will wait until the cash flows in.
Put this in the "for what it's worth" (probably not much) box.
Did the seasoning thing today on my new 6-rack and decided to get some temp profiles as I did. Set-up was simple, here goes. Rack numbers are from bottom (1) to top (6). Rack 1 and 6 contained a foil wrapped brick, 1 each. Temp profile was 150 °F for 150 min (2.5 hrs) then 225 ° for another 150 min's. Smoke generator was on for first 60 min's, then off until 160 min's total, then on again until 220 min's. Oven temp was controlled via Auber dual probe PID controller with temp probe hanging between racks 3 & 4, the Tc position (midpoint of oven zone). Additional Polder probes were on rack 2 (one up from bottom) and 5 (one below the top). Temps were recorded periodically at intervals that depended upon the onset of a change in setting as well as stability. Temps vs. time are graphed as shown below, the legend is as follows:
T Set = control setting
Tc = Auber actual reading at control point midway between racks 3 & 4
T2 = temp on rack 2 center
T5 = temp on rack 5 center
TB = temp shown by Bradley oven thermistor
Here's the graph, no real surprises base upon what I have read from the many experienced members here, but it helps me visualize what is going on inside.
(http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll27/divedaddy/BDSCal01.jpg)
How did you create that graph??
Excel
Touché. :D
By hand? I mean, where did you get the times/temp logging points? Also by hand?
Logged the data by hand - only a few points well spaced. In a former life it was different - 1000 x-y pairs or x-y-z triples every 0.5 sec's. That WAS NOT by hand!!
Ahh, Ok. Very cool..
I thought you had a nifty logging thermometer that could upload to your PC. 8)
I used to do that kind of thing - about 30 years ago. It's not hard with the right interface and you can do it at a very high data rate. But that's not needed here. If I had the time and felt like wasting the money, about 30 points in the cabinet would allow me to develop a complete 3D thermal profile vs time and set point. If I used what I did 30 years ago, 30 measurements would take 15 milliseconds.
The real issue is if you put anything in the cabinet the profile will change - so it's not very useful. The only way to overcome that is forced convection, which has it's own drawbacks.
From what I got here are my basic takeaways:
1. low temp control via Auber PID with the generator on is limited to about ambient + 60-70 °F in the normal configuration (no cold smoke attachment)
2. Auber does an excellent job of control to that boundary
3. vertical thermal gradient in the absence of any interfering stuff (i,.e, no meats, just air) is about 4 °F per shelf at 225 °F.
4. vertical gradient increases with set temp (higher temp => greater gradient).
5. Bradley thermistor has a comparatively long time lag - probably the reason for the wide swings when it is the basis for control (likely a result of position and mounting)