Ambient Temperature & Control

[BuyLowSellHigh]

Today I got all the new toys hooked up and working for the first time - doing the seasoning thing.  I have a 6-rack and am using an Auber Dual Probe controller.  Temperature control is pretty impressive.  But there seems to be a limit based upon ambient temperature and whether the generator is on or not.  Auber mentions in the manual that lower temperature control is limited to ambient + 60 °F because of the heat added by the generator.  Today it's ~ 80 °F and when the generator is on the temp stays about 153 vs a set point of 150, after the generator is off, temp drops and holds 150 beautifully.  Seems Auber has it right when the smoke generator is in the usual place and on.

So this got me to thinking (usually a dangerous act), given I am down here on the TX Gulf coast and it gets quite warm in summer how can I do lower temp smoking, like bacon?  Or do I need to wait for winter?  So here's the question for the experienced ones -- how much heat is added via the generator when using the cold smoke accessory, or how close to ambient can the Auber control with the cold smoke accessory in place?

Eric

[FLBentRider]

The generator has a 125 watt element versus the 500W for the main.

Lower temp smoking is a challenge in your (and my) environment.

It should be able to hold 140F no problem, and I'm not sure why it can't adjust the the input of the SG, which is constant.

With just the SG on you can get the box to about 125F without the main element.

It might be worth an email to Auber for a clearer explanation.

[BuyLowSellHigh]

From the Auber manual ...

Low temperature control. The control result for temperatures below 125 F will not be as accurate as for higher temperatures when the smoker generator is on. This is because there are two heaters in the smoker tower. One is the smoker heater controlled by the PID controller. The other is the heater from the generator that is not controlled. Our test shows that the heater in the generator itself can raise the temperature of the smoker tower by 60 F (2 hours, in the shade with damper open). That means when the ambient temperature is at 70 F, the smoker can be heat up to 130 F in 2 hours by the heater of the generator (without using the heater in the smoker).

So what I am wondering is how much closer to ambient can control be maintained using the cold smoke accessory?

Of course there is the sun thing too, but I don't have an issue there as mine sits on a shaded porch.

[Toker]

Don't know if i understood your question correctly (forgive me if i did not) but i found that adding ice in the cold smoke chamber in the water bowl with the water and some ice pack in the tower with cold smoke adapter, you can get it colder. Hope i helped you.

[ArnieM]

If you build or buy a cold smoke adapter the cabinet should stay pretty close to ambient, assuming you don't fire up the cabinet heater. 

[BuyLowSellHigh]

Cool - thanks Arine!  That's what I was looking for.  I now have a good idea of how much heat the generator adds when it's attached to the tower, but had no idea of how much it might add when it's set up for cold smoking.  Down here I will probably be limited to a few weeks a year where true cold smoking is possible, but there is a lot of smoking I would like to do at temps less than 150-160 °F.