BBQGuru First Impression

[nsxbill]

Hello all,

Briskets went in this morning at 9:45a.m.(I overslept).  It is now 7.5 hrs later, and the BBQ Guru(Competetor) is working it's magic.  I am so pleased I bought it!  I set the unit to 205 Bradley temp and 180 meat temp.  I turned it on, pushing the alarm silence button (Good neighbor feature).  I walked away and after 4 hours of smoke, it has consistently maintained the BS temp at exactly 205 degrees without having to constantly move the slider to get it at the exact temp.

At this writing the meat temp is at 168-170.  I rotated the meat shelves at 4 hours and recovery time a factor as unit had to make-up for the 30 degrees lost when I opened the door to rotate shelves.

I am using the Ramp feature.  The ramp feature is used for slow cooks so your meat never over cooks.  This feature will gradually lower the BS temp to the meat set set point temp when it gets within 25 degrees of being done.  The Competitor will hold the temp at your meat set point as long as it is getting electricity.  

After the biskettes were used up, I could actually turn off the smoke generator completely, as the Competitor via the special interface built for me which will be marketed as "The Raptor," controls the heating lamp.  It is an add on for those of you that already have a BBQ Guru Competitor.  

I left the smoke generator on so the additional electrical heat to keep box up to tem.  The Raptor has a plug and heatsync inside a stainless steel box that you plug the BS plug into.  You crank up the slider switch to full on, and the Raptor working with the Guru Competitor controller pulses on and off to keep the heat in the box "on the money."

Wife is working in the kitchen now preparing for company tomorrow (#60 Birthday for me), so I will probably be going out and pulling the Briskets, and wrapping with foil and towel for the "resting" period of about 2 hours.  

I promised pictures.  I have taken some.  The URLs are a couple of posts down.

I give it a 10 on a 10 out of 10 scale.  I am quite impressed with how easy this will make my smoking times easier to manage!  The only thing you have to do for long smokes is to come back after 4 hrs to rotate your meat and change the water.  



Bill

[Fuzzybear]

Bill:  The price!  Yikes!!! Ouch!  Wow!  Holy Crap!  Jeez!  Man, that's expensive at $185 and up depending on the model!

"A mans got to know his limitations"
Glendora, CA - USA!

[nsxbill]

Hi Fuzzy,

It is universal, and the only thing new is the Raptor.  It always has been expensive.  You can use it on any pit, you just have to have to get a fan control for the specific pit you use.  He is offering us a discount.  The stress-free operation and time away from watching the BS is worth it to me.  Not cheap, but sure does work well.

Bill

[BigSmoker]

Bill,
I am eagerly awaiting the pics.  I use //www.photobucket.com
to upload pics.  Its very easy to use an its free.  I will definitely purchase the raptor to go along with my exsisting competitor.  I think the raptor setup will work better than my ceramic cooker setup because I can control the exact amount of smoke.[:D][:D]

Jeff
www.bbqshopping.com
Some say BBQ is in your blood, if thats true my blood must be BBQ sauce.

[nsxbill]

Some time ago I posted these pictures.  I was using Photo Bucket for free.  After awhile, the pictures disappeared.   Too many looked at them, I guess.  They are back due to requests for pictures.

Here are the links to pictures.
The High Mounting of the Competitor:



The Competitor



Delivery Vehicle When Speed Counts (Why my name is NSXBILL-My Lic plate)  This couple is admiring my dog - Chumley, a 4lb Yorkshire Terrier.  He is known as "The Road Warrior" in the NSX club.  He travels with me when racing out of town.  Wife complains I drive too fast.  The dog doesn't complain.



Offroad Smoker Vehicle:


Here is link to previous discussion on Controlling the BS Temperature:
http://forum.bradleysmoker.co.uk/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=400

Will post up pictures of the Procom4 when Shotgun Fred makes them available.  I bought one when they were just planning release and on special introctory offer. There has been a delay in shipping due to graphics problem on front of controller.

Comments & Qustions Welcomed!

Bill

[BigSmoker]

Nice setup Bill.  Your GURU stuff looks like mine, just replace the fan with raptor box and walaa ready to smoke with no temp adjustments.  My Guru has really put me in a place where I can concentrate more on rubs, procedures, cuts of meat, etc.  I still find myself hanging around my smokers when I'm cooking but so far all results ahave been exceptional.  The ramp mode actually saved my butt (literally)the weekend I smoked a Kobe brisket.  Due to the higher marbling it cooked much faster than anticipated, but no problems, the Guru had ramped the temp down and all was good.  All this was accomplished while I was sleeping.[;)]

Jeff
www.bbqshopping.com
Some say BBQ is in your blood, if thats true my blood must be BBQ sauce.

[nsxbill]

I can see the Bradley from my chair in the Family room, but like I said earlier.  I don't want to be a slave to it, and also want to enjoy some piece of mind, or watch my beloved Raiders without having to run out to adjust the temperature.  Worth the extra bucks to me, and who knows might just get one of those green egg ovals one day!

Sorry for Tampa Bay that Hurricane Raiders had to add insult to your injuries there in Florida Dow!  But very happy with their performance on Sunday.  Watched in High Def on ESPN.  WOW!  What a game!

Bill

[BigSmoker]

I see Shotgun Fred is registered for the Atlanta Eggfest on Oct. 16th.  Maybe I'll hit him up for a little extra discount for a Raptor since I'll be a repeat customer.[:D]
P.S. I'm glad to see anybody beat "Chuckie" and Tampa Bay.  I would love to see the Falcons beat them twice this year.

Jeff
www.bbqshopping.com
Some say BBQ is in your blood, if thats true my blood must be BBQ sauce.

[nsxbill]

Jeff, make sure to tell him I posted info up on our forum and that I let everyone know about the Guru-Raptor.  

Atlanta, huh.  Man, Vick is something else.  IF he stays health he and McNabb will both be Hall of Famers!

On my way to Sam's now.  I think I am going to pick up one of those big butts and smoke again on Wednesday.  I've got the fever now, and want to see if I can improve on my last pork butt experience.  Going to use the mustard sauce, use a salt shaker to add rum, and just might put Rasberry Chipotle sauce on one half. [:p]

Bill

[Fuzzybear]

Ver nice setup Bill, unfortunately, now that I'm moving, the missus had to resign her job....this puts a serious dent in my "free" money so it is doubtful that I'll be able to hookup the Raptor for at least 6 months or so...oh well.....

"A mans got to know his limitations"
Glendora, CA - USA!

[Cold Smoke]

Thanks for the pics and keeping us posted. Happy 60th !
No picture of you and the cake...or brisket?



Cold Smoke

[nsxbill]

Cold Smoke:

Thanks for the Happy Birthday!  Re: the picture of the cook, you must have missed the fold-out.  Here is a picture of my other babies..one of which is the Bradley assault vehicle.

The other is a picture of my hot rod.  I was racing this a couple of times a year, but too old, and reflexes slowing down!  It was taken a couple of years ago on the way to Laguna Seca with the NSX club.  This car has over 225K miles.  Only 3 liters, it cranks out about 300HP from a V6. It weighs about 3000#.  Used to do High 11 second quarter after I put in 4:55 gears!  The Bradley won't fit in the trunk!


Bill

[BigSmoker]

Sorry Bill,
Missed the Birthday, got caught up in the Guru stuff.  Happy 60th and at least 40 more.  Man I really like the "Bradley Aassault Vehicle".  It isn't anything like the ones I drove over in Germany. The seats in those were so hard you had to have a cushion or pillow just so your butt wouldn't go numb[:)] and I never could find any decent FM on that darn radio that was in it.  I do miss that German beer though[:(].

Jeff
www.bbqshopping.com
Some say BBQ is in your blood, if thats true my blood must be BBQ sauce.

[nsxbill]

<font color="blue">Jeff(Big Smoker)</font id="blue">,
Question for you re: The BBQ Guru. I am pretty new to controlled smoking of meats.  Have been using water Brinkman for years, but no science to that.  Basic questions on Brisket.  

The Guru's ramping feature describes setting the pit temp high, and then the unit controls ramp down as the meat temp goes up and then on parallel course within 15 degrees.  When you are using your green egg, do you start at a low temp, or high temp and let the Guru ramp down to do a slow cook?  I picked up some killer briskets last night and going to do some tomorrow after a rub down and overnight in the refrigerator.  

<font color="red">How about anyone else?</font id="red">  
When you describe the best brisket you have done, do you just start at low temp and keep the temp low through the entire period of smoke and the continuing slow cooking without smoke?

Thanks,

Bill

[Cold Smoke]

NSXBill, those sure are nice babies you got there. I've been thinking of getting one of those assault vehicles....when I hit the lotto![:D] It looks like you know how to have fun.

Work hard, play harder! Way to go!

Cold Smoke