Hello all,
Briskets went in this morning at 9:45a.m.(I overslept). It is now 7.5 hrs later, and the BBQ Guru(Competetor) is working it's magic. I am so pleased I bought it! I set the unit to 205 Bradley temp and 180 meat temp. I turned it on, pushing the alarm silence button (Good neighbor feature). I walked away and after 4 hours of smoke, it has consistently maintained the BS temp at exactly 205 degrees without having to constantly move the slider to get it at the exact temp.
At this writing the meat temp is at 168-170. I rotated the meat shelves at 4 hours and recovery time a factor as unit had to make-up for the 30 degrees lost when I opened the door to rotate shelves.
I am using the Ramp feature. The ramp feature is used for slow cooks so your meat never over cooks. This feature will gradually lower the BS temp to the meat set set point temp when it gets within 25 degrees of being done. The Competitor will hold the temp at your meat set point as long as it is getting electricity.
After the biskettes were used up, I could actually turn off the smoke generator completely, as the Competitor via the special interface built for me which will be marketed as "The Raptor," controls the heating lamp. It is an add on for those of you that already have a BBQ Guru Competitor.
I left the smoke generator on so the additional electrical heat to keep box up to tem. The Raptor has a plug and heatsync inside a stainless steel box that you plug the BS plug into. You crank up the slider switch to full on, and the Raptor working with the Guru Competitor controller pulses on and off to keep the heat in the box "on the money."
Wife is working in the kitchen now preparing for company tomorrow (#60 Birthday for me), so I will probably be going out and pulling the Briskets, and wrapping with foil and towel for the "resting" period of about 2 hours.
I promised pictures. I have taken some. The URLs are a couple of posts down.
I give it a 10 on a 10 out of 10 scale. I am quite impressed with how easy this will make my smoking times easier to manage! The only thing you have to do for long smokes is to come back after 4 hrs to rotate your meat and change the water.
Bill
Bill: The price! Yikes!!! Ouch! Wow! Holy Crap! Jeez! Man, that's expensive at $185 and up depending on the model!
"A mans got to know his limitations"
Glendora, CA - USA!
Hi Fuzzy,
It is universal, and the only thing new is the Raptor. It always has been expensive. You can use it on any pit, you just have to have to get a fan control for the specific pit you use. He is offering us a discount. The stress-free operation and time away from watching the BS is worth it to me. Not cheap, but sure does work well.
Bill
Bill,
I am eagerly awaiting the pics. I use //www.photobucket.com
to upload pics. Its very easy to use an its free. I will definitely purchase the raptor to go along with my exsisting competitor. I think the raptor setup will work better than my ceramic cooker setup because I can control the exact amount of smoke.[:D][:D]
Jeff
www.bbqshopping.com
Some say BBQ is in your blood, if thats true my blood must be BBQ sauce.
Some time ago I posted these pictures. I was using Photo Bucket for free. After awhile, the pictures disappeared. Too many looked at them, I guess. They are back due to requests for pictures.
Here are the links to pictures.
The High Mounting of the Competitor:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v499/nsxbill/0011HighMount.jpg)
The Competitor
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v499/nsxbill/0009Competitor.jpg)
Delivery Vehicle When Speed Counts (Why my name is NSXBILL-My Lic plate) This couple is admiring my dog - Chumley, a 4lb Yorkshire Terrier. He is known as "The Road Warrior" in the NSX club. He travels with me when racing out of town. Wife complains I drive too fast. The dog doesn't complain.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v499/nsxbill/NSXPebbleBeach.jpg)
Offroad Smoker Vehicle:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v499/nsxbill/GettingWet.jpg)
Here is link to previous discussion on Controlling the BS Temperature:
http://forum.bradleysmoker.co.uk/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=400
Will post up pictures of the Procom4 when Shotgun Fred makes them available. I bought one when they were just planning release and on special introctory offer. There has been a delay in shipping due to graphics problem on front of controller.
Comments & Qustions Welcomed!
Bill
Nice setup Bill. Your GURU stuff looks like mine, just replace the fan with raptor box and walaa ready to smoke with no temp adjustments. My Guru has really put me in a place where I can concentrate more on rubs, procedures, cuts of meat, etc. I still find myself hanging around my smokers when I'm cooking but so far all results ahave been exceptional. The ramp mode actually saved my butt (literally)the weekend I smoked a Kobe brisket. Due to the higher marbling it cooked much faster than anticipated, but no problems, the Guru had ramped the temp down and all was good. All this was accomplished while I was sleeping.[;)]
Jeff
www.bbqshopping.com
Some say BBQ is in your blood, if thats true my blood must be BBQ sauce.
I can see the Bradley from my chair in the Family room, but like I said earlier. I don't want to be a slave to it, and also want to enjoy some piece of mind, or watch my beloved Raiders without having to run out to adjust the temperature. Worth the extra bucks to me, and who knows might just get one of those green egg ovals one day!
Sorry for Tampa Bay that Hurricane Raiders had to add insult to your injuries there in Florida Dow! But very happy with their performance on Sunday. Watched in High Def on ESPN. WOW! What a game!
Bill
I see Shotgun Fred is registered for the Atlanta Eggfest on Oct. 16th. Maybe I'll hit him up for a little extra discount for a Raptor since I'll be a repeat customer.[:D]
P.S. I'm glad to see anybody beat "Chuckie" and Tampa Bay. I would love to see the Falcons beat them twice this year.
Jeff
www.bbqshopping.com
Some say BBQ is in your blood, if thats true my blood must be BBQ sauce.
Jeff, make sure to tell him I posted info up on our forum and that I let everyone know about the Guru-Raptor.
Atlanta, huh. Man, Vick is something else. IF he stays health he and McNabb will both be Hall of Famers!
On my way to Sam's now. I think I am going to pick up one of those big butts and smoke again on Wednesday. I've got the fever now, and want to see if I can improve on my last pork butt experience. Going to use the mustard sauce, use a salt shaker to add rum, and just might put Rasberry Chipotle sauce on one half. [:p]
Bill
Ver nice setup Bill, unfortunately, now that I'm moving, the missus had to resign her job....this puts a serious dent in my "free" money so it is doubtful that I'll be able to hookup the Raptor for at least 6 months or so...oh well.....
"A mans got to know his limitations"
Glendora, CA - USA!
Thanks for the pics and keeping us posted. Happy 60th !
No picture of you and the cake...or brisket?
Cold Smoke
Cold Smoke:
Thanks for the Happy Birthday! Re: the picture of the cook, you must have missed the fold-out. Here is a picture of my other babies..one of which is the Bradley assault vehicle.
The other is a picture of my hot rod. I was racing this a couple of times a year, but too old, and reflexes slowing down! It was taken a couple of years ago on the way to Laguna Seca with the NSX club. This car has over 225K miles. Only 3 liters, it cranks out about 300HP from a V6. It weighs about 3000#. Used to do High 11 second quarter after I put in 4:55 gears! The Bradley won't fit in the trunk!
Bill
Sorry Bill,
Missed the Birthday, got caught up in the Guru stuff. Happy 60th and at least 40 more. Man I really like the "Bradley Aassault Vehicle". It isn't anything like the ones I drove over in Germany. The seats in those were so hard you had to have a cushion or pillow just so your butt wouldn't go numb[:)] and I never could find any decent FM on that darn radio that was in it. I do miss that German beer though[:(].
Jeff
www.bbqshopping.com
Some say BBQ is in your blood, if thats true my blood must be BBQ sauce.
<font color="blue">Jeff(Big Smoker)</font id="blue">,
Question for you re: The BBQ Guru. I am pretty new to controlled smoking of meats. Have been using water Brinkman for years, but no science to that. Basic questions on Brisket.
The Guru's ramping feature describes setting the pit temp high, and then the unit controls ramp down as the meat temp goes up and then on parallel course within 15 degrees. When you are using your green egg, do you start at a low temp, or high temp and let the Guru ramp down to do a slow cook? I picked up some killer briskets last night and going to do some tomorrow after a rub down and overnight in the refrigerator.
<font color="red">How about anyone else?</font id="red">
When you describe the best brisket you have done, do you just start at low temp and keep the temp low through the entire period of smoke and the continuing slow cooking without smoke?
Thanks,
Bill
NSXBill, those sure are nice babies you got there. I've been thinking of getting one of those assault vehicles....when I hit the lotto![:D] It looks like you know how to have fun.
Work hard, play harder! Way to go!
Cold Smoke
Bill,
I have only had my Guru for a few months so I am no expert but from what I have experienced so far and heard is as follows. You can start at a higher temp for a faster cook without the loss of moisture in the ramp mode. I personally have only used the ramp mode for insurance on overnight cooks. Seems like I remember on one of the instruction sheets they don't recommend ramp mode. I think they show some graphs on the guru site about starting at a higher temp and then the guru ramping the temp of the pit down until the meat and pit temp is equal or pit temp just a little less. Brisket is basically the same as cooking butt. It all seems to evolve around the plateau. Once the pleateau is complete you can also raise the temp to finish. By temp raise I mean going from 235 to 275f in the non ramp mode. So far I have started slow and ended slow. I always try and make sure I allow 1 1/2 hrs. per pound when cooking brisket @ 225-250f. Most times this works out. When cooking a butt I usually get up early and finish around supper so I haven't felt the need to use the ramp mode. I think overnight in the fridge with rub(mustard to if you want, Bradley seems to hold in plenty of moisture though)is a great idea. Cook/smoke brisket(I have sorta gotten partical to pecan for 4 hours)until internal temp is 185f. Wrap brisket in heavy duty foil then 2 old towels and in the empty cooler for 2hrs(the brisket will stay hot for at least 8 hrs). I think this procedure is standard for most brisket cookers. You must at least let the brisket rest for 45 min. before cutting. This allows for the juices to redistribute. If you cut a brisket straight of the smoker all the juice will run out and your brisket will be dry as a bone. Good luck with the briskets and let us know how they turn out. P.S. I just tried some coffee infused rub on a steak last night. It was incredible. Next brisket will be rubbed down with this stuff[:p][:p]
Jeff
www.bbqshopping.com
Some say BBQ is in your blood, if thats true my blood must be BBQ sauce.
Jeff,
Last Brisket I just preheated the cabinet, and set BS cook temp at 205 and walked away with the meat set point at 185. Smoked with Maple for 4 hours with the vent open about 1/8th. This time, because this brisket looks soooo lean, I am going to bard with bacon or put on top shelf to drip down, do the 4 hour thing, and then apply some mild tasty sweet sauce and try wrapping in Saran and foil, and continuing to cook the meat wrapped-up for the remainder of the cooking time. Someone raved about the results.
I will probably consume the bacon with some Alaskan Amber [^] instead of including the bacon in the foil packs. [:p] Will probably rewrap before the hours in the cooler post-smoking wrapped in towel.
Comments [?] Suggestions [?] Lots of time, as will be saucing and rubbing tonight to start the cook about 3 a.m.
Damn it is nice to be able to ask the experts on this list!
Bill
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Lots of time, as will be saucing and rubbing tonight<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
Yikes! Chez, I'm afeared....what's your take on this from our buddy Bill?
"A mans got to know his limitations"
Glendora, CA - USA!
Ouch...how my words are twisted - didn't even give suggestions! [V]
Bill
Hey Bill, I'm sitting here laughing my butt (pork?) off...that was too funny!
What city are you in out here in CA???
"A mans got to know his limitations"
Glendora, CA - USA!
I am 30 miles east of Sacramento on Highway 50 going towards Lake Tahoe. Community of Cameron Park/Shingle Springs.
Bill
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Fuzzybear</i>
[brYikes! Chez, I'm afeared....what's your take on this from our buddy Bill?<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">You beat me to it again Fuzz![:)]
To answer your question, he is either:
A) Gonna have some great Q tomorrow.
or
B) Get arrested.
Bad boys, bad boys, whatcha gonna do? Whatcha gonna do when they Q for you?[:D]
Kirk
http://www.chezbubba.com
Ya think next time I check into a hotel & they ask "Smoking or Non?" they would mind?
A very nice part of the State, Bill...now I understand the need for the Bradley Tank Hummer!
"A mans got to know his limitations"
Glendora, CA - USA!
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by nsxbill</i>
<br />try wrapping in Saran and foil, and continuing to cook the meat wrapped-up for the remainder of the cooking time.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
Bill,
Did they continue cooking with the brisket wrapped in saran wrap or cooked the brisket then wrapped in saran wrap for the resting period?
Jeff
www.bbqshopping.com
Some say BBQ is in your blood, if thats true my blood must be BBQ sauce.
One of the guys said in his recent experience with brisket, that he wrapped after smoking 4 hours in saran and then foil, and finished cooking the rest of the way wrapped. The one thing done prior to wrapping it up is turning the brisket over to make fat side down, and applying bbq sauce on top, then wrapping up for the rest of the time.
I was going to do that this morning, but did a couple of whole chickens last night, and we have food coming out our ears. Son is coming over Sunday with his gf, so will probably smoke the briskets over Sat night-Sunday morning. I will let you know how everything comes out.
Hey gentlemen <font color="blue">(Including Fuzzy and Chez)</font id="blue">, how about some discusion on vent management. When I have meat smoking I have the vent open about 1/8th. Is this something everyone does?<font color="red">How about after the smoking is completed, and you are going for long slow cook? Do you completely close the vent?</font id="red">
Bill
I only close the vent fully when warming up the Bradley...during cooking and after smoke, I move it around from 1/8 to 1/4 to regulate the temp but never close it all the way...
"A mans got to know his limitations"
Glendora, CA - USA!
What makes the difference on the setting for you? I usually just leave it cracked about 1/8 open. What application would you have it opened more besides cold smoking?
Thanks!
Bill
I leave the vent open all the way for the first half hour and then close it just so the smoke does not come out from between the generator and the cabinet. I leave it there thru the whole smoke.
<i><font color="blue"><b>Jack</i></font id="blue"></b>
Hi Jack,
Do you leave it closed after smoking completed too. I usually smoke for about 4 hours then just the item I am cooking cook for remainder of time without smoke.
Bill
Bill: The difference in how wide the opening on the vent from my point of view is to regulate the temp...sometimes (hot summer months) I need to keep it open as much as possible to keep the temp down...winter time, I'd be apt to close it more to keep the temp up...
In any event, since the idea is to "dry" heat the meat, I'd be wanting moisture escaping all the time
"A mans got to know his limitations"
Glendora, CA - USA!
nsxbill,
You might want to open the vent more if you're doing some jerky or if you notice moisture build up. Sometimes on rare occasion I have had the moisture seeping at the door which is a big no-no cause of the electronics below.
Like fuzzy says, its mostly for temp control in my observation. I seldom open it very wide, like you, maybe an eighth. Just enough to keep the smoke from coming back up the generator. I find that I generally need it closed to get the cabinet temp to where I want it to cook at.
<b><font color="green">whitetailfan</font id="green"></b>
"Nice Rack"
Lethbridge, AB
I agree with all above, remove the moisture to get good bark.
When I do butts, it's open 1/2 to 3/4 unless it's Indiana-winter-time.
Another thing to consider is: Are you cookin' 1 piece or a smoker full of 40#.
Kirk
http://www.chezbubba.com
Ya think next time I check into a hotel & they ask "Smoking or Non?" they would mind?
Geewizz you boys are way out of my league when you start playing in the mud with a Hummer >:(