using the auber pid with a digital smoker

[mikeraste]

Hi

This is my first post and my first time to the web site.  I can't wait to get a smoker soon. 
My question is in regards to the auber smoker control.  Do you use this on a digital bradley smoker or does the digital control eliminate the need for the auber.  I would like the programability of the auber as I plan on doing a lot of salmon and they need different temperatures for different amounts of time.  Does the digital bradley smoker make the auber smoker control unnecessary?  Would you use the auber control on the original bradley smoker?  Does the digital bradley control accept programming?
Any help will be appreciated.  I have not bought anything yet and am trying to figure out the best combination.

Thanks

[Mr Walleye]

Hi Mike and welcome to the forum.

I think the idea of the DBS was to have tighter control of the temperature and to a certain extent it does. What it does give you is the ability to roughly maintain a temperature range such as 210 degrees for a pork butt. Unfortunately it is an on/off control so typically it will reach it's temp, then the control will shut the heater off, the temp will continue to climb as the heater cools down until the temp begins to drop. As the temperature drops and it goes past the set temp the heater will kick in again but the temp will continue to drop until the heater is warmed back up. This is what is refereed to as the temp swing and is typically around 10 degrees either side of the set point. It really isn't an issue for doing things like ribs or butts but if you plan to doing things such as sausage or as you mentioned salmon, you would be better off with a PID. Because of this You are probably better of buying the OBS and a PID.

A PID can be hooked up to both an OBS and a DBS. I have a DBS but decided I wanted tighter temp control for certain things and went with a PID.

The DBS control does not accept any form of programing except for how long you want it to run and the set temp but you can't program it to "ramp" temps. If you do buy a PID and want it to have the ability to ramp temps during a smoke, make sure you buy a PID that has that ability.

Mike

[beefmann]

mike,

first off welcome to the fourm ...I  would  recomend the orginial 4 rack smoker... in my  2 years  of using   a bradley i never  needed a  larger one. So the 4 rack  orginal  will do fine  with the pid, I personally  love it with the PID and it has a 2 or  3 degree  swing and mine has a 900 watt finned heater in it and still very  tight tempture controll ...

if this is what you  are  looking  at i would  look at this PID:
http://auberins.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=5
( you might have to do a cut and paste to browser )

nice thing about it is you  can set  it  up to run your smoke generator for 2 to 4 hours ... then automaticaly  turn to  cooking untill finished.. auber has  others   that  caan  controll  heat  only if that  is wnat you  want

good  luck on your  dercision

[mikeraste]

Thanks guys.

Your input is valuable.  I think I will pick up the OBS this week and try it for awhile.  I will slip the PID in later when my wife isn't looking. ;D

[Gizmo]

Always a good plan there.

[deb415611]

Thanks guys.

Your input is valuable.  I think I will pick up the OBS this week and try it for awhile.  I will slip the PID in later when my wife isn't looking. ;D

Always a good plan there.

Plan works with husbands too!


Welcome Mikeraste

[bubba_39211]

Beefman said:

"mike,

first off welcome to the fourm ...I  would  recomend the orginial 4 rack smoker... in my  2 years  of using   a bradley i never  needed a  larger one. So the 4 rack  orginal  will do fine  with the pid, I personally  love it with the PID and it has a 2 or  3 degree  swing and mine has a 900 watt finned heater in it and still very  tight tempture controll ...

if this is what you  are  looking  at i would  look at this PID:
http://auberins.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=5
( you might have to do a cut and paste to browser )

nice thing about it is you  can set  it  up to run your smoke generator for 2 to 4 hours ... then automaticaly  turn to  cooking untill finished.. auber has  others   that  caan  controll  heat  only if that  is wnat you  want

good  luck on your  dercision"

I'm in a similar position about the PID, but I do not understand the difference between the one you reference above and this one
http://auberins.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=14&products_id=72

Can someone elaborate?

BTW, the Bradley Original is on sale at Cabelas for $250 and $14 shipping.

Thanks,

Bubba

[Mr Walleye]

Hi Bubba and welcome to the forum.

The PID that Beefman provided the link for is the control unit only. You would build it into a project box along with some other components. Here is a link to a set of plans over on the recipe site. http://susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?p=504#post504

The one you posted a link for is a pre-built one that Auber themselves have started to build. More of a Plug N Play model. A number of forum members have these as well. I built my own a couple of years ago, prior to the Plug N Play models being available.

Also, if you haven't already you should click on the smoker in the bottom of my post. It will take you to the recipe site, lots of great stuff there.

Mike

[bubba_39211]

Thanks, Mr. Walleye.

That was very helpful! ;D