This is where I first saw the idea.

https://forums.overclockers.com.au/threads/50-diy-bbq-charcoal-pit-temperature-controller.1090111/

With the Inkbird internal relay you dont need the S.S.R.

Awesome mate thanks for all the info ??

Well the Meat Master 1 Million worked a treat.

Bear brisket 2 hrs @ 140 for a crust then 5 hrs @ 125 covered.

Resting now for 1 hr wrapped.

It felt really soft and gooy inside, all the gelatinous goo is rendered down and is my favourite thing with a brisket.

The fluid(bourbon, garlic, bay leaves, and stock) will be gravy too.

Yummo ?
 

Must be very satisfying that the controller worked well too

Edited March 7, 20215 yr by Mr_B

Wife left the bbq gas on overnight... it ran out. ?

I'm glad it didn't blow up or catch on fire.

26 minutes ago, warweary said:

Wife left the bbq gas on overnight... it ran out

That would make Hulk sad...That would make Hulk mad...

"Hulk smash"

Dunno why I dont get updates to this thread as it seems ive been missing out on some very nice food p@rn!

 

Haven't been doing a lot of cooking recently although I did pick up another new BBQ  a few weeks ago. This one's what's known as a gravity feed smoker whereby you fill a chute with either charcoal and/or wood chunks, set the intake vent and gravity and airflow determine the temperature of the smoke cabinet (which in this case is 2" thick) so very well insulated but also very heavy weighing in around 400 kilo's.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 13, 20215 yr by Tubularbells

Heineken........ great feature 

2 minutes ago, Powerglide said:

Heineken........ great feature 

 

If only it made beer at the same time!!!

If you didnt say it was a smoker, it could be mistaken for a turbo charged refrigerator on wheels?

Thats one serious bbq T.B.

Last week's effort, Lamb leg Butterflied marinated overnight Greek style.

On the Weber Q for around 45 mins with smoker boxes and wood chips.

Leftover marinade tipped over in final 15 mins. 

Used with new dual temperature gadget with remote monitor,  love it!!

 

 

Looks great. And I decided to make pumpkin soup tonight. Sigh....

On 13/03/2021 at 5:23 PM, Tubularbells said:

 

If only it made beer at the same time!!!

 TB if you and others are after a temp controller that can do ramped control over time then instead of PID controllers like you've been using that you have to move the desired temp up or down occasionally, by moving up a notch, to a ramping type controller instead, these can be had with just one program set up to those that hold many recipes. By program I mean some thing like this for instance...... step one start at ambient temp and over say 1.5 hour go to 60 C, then hold that temp for say 30 mins, then move up to say 90 C for another 3 hours then hold for another 4 hours, the lastly for this artificial cook go down to 55C for 2 hours, then switch off. The steps are simply the number of changes you want over time for a particular cook/ menu item, over about 8-10 steps the controllers generally start to cost more. Programs are the number of recipes it can store, the more stored the more expensive the controller. PID is a way of using set but adjustable variables to give greater accuracy through out the cook, Fuzzy Logic controllers on the other hand generally is a method of continuously adjusting variables to give a similar effect cooking wise. Often the controllers using relay outputs are simply using an on -off switch effect to stop or start the device that's connected and thus the control will be less accurate but may not be detectable in the mouth!. A lot of the controllers have alarm features too which can be set to switch on /off at a preset temperature either above or below the actual set temperature and by this means possible alert the chef to a problem like low gas pressure for instance. These types of controllers still using plug in thermocouples as the temp sensing device. Some ramping controllers can have an End switch operate so as to be used to shut down the cooker etc if desired when the cook is finished, obviously the food going to go cold if it finishes and your not around to collect! Hopefully this will add to some level of knowledge on the temp controller stories.

18 minutes ago, agelessgoodguy said:

 TB if you and others are after a temp controller that can do ramped control over time then instead of PID controllers like you've been using that you have to move the desired temp up or down occasionally, by moving up a notch, to a ramping type controller instead, these can be had with just one program set up to those that hold many recipes. By program I mean some thing like this for instance...... step one start at ambient temp and over say 1.5 hour go to 60 C, then hold that temp for say 30 mins, then move up to say 90 C for another 3 hours then hold for another 4 hours, the lastly for this artificial cook go down to 55C for 2 hours, then switch off. The steps are simply the number of changes you want over time for a particular cook/ menu item, over about 8-10 steps the controllers generally start to cost more. Programs are the number of recipes it can store, the more stored the more expensive the controller. PID is a way of using set but adjustable variables to give greater accuracy through out the cook, Fuzzy Logic controllers on the other hand generally is a method of continuously adjusting variables to give a similar effect cooking wise. Often the controllers using relay outputs are simply using an on -off switch effect to stop or start the device that's connected and thus the control will be less accurate but may not be detectable in the mouth!. A lot of the controllers have alarm features too which can be set to switch on /off at a preset temperature either above or below the actual set temperature and by this means possible alert the chef to a problem like low gas pressure for instance. These types of controllers still using plug in thermocouples as the temp sensing device. Some ramping controllers can have an End switch operate so as to be used to shut down the cooker etc if desired when the cook is finished, obviously the food going to go cold if it finishes and your not around to collect! Hopefully this will add to some level of knowledge on the temp controller stories.

 

 

My old Yoder YS1500 ACS had this feature (made by Fireboard Labs) but after initially playing around with multi step programs I found I did not need  any of this as im typically cooking at the same temp throughout the cook (although if pushed for time i do sometimes bump up the temp after wrapping the meat) however the drop temp to xx after the meat probe has reaches your desired level of doneness is a great feature to not ruin the cook if its done in the wee hours of the morning.

 

Was doing some testing on the unit im running now as it has a couple of cool features like being able to set the max fan speed when the probe reaches 85% and 95% of the pit temp so that it doesn't overshoot and as mines an insulated cabinet smoker it takes forever to drop temps if you go too high (Kamado or other ceramic egg type cookers will also know what im talking about as these have the same issue) but I have noticed if I drop the fans max speed to anything lower than 20% it hasn't got the power to fire up again from standstill which is a bit disappointing but other than that I think it a awesome little controller.

 

https://www.bbqspitrotisseries.com.au/Tempmaster-Pro-Automatic-Smoker-Temperature-Control

 

 

But what I miss most is the ability to chart and store each and every cook so you can go back and check cook times based on the protein & set temp. Also invaluable whenever I have a health safety inspection or if (god forbid) someone gets sick from one of my cooks as I have it all automatically documented so with that im planning on grabbing a new Fireboard Drive 2 controller sometime soon.

 

https://www.bbqspitrotisseries.com.au/Fireboard-2-Drive-Kit-Smoker-Temperature-Monitor-Controller-FBX2D

 

Phew - thought I post something about a dry and wet rub pork rib barbecue feed I conjured up after watching 2 Hairy Bikers.  Nope - you guys are in another league.  But if there is an omelette thread I might venture warily into that.

4 minutes ago, Mutatis Mutandis said:

Phew - thought I post something about a dry and wet rub pork rib barbecue feed I conjured up after watching 2 Hairy Bikers.  Nope - you guys are in another league.  But if there is an omelette thread I might venture warily into that.

 

Personally id love you to throw some pics of your cooks up on this thread Alan and anyone who tells you they're an expert cook or whatever is just flat out lying or is living in la la land as we are all learning and sharing our experiences here good, bad or downright ugly ?

Thanks for pumping up the ole tyres Doug, very gentlemanly of you!   If we have another crack at it I'll get the young'n to do the pics.  But seriously; my prep time has only ever been measure in hours, not days ...

Edited March 27, 20214 yr by Mutatis Mutandis

It’s not uncommon for things to go ‘wrong’ in a cook, and always interesting to hear the experience. Post away!

@Tubularbells how is the volume os smoke emitted from this new unit compared to you pellet smoker? More neighbour friendly or same same?

8 hours ago, mtf said:

@Tubularbells how is the volume os smoke emitted from this new unit compared to you pellet smoker? More neighbour friendly or same same?

 

Both burn very clean fires so smoke output is minimal. Im still experimenting with the ProQ  so have been filling the chute with a mix of Mallee root charcoal and iron bark wood chunks as well as adding a few splits to the ash pan to smoulder.

 

 

 

The Mallee charcoal is all over the place size wise though with chunks like this appearing every now and then.

 

On 27/03/2021 at 6:21 PM, Tubularbells said:

 

 

My old Yoder YS1500 ACS had this feature (made by Fireboard Labs) but after initially playing around with multi step programs I found I did not need  any of this as im typically cooking at the same temp throughout the cook (although if pushed for time i do sometimes bump up the temp after wrapping the meat) however the drop temp to xx after the meat probe has reaches your desired level of doneness is a great feature to not ruin the cook if its done in the wee hours of the morning.

 

Was doing some testing on the unit im running now as it has a couple of cool features like being able to set the max fan speed when the probe reaches 85% and 95% of the pit temp so that it doesn't overshoot and as mines an insulated cabinet smoker it takes forever to drop temps if you go too high (Kamado or other ceramic egg type cookers will also know what im talking about as these have the same issue) but I have noticed if I drop the fans max speed to anything lower than 20% it hasn't got the power to fire up again from standstill which is a bit disappointing but other than that I think it a awesome little controller.

 

https://www.bbqspitrotisseries.com.au/Tempmaster-Pro-Automatic-Smoker-Temperature-Control

 

 

But what I miss most is the ability to chart and store each and every cook so you can go back and check cook times based on the protein & set temp. Also invaluable whenever I have a health safety inspection or if (god forbid) someone gets sick from one of my cooks as I have it all automatically documented so with that im planning on grabbing a new Fireboard Drive 2 controller sometime soon.

 

https://www.bbqspitrotisseries.com.au/Fireboard-2-Drive-Kit-Smoker-Temperature-Monitor-Controller-FBX2D

 

Doug there are varying types of "recorders" out there for your purposes, some a physical paperless types, older ones are indeed paper rolls and inkjet printing or worse, some are also electronic and store the data in a file on a PC or the like, There is likely to be apps with bolt on hardware out there now too. PM me if you want more info, as I'm an Industrial Instrumentation bloke.

On 27/03/2021 at 3:36 PM, evil c said:

Last week's effort, Lamb leg Butterflied marinated overnight Greek style.

On the Weber Q for around 45 mins with smoker boxes and wood chips.

Leftover marinade tipped over in final 15 mins. 

Used with new dual temperature gadget with remote monitor,  love it!!

 

 

Which brand and model sir?

12 minutes ago, Gee Emm said:

Which brand and model sir?

Bought this off Amazon. 

However @Tubularbellsmight know of an even better one.

Believe you can get some that send the signal to your phone, rather than with the receiver this has.

17 minutes ago, evil c said:

Bought this off Amazon. 

However @Tubularbellsmight know of an even better one.

Believe you can get some that send the signal to your phone, rather than with the receiver this has.

 

Nice one. I have the exact same thermometer set, along with a silver, lower-range model without the remote monitoring unit. Both work very nicely in my vertical smoker. Great bang for buck!

 

Here's a link to the silver one: 

 

 

ThermoPro TP-17 Dual Probe Digital Cooking Meat Thermometer Large LCD Backlight Food Grill Thermometer with Timer Mode for Smoker Kitchen Oven BBQ, Silver: Kitchen Thermometers: Amazon.com.au

 

Edited March 30, 20214 yr by pete_mac