Hey guys, HeaterMeter Offset smoker question


 

SLevy

New member
Hey Guys,

Im Steve from MD. A long time reader, new member here. I have been checking out your forums for a little while about your coverage of the Heater Meter... this site is one great source!
Anyway, I have been debating about getting a temp controller, specifically the heater meter. I have an offset smoker, adn was wondering all that I need for the HeaterMeter. I know a lot of what I need, but am a little confused about what fan I would need for an Offset... would the Micro damper be enough? But more importantly, what do i need across the board?

Thanks for any help!

Steve
 
Unfortunately no, I have no idea... It seems more that Weber kettle or Smokey mountain, but not much more... If the micro damper isn't enough could a bigger blower be put on it?
 
I don't have a micro damper, I assume the blower options are laid out in that thread? I built the RD3 which uses the standard 50mm HM blower, it has 6.7CFM air flow which is a fair amount. Some offsets require a LOT of flow depending on their size and fuel type, I made the RD25 for the high flow scenario, it can run blowers that range from 25-45CFM.
 
I don't have a micro damper, I assume the blower options are laid out in that thread? I built the RD3 which uses the standard 50mm HM blower, it has 6.7CFM air flow which is a fair amount. Some offsets require a LOT of flow depending on their size and fuel type, I made the RD25 for the high flow scenario, it can run blowers that range from 25-45CFM.


I got ya. So where can I get either of these microdampers?

Steve
 
So after asking around, many normal offset smokers would need better 15-25 CFM... Would there even be a way to make a damper and servo for that?
 
Like I said, I made the RD25 for high flow scenarios, it can run blowers that range from 25 to 45 CFM. Shoot me an email at rotodamper AT hot mail dot com of you think you want to go that route.
 
So after asking around, many normal offset smokers would need better 15-25 CFM... Would there even be a way to make a damper and servo for that?

You can only effectively use a controller with charcoal. Charcoal smokers run with excess fuel and restricted air. Controlling the amount of air controls the burn rate and the temperature.

Stick burning offsets run with excess air and temperature is controlled by managing the amount of fuel (wood). If you choke off the air, a wood fire will create foul tasting smoke and creosote so a controller is a big no no when using wood.

What you can do with moderate success is use charcoal and a high volume controller like the RD25 (I have one I got from Ralph) to keep your offset warm after you have used wood to start the cook and get the smoke flavor. IMHO this is not worth it since the amount of charcoal consumed is high and the burn time is not very long. You can get a few hours but not an overnight of uninterrupted sleep. You are better off using an oven or a different cooker designed to run charcoal for that purpose. My RD25 is better used for the chargrill on the nose of my Lang offset where it is very effective.
 
Steve, I'm from MD also. I just finished my Heatermeter / Fan / Damper mode for my offset smoker. I have a CharGriller Side Smoker attached to a Master Forge charcoal grill. I had read that for a side cooker, yes - you want to use charcoal and yes it can be inefficient as compared to a kettle grill or Big Green Egg type of grill. And from what I've read, you want up to 45 cfm. I already had a 45 cfm fan from an aborted attempt at building my own controller. And I had never realized how critical a damper is until I read this forum.

I installed my fan in a plastic project box - about 4" x 6" x 2", and used a dog bowl as an adapter. I mounted the HeaterMeter on the lid of the box. I added hinges to the top and mounted a servo inside to lever out the bottom of the lid. I haven't cooked with it - it'll get its big test on Thursday when I do one of my turkeys on it. But it seems to work okay. The lid has a ridge so it is very tight fitting when closed.

Here's a video I made of it off the grill. I started out at 0%, then moved the setpoint to make it go 100% fan, then a few intermediate points. I consider the damper to be most useful at the full open / closed points, so I'm not too worried about the intermediate opening. It looks to me that it it scaling pretty well with fan speed.

 
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