Controlling the BS Temperature

[bdnewman]

I just got the power raptor package in.  Very nice, but I have a question for the group.  When hooking it up th the Bradley, do you need to set the temp control on the Bradley to max to get things working correctly?  If i am to use this all the time, should I rewire the bradley to bypass its temp control alltogether?

Bryan

[Habanero Smoker]

You made an excellent choice.

When running your BS, turn the heat controller up to maximum. Plug the heating element of the BS into the Raptor, then plug the Raptor into the Smoke Generator. The Raptor will control the heating element.

As for the Guru; connect the fan cable from the Guru to the Raptor. The Guru will need to be plugged into another outlet for it's power.

When Bill see's this he can give you more complete instructions. I am on my way out, so I hope I cleared up your question.

[bighoof]

How about the pics?

[nsxbill]

To answer questions about the Guru:

Set it close to your unit.  
Plug in the smoke generator.  
Unplug the smoker and plug it into the raptor.  
Plug in The Raptor 12V power supply.  
Run a line from the Raptor to The Competitor (The controller).  
Slide the switch on the smoker to high position.
Set your smoker temp
Set you meat temp.
Put in you meat, seasoned, brined, etc.
Plug in the thermocouple(the meat probe and smoker temp are all in one with two seperate leads-one with clip to clip on rack the other pointed.
Power up the Raptor.  I turn off the alarms so it won't wake the neighbors.
Drop in your bisquettes and Bubba pucks.
I wait a bit then hit the advance button on the BS a couple of times.
Come back many hours later, contingent on what you are cooking.  I typically put in pucks for max 4hrs, but don't ever have to touch anything after it is started up.

I like 205 oven temp.  15-20 lbs of Brisket (my favorite) to 185 degrees about 14 hours later done and ready to wrap in foil and into the cooler with a towel wrap for 2-3 hours.  Meat like butter!

If you really want to  spend a load, Fred even offers a remote unit now, and a knock-down smoker that will smoke 200# of meat at a time.  The remote control will work 2 football fields away(600 ft), unlike the Maverick that has problems over 25 ft.

Might even consider both.  Like Fred says, one load of Jerkey would pay for the smoker.  The remote Guru is a toy, but boys do like their toys!

Damn! I love smoking meat!

Bill

[Habanero Smoker]

Bill;

Thanks for the instructions. You should send them to Shotgun Fred, so that he can include the instructions when he ships out the Raptor to customers.

I'm giving some thought to purchasing the 6 or 8 foot Probe Assembly. The 4 foot length, is not enough to run through the vent and set the guru on my cart.

[car54]

If you are interested in the power raptor, you may want to order it sooner then you were thinking of. It took them 11 days to process my order before they shipped it. I hope that this is an exception.They also did not reply to 2 emails that I had sent them. I'm stilling forward to it.[:(]

[car54]

I finally received the power raptor and used it on a 12 lbs turkey. It is a nice item and functioned properly. I used it in the ramp mode which I think was a mistake for the following reason.  

 I set the smoke temp at 250, the meat temp. at 175, and the smoker was prewarmed. The turkey was taken out of the refrigerator 2 hours before to warm up. I did not want it to warm up longer because of bacteria. With the bird in the smoker the temps drop off greatly and took a long time to get past 200. In the ramp mode,it will power down the smoker when the meat is within 25 degrees of being finished or 150 degrees. Because of this the smoker never reached 250. The solution is to not use the ramp mode.

 With large quantities of meat I feel you will always get a large temp. drop and a long recovery time. Has any one look into getting a secondary heater? I am in the process of researching that.

 I don't thinking buying the power raptor was a mistake but useing the ramp mode might have limited capabilities.

[Habanero Smoker]

The ramp mode is an excellent option, but you don't have to use it. What is convinient about the ramp mode is; as Bill has stated in another post - "Set it, and FORGET it". You can do your smoking while you sleep, or while you are away from the area doing errands, or if the cooking process is done too soon and you want to keep it warm until guest arrive; you can do all of this and not have to worry about your meat being over cooked.

If I know I will be around to hear the alarm go off when the meat temperature is reached, then I disable the ramp mode, to quicken the cooking process.

[nsxbill]

I went ahead and got the remote model of the Guru, The Procomm4 while it was on special.  It is so versatile that you can even set it to turn the smoker completely off automatically when the correct temp is reached.  I should have it to start using it for Thanksgiving.  

Either one of Shotgun Fred's devices, the Competitor or the Procomm4, allow you to have a life without worrying about the temp in your smoker while cold smoking, or those long slow smokes of 12-14 or more hours.  All done like setting a alarm clock.  During the summer months, we spend a lot of time by the pool, and that is beyond the range of the Maverick thermometer...I can't even get it to work from the back porch  to the Master Bedroom.  

The Maverick told me to get up and adjust the Bradley to keep the set temp right so much that frankly I didn't want to be that far away from the smoker.

The Procomm4 has a 200yard range and you can actually tweak the heat of the smoker and check you progress from the remote, and in addition monitor two to four probes going into the smoker.   It is just what I wanted.  Trouble free smoking.  I smoke most things 4 hours, then go back, change the water, and then just let it alone-no peeking required.  Only time I have to go back is to rotate the racks or mop the meat, if I am doing that.

I can go downstairs and get on the treadmill, or out to the garage to work on the car and monitor and adjust the smoker remotely-all through the Raptor.  I want to get one of those big knock-down smokers he sells too.  From a simple Weber kettle or Kumodo or Primo Green Egg, either of the controllers will work on any pit by replacing the electrical controller with a fan controller when you are smoking with charcoal and wood.

I will let you know how it works once I have given it a few tries.  Anxious to try one of DoW's Lo-Salt Hams for Thanksgiving.   Going to smoke a turkey too.  We have lots of family coming over, and hope to have everything done and put in some ABT's (Atomic Buffalo Turds) for appetizers this year so we can enjoy straight out of the smoker in the afternoon.

There has been some discussion about heating up bricks for the bottom of the smoker to hold the heat better.  I think that is the only thing I am going to add to my smoker to make me feel comfortable about opening the door briefly to rotate racks or mop the meat (What do you think Kirk-maybe a cusom casted fire brick with a cut out to accomodate the stainles drip bowl--perhaps a new item from Chez Bubba's emporium of good stuff.

I just can't see any downside to this substantial investment of the Competitor or the Procomm4 - don't even have to have a Maverick with these controllers...when you consider time saved, the remote control and worry-free versatility of cooking in the BS or any other smoker.

Either of units will do the job of allowing you a little time away from the task of smoking great food!http://www.thebbqguru.com/procom4.htm

Bill
(No financial interest in this - just chatting up a good thing)

[Thevenin]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by car54</i>
<br />I finally received the power raptor and used it on a 12 lbs turkey. It is a nice item and functioned properly. I used it in the ramp mode which I think was a mistake for the following reason.  

 I set the smoke temp at 250, the meat temp. at 175, and the smoker was prewarmed. The turkey was taken out of the refrigerator 2 hours before to warm up. I did not want it to warm up longer because of bacteria. With the bird in the smoker the temps drop off greatly and took a long time to get past 200. In the ramp mode,it will power down the smoker when the meat is within 25 degrees of being finished or 150 degrees. Because of this the smoker never reached 250. The solution is to not use the ramp mode.

 With large quantities of meat I feel you will always get a large temp. drop and a long recovery time. Has any one look into getting a secondary heater? I am in the process of researching that.

 I don't thinking buying the power raptor was a mistake but useing the ramp mode might have limited capabilities.


<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

Here's a trick I found.  Let the Raptor take the heat of the smoker up to about 300 or so when pre-heating.  Then when you put the meat in you drop to about 225.  Adjust the raptor to hold it there and you're good to go.  The ramp mode makes me feel better about leaving the smoker un-attended for hours like overnight or when at work.

Thev.