Temp setting vs. actual temp

keanjr · November 21, 2009, 04:31:47 AM

i have 2 questions for the group.
I unpackaged the 4 rack digital BS last night and started to tinker with it before i took it out on the deck.
Everything worked great. I turned the oven on and set the Temp. when the smoker reached the temp it kept climbing about 12 degrees higher than the setting. any reason for this?

I live in the upper midwest where the winter nights are cold, windy, and snowy so i bought a cover.
Are there any problems with leaving the BS out on the deck covered all winter and is there a problem with firing it up when the outside temp is below 0?

I really enjoy this forum. there is alot of useful information.

Quarlow · November 21, 2009, 07:34:54 AM

Hello Keanjr and welcome to the forum. Many of the folks on here do leave theres out all year round with the cover, however you are in a cold moist area and that is never good for electronics. I would not leave the smoke generator out all the time. It is so easy to just lift it of and store in a cupboard or closet. I bring my whole unit in as to leave it out around my neighbourhood would be to have boughten some needy SOB a Bradley. Plus I want to expose it to the elements of the west coast of B.C. As for the temp going up, there is a temp swing to these. If it went up and did not come back down then there maybe something to look at and one of the guys who are more knowledgable than me we be along to help. If you have lurked around here for awhile like most people do before they intro themselves, you may have seen us talk about PID's which is a very accurate temp controller that you can program the temp swings to within one degree. I hope this helps and someone else will chime in soon.

Tenpoint5 · November 21, 2009, 07:37:42 AM

The temp will swing +/- up to 10* with the digital it is normal

Welcome Aboard Keanjr

Hopefull Romantic · November 21, 2009, 08:50:24 AM

Hi there Keanjr

I agree with Q on where to store your smoker. I have mine, so far, on the balcony away from wind, wain and snow and covered.

The least you could do is what Q said about dismanteling the smoke generator and put it indoors. Much better for the electronics.

HR

keanjr · November 21, 2009, 02:09:19 PM

good idea on bringing in the generator.
on the temp i only had it on for 10 minutes so did not give it a chance to see if it levels out. thanks for the input.
i am addicted to this forum and all the ideas that come from this.

Habanero Smoker · November 22, 2009, 01:47:52 AM

If you bring it indoors you may also want to store it in a plastic bag. I know that the times I bring my generator indoors the smoke smell can permeate the room.

KevinG · November 22, 2009, 07:43:29 AM

Quote from: Habanero Smoker on November 22, 2009, 01:47:52 AM
If you bring it indoors you may also want to store it in a plastic bag. I know that the times I bring my generator indoors the smoke smell can permeate the room.

And that's a bad thing? ???

Quarlow · November 22, 2009, 09:03:41 AM

LOL, I keep my whole unit by the backdoor in the kitchen. Everyone loves it when they walk near it"dad when are you going to smoke something". I would keep the vent closed and it was always getting opened. Found out my oldest was opening it cause she just loved the smell. I can remember every so often opening up dads old 3'x3'x12' plywood smoker and just breathing in the smell. This IS an addiction from childhood.

DjSaneR · November 23, 2009, 10:26:44 AM

Definitely pick up a Maverick et-73 or something similar. If you do a search on my name you'll find a few posts I had about the temp accuracy. http://www.homebrands.com/maresmth.html $39 shipped.

RAF128 · November 23, 2009, 12:41:27 PM

Quote from: Tenpoint5 on November 21, 2009, 07:37:42 AM
The temp will swing +/- up to 10* with the digital it is normal

Welcome Aboard Keanjr

Mine is a 6 rack and it swings much more. It goes over the set temp by about 5 degrees and drops below as much as 18 or 19 degrees. Today I tried to see what the max temp would get to. It got to 269 on the digital read out. I also put a temp prob in the tower and it read 270.

projump · November 25, 2009, 05:53:27 PM

Hello alll smokers,
I'v have two 10 lb butts and a 1.5 lb loin in the 4 rack digital. The temp is set at 210. The digital readout on the front of the smoke gen. says the oven temp is 207. However I put a oven temp guage (analog) in the smoker and it reads the temp at 170. Thats 37 degrees difference. Any ideas as to the accuracy of the digital oven temp readout on these Bradleys? Thanks
PS I am going to put a digital meat probe in the oven and see what it reads.

projump · November 25, 2009, 06:23:47 PM

Update: Interesting Info= I took my Acurite temp probe with digital readout and let the probe hang from the 3rd rack. It showed 208 degrees and the Bradley showed 210 degrees. So they are within 2 degrees of each other. Also nice to know that the bradley oven readout temp is pretty accurate. The little round oven temp guage from Wal-mart is junk.
Keanjr as others have said, my Bradley temp will also vary +/- 10 degrees during the cooking cycle.

keanjr · November 29, 2009, 12:21:10 PM

thanks for all the input. I have learned a few things after my first 2 smokes. allow 45 minutes for the unit to heat up. Set a higher temp to begin with and adjust down to desired cook time. one other thing I learned after using the unit twice is that i need to advance the pucks when i turn on the smoker otherwise it will take 40 minutes before it starts smoking anythig.

KyNola · November 29, 2009, 01:03:04 PM

keanjr,
You're learning buddy. All of the things you mentioned that you had learned are good points for all new users to know.

Thanks for continuing to post.

KyNola

ArnieM · November 29, 2009, 04:51:52 PM

Hi keanjr,

The temp swing is normal for a fairly simple minded controller. Consider the following example.

Set the temp to say 210. When it hits 210, the controller will shut down the heating element. The temp will continue to coast up some. Then, it'll start cooling. Once below 210 the heating element will be turned on again. But the temp will still drop for a while. Then it'll start coming back up again and the cycle will repeat.

Your kitchen oven and house heating thermostat do basically the same thing. If you'd like to do an experiment, put a wired or remote probe in your oven. Set the oven to 300, get a couple of tall cool ones, relax and watch the temp swings. My oven, with a digital readout, says "I'm at 300 now". But, that's the set point, not the actual oven temp.

Some controllers are smarter than others. They can anticipate when to power down and up. This reduces the amount of overshoot and undershoot and maintains a tighter range around the set point. The Auber PID is supposed to be one of those. I don't have one.

Making a long story short, don't worry about it. ;)