Just got my Auber ATC


 
B

Bob F

New member
Well, I ordered my Auber last week and it arrived in 1 business day! I didnt know they are located about 6 miles from my house...DUH!

So, for you Auber owners, any tips/tricks I should keep in mind as I venture into the world of ATCs?

Thanks!
 
What size fan did you get? I found the 6.5 CFM fan did an OK job with low-temp smokes, but at times late in the smoke the Auber 6.5 struggled to maintain temps on the WSM 22.

I always started with a full ring of unlit, and pulled about 1/2 a chimney and lit that then put it back in the center of the ring. I usually smoked at 225 degrees.
 
Thanks for the info on how you lit yours. I will be doing some BBs this weekend.

I went with the 20 CFM as it was only $17 more. I normally am doing low and slow but figured for $17 I couldnt go wrong buying the flexibility to go HH.
 
I never got a chance to smoke anything this past weekend. I coach my son's team and daughter's team and got busy with a sink repair on Sunday.

No worries though, I will be smoking this weekend for sure!
 
Thanks, Bob. I am in a boat similar to yours, in that I would really like to try the Heat Meter/Link Meter controller, but don't have the time or desire to monkey with all the Linux stuff and board designs right now. The Auber looks like a reasonable alternative.
 
Got my Auber ATC and 20cfm this week! Doing 2 butts in my 18.5". I turned the 20cfm fan on in my kitchen and it blows hard. I hope it doesn't blow ashes around in my WSM. I'll find out this weekend...
 
Bob, Did you get a chance to try out the Auber yet?

I did a 15 hour smoke over the weekend and wasn't super pleased with the first performance. I wasn't expecting my first use to be perfect, but it will take some getting used to the nuances of using this device. Blower is very strong and my foiled clay pot water pan was covered with ash after the smoke so obviously it was also blown all over my 2 BB's. For the most part it stayed pretty stable. I had one temp overshoot sometime in the AM when my ET-732 high temp alarm went off next to my bed. I'm going to have to build some type of diffuser for the fan to slow down the air. The vents on the 18.5" WSM are so close to the charcoal ring that any large burst of air would easily blow ash around.
 
Jason,

I used it on two smokes this weekend. I did an overnighter on 4 BBs. Total smoke time was about 17 hours. The Auber kept it somewhat close to the target temp but did have some overshoots.

I then did a brisket a day later and tried to set it for 225. It would get to 225, hold for a little bit then the temp would rocket up to like 260+ in 1 minute. Then the Auber would shut off and it would slowly come back to somewhere near 225. Then, the temp would drop all the way down to like 195. The auber would kick on and the cycle would start again. I thought it accidentally got into "autotune mode" so I unplugged it and tried again....same nonsense. After 2-3 times of the ups-and-downs, I pulled it out and just manually controlled my WSM. I know the smoker well and was able to get it right back to 225-230 (measured by my remote Maverick). I will likely try one more smoke with it...and if I have the same results, I plan on trashing it.
 
20 CFM is a lot, but you can probably achieve the results you're looking for by either manually tinkering with the PID settings, or by letting the Auber run its autotune cycle completely to allow the computer to figure out the dynamics of the cooker vis a vis the power applied to the fan.
 
I have the 65.cfm fan, I've had the best luck by starting my fire at the edge of the ring closest to the fan. As it burns I add more coals if needed and/or rake unburnt coal closer to the fan. I've had good luck with the low and slow, the Auber had more trouble keeping up with a HH so I ended up taking it off and just using my vents. Placement of your temp sensor will also have an effect on how well it works.
BobF if you decide to trash it let me know and I'll send you my address
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I typically use my auber for cooks around 275. I have done a couple hh with the auber but I find that it has trouble getting to 325. I have a 6.5 cfm fan. I have a 22 wsm, I wish I would have gotten the larger fan as I have the larger wsm. I typically get my fire started and turn the fan when I am within 15 degrees of my target temp.
 
Hi Greg,

I used to initially do this with my stoker (light the coals closest to the fan, or even in the middle). Have you tried lighting the coals opposite the end of your fan? This is all I do now and don't have to do any adding, shifting of the coals, or adjustments.

The flame naturally will crawl towards the blower and I find that I get the most even burns. I also seem to get to higher temps with greater ease if I choose because more coals are actually burning. Just my 2 cents anyway, I'd be curious to see if I'm crazy or if others have any luck with that.
 
Bob,

Did you have better results with it ?

I am looking at the 20 cfm as well to be able to use between my 18 or 22, but I really want to try it on my Lang.

I emailed Auber about the Lang and they don't know of anyone using it on the 84, but Stoker uses a 25cfm for the Lang 84/108 so I think a 20 may work.
 
Originally posted by Ryan Reuter:
Hi Greg,

I used to initially do this with my stoker (light the coals closest to the fan, or even in the middle). Have you tried lighting the coals opposite the end of your fan? This is all I do now and don't have to do any adding, shifting of the coals, or adjustments.

The flame naturally will crawl towards the blower and I find that I get the most even burns. I also seem to get to higher temps with greater ease if I choose because more coals are actually burning. Just my 2 cents anyway, I'd be curious to see if I'm crazy or if others have any luck with that.
Click to expand...

Great idea Ryan, I'll try that next time.
As a side note, last weekend I did some ribs on my Good-One Rodeo and used the Auber. It did a good job of holding 275° but the weakness of the 6.5cfm fan showed up whenever I added another piece of wood. Too much white smoke which I attributed to not enough air to get quick combustion.
 
Well, I finally ran the auto tune function and it seems that it has corrected my problems. I started the auto tune and had to leave the house for about 4 hours and when I came back the autotune was complete. The smoker was at 225. it went up to 228 for a minute or two and settled back at 225. I pulled the lid off and it dropped the temp to 200....but when I put it back on, the temp did go back up to 235 (to be expected with the sudden rush of air in the cooker). The temp slowly dropped to 221....and then came back up to 225/226 in about an hour or so. The temp would drop to 221/223 occassionaly and then had a little spike up to 230 for about 15 minutes. I can live with that kind of range although not perfect. I am going to smoke something this weekend (if the kids don't make the swimming finals) and hopefully it will work well.
 
Bob, thanks for the info. Since Auber doesn't have anyone using it on the Lang 84", I might see if they will let me test one. They are based here in Atlanta, so maybe they will!
 
Josh,

Hopefully they will let you test one!

I didnt know they were based here (in Alpharetta) until I got mine and saw the return address. I live about 5 miles from their office.

While I did have some initial problems with temps, hopefully the autotune has solved it. I'd also like to say that the customer service has been great. I have sent emails back and forth with them and they have been very responsive.
 
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