Beyond Frustration Need Help

[gallery]

Thank you for all the ideas. I have just talked to Brian about my problem and I am going to go through some trouble shooting issues and see what is working and what is not. I am going to read more on what you guys are using as a PID controller and look into that. I will definately be asking more and through all, try to get this working. You guys all seem to be happy with it and there seems to be lots of experience here

[Kahunas]

Thank you for all the ideas. I have just talked to Brian about my problem and I am going to go through some trouble shooting issues and see what is working and what is not. I am going to read more on what you guys are using as a PID controller and look into that. I will definately be asking more and through all, try to get this working. You guys all seem to be happy with it and there seems to be lots of experience here

Hello gallery,
They should be able to get you fixed up so everything works right. I was frustrated with mine in the beginning too but everything has some issues with it no matter what it is so if you figure out what you have, its limitations, its high points, and how to work with it, you done good and will be very happy with it. Just remember that in its basic form it is an Easy Bake Oven for grownups with a 500 watt light buld powering it.
Good luck

[mikecorn.1]

•Keep the temperature inside the sausage smoker between 160 and 165 degrees F.Max
If I do this I can't get the IT over 110 in this smoker

The temps that you are quoting are correct and they are achieved by ramping the cabinet temps up over time. You have to keep in mind that your heating that cabinet up with basically 5 100 watt light bulbs. It is going to take some time to get temps up especially when you just stuck ten pounds of sausage in there that is probably at 38-45 degrees. Not to mention that the sausage WILL go through a stall at about 135 degrees. It all takes time.

•Take your sausage out of the smoker when it reaches an internal temperature of 152 degrees F.
How can I do this when I can't even get the smoker temp to this unless I turn on the element full on

Right here is why your sausage is dry and tastes like sawdust. You have the element running full bore right? Well at the bottom of the sausage the temp is probably right around 280 degrees.(At those kind of temps you are melting all of the fats out of your sausage.) I don't care what the digital readout says. Besides it is located half way up the unit on the back side and will be getting different readings due to the meat. Also YOU said the digital portion of the unit quit working. WHY would you trust anything that it says if it is broke?? Give Bradley CS a call and explain the broken digital unit. Get that fixed if it is truly broke and not just operator error. Hey loose cords happen when moving these things around.

Then you will want to ramp your sausage something like this:

120º for 1 hour
130º for 2 hours while you apply smoke
150º for 4 hours
160º or 170º until your IT is 152º

Ditto X3


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[gallery]

Here are some of the results from my testing
There was a wire that fell off the oven plug in ( I kind of thought that)
Tested my own digital thermometer and is dead on Room temp is good and boiling water 210F
Set point on Bradley controler 180F
Upper limit Bradley 190 cut out Digital temp160-163
Lower limit Bradley 165 cut in Digital temp 140
Now with these numbers how should I still run my smoker? Better to have a PID controller? Now that I have these results should I post in a different thread to to get more feedback?
Thanks and again thanks for all the help

[Tenpoint5]

Nope stay right here. keeps the helpful information in one place for the next guy that is having some issues.

Now when you where doing the comparison testing of your digital probe to the Bradley temps. Where did you have your probe? The sensor for the Bradley is located on the back wall about mid way up.

But the temp swings are pretty normal. Do you need a PID? NO not unless you planning on doing sausage. Even then you don't need one. You have to use your smoker. learn it and get to know how it works. That's the fun part of having it.

[Kahunas]

Here are some of the results from my testing
There was a wire that fell off the oven plug in ( I kind of thought that)
Tested my own digital thermometer and is dead on Room temp is good and boiling water 210F
Set point on Bradley controler 180F
Upper limit Bradley 190 cut out Digital temp160-163
Lower limit Bradley 165 cut in Digital temp 140
Now with these numbers how should I still run my smoker? Better to have a PID controller? Now that I have these results should I post in a different thread to to get more feedback?
Thanks and again thanks for all the help

So it looks like you basically averaged 150 with a set point of 180, correct? How long did you let the test run (at least an hour I hope) and was the probe in the same spot as the Bradley sensor? And finally was your probe left inside with the door closed the entire time, basically how did you read your thermometer?
Anyway if it is going to run low like that you can note your average temperatures versus set points and have go for the average temperture and have pretty good luck. I would think about maybe going to a PID to get tighter temps if you need them. Otherwise a cooking chart will work just fine for many years.

[dman4505]

Thank you for all the ideas. I have just talked to Brian about my problem and I am going to go through some trouble shooting issues and see what is working and what is not. I am going to read more on what you guys are using as a PID controller and look into that. I will definately be asking more and through all, try to get this working. You guys all seem to be happy with it and there seems to be lots of experience here

Glad to see you're still with us.
Hope everything works out and you get back to smoking.
I've gotta trouble shoot mine as well. Was doing a pork butt for my mim and aunt last week and the heating element died on me. Going to look and see if a wire or plug came loose.
My wife has enough points in here Amazon account that I can order an element from them if needed, might any way just to have one on hand.

Don
Don

[gallery]

I have temp sensor running through the vent and hanging right in front of the bradley sensor. I ran the test for a couple of hours to make sure the results were repeatable. So do I have to compensate for the difference in temps? I am going to do some cheese tomorrow just to get back into the smoking mood instead of the smoke coming out of my ears

[NePaSmoKer]

Bradley sensor?

[Tenpoint5]

Bradley sensor?

The one on the back wall Nepas

[NePaSmoKer]

Bradley sensor?

The one on the back wall Nepas

on the 4 rack original

[Tenpoint5]

It is a digital if I remember right

[Kahunas]

I have temp sensor running through the vent and hanging right in front of the bradley sensor. I ran the test for a couple of hours to make sure the results were repeatable. So do I have to compensate for the difference in temps? I am going to do some cheese tomorrow just to get back into the smoking mood instead of the smoke coming out of my ears

Hi Gallery,
So if your results are repeatable that is a really good thing. I would suggest you make a temperature chart so you can compensate using the average actual temperature your getting at the different settings. That way you will know what temperature you really have when you set it to 230,  160, 255, etc. Sounds like you just about got er all figured out. Good job and have fun with it.