Internal meat temp. limit

[Nonnymus]

My BS in in the mail and on its way to its new home in Henderson, NV.  In following this forum and reading the online literature, I already have my first question.  Is there a reason that there is not a meat probe feature that would shut down the heat and smoke when the meat has reached a setpoint?  With digital controls, it seems that such a device would be a snap.  Has anone devised one, yet?

Nonny

[Gizmo]

You didn't mention whether you had the original or the digital.  Although it doesn't really matter, Bradley apparently chose not to put a few extra dollars into their offerings for better temperature control or simple temperature probe control.  Fortunaly, the memebers and guests of their site, have investing some time and a few dollors in creating at least a better temp control for the original bradley (non-digital).  If you search for PID, you will find the many posts on creating the ultimate temperature control devices on the original.  I bought the digital thinking I was going to get a better control over temperature, unfortunaly, I didn't read the posts here first.  None the less, I do like the Bradley for many other reasons and am disappointed in the temp control.  It still serves the purpose of putting smoke in meat and with the vertical shelves, I no longer have to stack and unstack like I did in R2D2 styles.  Don't get me wrong, temp control is still better than in other less regulated smokers (charcoal or wood), but for a few bucks more....  Suspect Bradley will come out with a new line in the near future putting in it what most here have longed for, and have already invented. :-\

[Nonnymus]

Sorry, Gizmo, about leaving out the type.  The one I have on order is the 4-rack, powder coated, digital smoker.  I'm sure going to give it a workout right out of the box before getting out my hammer and pliers.  However, I have a horrible habit of modifying things and think that I might be seeking more advice about temperature control and particularly a meat probe that would shut off heat production at a preset internal temperature.  My instinct is that I could build something using a digital probe and hooking into the alarm to drive a solid state relay to either trip the power to the heater or drive a 10a relay to do the same thing.  My second instinct tells me that someone might already be making and selling such a gizmo and I'm going to be looking around.

Nonny

[Consiglieri]

Tim the Tool Man!  will be interested to see how your experiment works out w/ the digital probe.

Giz: I like the R2d2 description a helluva lot better than my "tylenol on end" attempt at humor.  Mebbe I'll refer to the ole Weber as Darth R2D2

[Arcs_n_Sparks]

Nonnymus,

Welcome to the forum. I've finished rev. 2 of my PID controller and thinking of rev. 3, so I have a question for you. Would you prefer the controller shut-down when the internal meat temperature is reached, or dial the setpoint temperature down to the meat setpoint and hold it there? As you can probably tell, a lot of people on the forum tune-up their BSes with all kinds of accessories.

Arcs_n_Sparks

[West Coast Kansan]

A n S, For the user needs document. I would like to have the controller reduce my tower set point to the predetermined internal temp Once the internal meat temperature has been reached.  I think this IT Hold feature would be preferable to keep it warm for the time it take me to respond and start the FTC. You may want to add a max time for the IT Hold to cover the terminally distracted.

[Arcs_n_Sparks]

You may want to add a max time for the IT Hold to cover the terminally distracted.

How long to hold for the terminally distracted?

Arcs_n_Sparks

[winemakers]

Change it, CHANGE IT, mess with it, play with it, that's why we buy toys.  That and to stay in the garage and drink beer.

ooohh I love it when they talk dirty ;D

[West Coast Kansan]

How long to hold for the terminally distracted?

Arcs_n_Sparks
[/quote]

I dont know, It seems like things will go down hill if held more than an hour.  Thinking butts - time would be less for leaner stuff.  If i tried to keep things "warm" more than an hour they would be dry, but that was with less control on the tower temp. What do you think?

[Arcs_n_Sparks]

I agree. Not more than an hour.

So the reference specs are: take meat to meat setpoint, dial down box temp to meat setpoint, hold for one hour, then all power off.

Getting to write code................

Arcs_n_Sparks

[West Coast Kansan]

Put me on your list when your ready to commercialize a couple of units.

[Chez Bubba]

In my experience, holding food at a given temp does not deteriorate the quality enough to justify shutting the unit down. I've done this with things that didn't get eaten at lunch, to keep them for dinner. Admittedly, it's not "quite" as good, but easily 90-95% and 100% better than re-warming.

I will qualify that statement in that you MUST be able to make sure the IT does not rise, and also that it doesn't drop significantly. Easier to do IMO with an original unit + practice + TLC than with the digital alone. Add practice & TLC, I see no reason why you could not achieve the same results with the digital.

Kirk

[Habanero Smoker]

With the Raptor/Guru; which is a unit that current does everything above; I have held large cuts of meat at the internal temperature for 6-7 hours with out any noticeable deterioration. Having the temperature gradually lower until it reaches and stabilizes at the meat temperature comes in handy. There have been many occasions when I have misjudge the timing, and things are still no wheres done by mid-night. Rather then waste a nights sleep, I put the Raptor/Guru in ramp mode and go to sleep, knowing that my food will not over cook.  Incorporating both the choice of holding indefinitely, and holding for a specific amount of time would be best.

I do recall Big Smoker mentioning that it will dry out the food if held long enough, but I have not experienced this. For small cuts of meat, poultry or meat with little connective tissue, I'm am not sure what the effects of holding at the internal temperature for a lengthy period time will have on the food.

[Nonnymus]

In my mind, the perfect controller would give you the option of turning off the heater when an internal meat setpoint has been reached or adjusting the oven temperature to a different level, such as the internal meat setpoint or something below that to let the meat condition and "hold."  For instance, in my desired system, I could dial in 190f to cook ribs and when the meat probe reached 160f, it would dial the temperature down to 160f or 150f to "hold" the meat without more significant cooking. 

In fact, this is what I'm doing manually today with 2 racks.  About 30 minutes ago, they hit 160f on my radio remote probe, so I cut the oven temperature down to 160f and am giving them another 1:30 to hold, before supper.  It's not that much different from the traditional way we all know of wrapping the ribs in foil and storing them in a dry ice chest to loosen up a tad.

My problem is that I'm not an EE, though I was once told I had the "soul" of one. <Grin>  If you or anyone could develop such a replacement controller, I'd sure like to see a parts list and schematic.

Nonny

[Habanero Smoker]

Nonny;

If money is not an issue, take a look at this site. If you are looking for something immediate, one of the devices on this site may already meet your needs.

http://www.thebbqguru.com/