First cook: double doggie damper deflector


 
Got to try my first cook today on my WSM 18.5" with the HeaterMeter and Adapt-a-Damper. Just did a batch of chicken wings as a quick and easy test of everything, and it went well.

I had some dramas building my HeaterMeter (see previous thread: https://tvwbb.com/showthread.php?78361-New-build-issue-HM-v4-3-LCD-problems), however the temporary LCD was more than fine to do a cook. I printed an Adapt-a-Damper earlier this weekend, and connected it up with the dog bowl method - however I used a second dog bowl, cut in half, on the inside as a deflector - hence "Double Doggie Damper Deflector" :D

Deflector:
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Being in Australia I look at the largely US centric posts with jealousy - seems like it's easier to get your hands on some much easier to work with connectors for the damper. I had to make do with what I could get from Bunnings (kinda like Home Depot). I used some galvanised plumbing fittings, and did up my own version of the adapter part of the Adapt-a-Damper for the 1" BSP thread.

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.. all that's missing is printing the box to put in the keystone jack + cables. While it might not look like the threads are tight, they are (at least hand tight). I could tighten that collar and double-adapter a bit more with a pipe wrench as I guess it shouldn't need to move, but for now I left things easily to disassemble just in case.

The only issue I had was the galvanised pipe fittings aren't designed to screw all the way down (the thread narrows or whatever the technical term is), so instead I have a shim cut from a piece of steel tubing inside the dogbowl to ensure the collar fitting on the outside is tight against the bowl (didn't get a photo of that part). In retrospect I could've just printed a collar to go on the outside, but I was worried about heat - turns out that part of the damper assembly doesn't warm up at all (even the dog bowl measured just above ambient with my infrared thermometer).

A nice property of using the galvanised fittings is there's an end cap, so when the cook is done I can unscrew the damper and pop on the endcap to allow the coals to extinguish without needing to remove the whole assembly from the smoker:

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Anyway, the temperature control went mostly well:

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I haven't touched the PID settings at all, I have the max fan output set to 40% - using the "stock" Delta blower.

I ran it at 250ºF for the first part of the cook, then I dropped it to 225ºF just to see whether it could - worked a treat (accidentally have the popup over the screenshot for that part). The only weirdness I had was after some fiddling near the end it started oscillating a lot more (you can see after the lid off event at ~16:00). I was showing my dad something and I either twisted the damper in a way that caused the Weber damper to close up a bit, or either that it was something about the way the fuel was burning. When I finished the cook the fuel looked like this:

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.. I started with lit briquettes in the middle, and only a half full charcoal basket - you can see it was burning "away" from the deflector. I threw a few mesquite wood chunks in when I put the chicken wings on. I don't know how it would've proceeded if I'd kept the cook going, whether it would've made it's way back around, or struggled because of something about the deflector setup. Either that or I need to change my PID settings - any tips would be appreciated!

Ideally I'd be able to use more than one bolt to hold it together so it can't twist, but with the position of the Weber openings it's not really possible - all the other holes clash with the pipe fitting in the outer dog bowl. Will just need to take care to ensure the original damper stays open.

It was only 2.5h from when I put the handful of lit briquettes in to when I pulled the wings out and shut down the temperature control, so not really a long cook, but at least a reasonable test.

In any case, the result was delicious:
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Next time I'll try a longer cook, a pork butt or something - iron out any kinks and work my way up to that 16 hour brisket. :wsm:
 

 

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