Post your live HeaterMeter Cooks


 
WBegg said:
Stock PIDS. Fan only (15CFM running at 30% max).
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Thanks. I'm gonna have to make a 20lb run after cleaning out that ash catcher, probably some night this week. It'll be interesting to see just how badly this has affected my cooks. Edit: Maybe Tuesday night, with a forecast low of down around -8 F.
 
Here is a chart from a rack of ribs cooked at 250f except for the last hour on my Grilla Kong. As you can see, the temperatures held nicely, but what I really like is the nearly total lack of fan activity, relying almost exclusively on the damper. My fan doesn't come on until 50% and, in this case the fan ran on the initial heat up and then again near the end when I basted the ribs with sauce and increased the temp to 350f just before 6:00pm.

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[/url]2020-01-04_100734 by Bob Walters, on Flickr[/IMG]

I replaced the sliding intake door(s) on the Kong with a home made one including a fitting with which to attach my Adapt-a-damper and sealed the sliding surface with some felt gasket material. In this instance I had the upper vent opened just shy of the position marked #1 (of 3), so it was relatively more open than my old and leaky Kamado Kooker.

By the way, my rib recipe is simple. Remove the skin from the bone side and dust with a light coating of Tony Chachere Creole seasoning (green can) and a heavier coating of smoked paprika. No adhesive like mustard, no touch, no rub, no meat caressing. Just dust it on. Rest in the refrigerator for several hours if possible. Toss them on the grill at 250f for around 5 hours or 320f for 3 1/2 hours if you're in a hurry. The results are similar. I use the ceramic heat deflector, a dry drip pan on the lower grate, and the ribs on the elevated grate.

I mix up vinegar with some oil and a touch of Worcestershire sauce and a squirt of Sriracha hot sauce, put it in a squeeze bottle, and baste three or four times during the cook. I start with the meat side up, turn once, and then turn again to finish meat side up. If you wish, slather on some thick BBQ sauce during the last hour and crank up the heat during that time. No wrap, no muss, no fuss. Easy and delicious.

I believe that "fall off the bone" is something made up by city folks who buy cheap ribs at Walmart or Costco. If you start with quality meat, you can get very tender ribs without cooking them to death. We're not trying to make pork pate' are we?
 
That is a sweet looking graph you've got there. I agree, I like the "fan on above 50%" as well and most of the time I'm running on the damper alone-- only need the blower for startup or temp changes or when the charcoal is running out.
 
Just makin' some ribs and testing out some changes to the noisedump to make it more responsive (and if people hit this link then also test if it works under more load)
http://home.capnbry.net:5050/luci

Today from 11am to around 4-6pm, get it while it is hot! Image from right after ribs went on, you can see how it sort of rides the border between using the damper only and turning on the fan at on above 50%
 
Going to throw some St Louis cut, Memphis prepped ribs on the Pit Boss today. I remounted my TC probe to be clipped on the end of the stock dome thermometer and left my thermistor probe protected on the grate.

Ambient temp here in Minnesota is 30F (warm)

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Comments welcome.
 
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I'm about 25 miles south of J Halvo... 3 packer briskets going in the double pan gravity fed smoker later today, and 3 pans of baked/smoked beans early tomorrow morning. Smoking for a couple of local employee holiday parties tomorrow. We get such awfully good service at both, good to do something nice for them.

http://140.190.50.109:922
 
16lbs Brisket I started at around 3:45pm PST on Saturday. Hoping to have it ready to pull off by Noon PST on Sunday. Then rest in a cooler for 2 hours and ready serve before Kickoff for Superbowl.

A kamado Joe Big Joe 2 with a microdamper

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This was after 4.5 hours
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HeaterMeters can be used at high temperatures too, I just leave the top vent open all the way. From 5:45pm-5:50pm I had the bottom open a touch too, and you see that there's too much air getting sucked in for the HeaterMeter to control it The output bounces around a lot because the PID constants are a little high for the temperature, but temperature is still maintained properly.
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HeaterMeter 4.2 with modified Microdamper on Large Big Green Egg
 
Set up HM for the first ever cook with my Adapt-A-Damper and brand new Weber Performer. Using the hole from the igniter to bring air into the grill.

Fresh 6# Boneless ham. Mustard + rub. Using a charcoal snake around the edge of the grill with hickory chunks. Since this is the first time using HM with this setup, I was curious how stable the temp would be. Below, for the 1st hour, a good bit of oscillation. I think the air coming in was providing cooling and when the fan & damper shut off, the temperature would rise. You can see where I changed 'D' from 5 to 10 and the oscillations nearly went away. Then changed D to 12 and it's quite steady.Screenshot_20200412-144250.jpg
 
WBegg said:
Very nice graph! Is that the new Adapt-a-Damper?
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It is! It works like a champ - thank you! Only issue I have had is on my first overnight cook. I was sloppy about not clearing the ash pan in my BGE, and also think I didn't have the damper seated firmly enough on the BBQ Guru adaptor. I woke up and temp had dropped to 175 from 225 (I don't have the alarms configured yet) - I went out there and the damper was laying on the ground. I think it was a mixture of not seated properly and blowback pressure from too much ash. I cleared the ash, put it back on, and finished the cook no problem. No problems since! Love it!
 
ChrisB, Could you please post your config settings for your BGE. Would love to see what you ended up with for that cook. Chris also what was the weather, temp, humidity and type of lump charcoal you used. I am trying to make an extensive database with config, weather, and lump data as to help other with tuning and cooking. Graph looks great. WBegg, do you have a new Adapt-a-Damper?
 
Same Adapt-a-Damper. I just now designed a new adapter piece, though, that's a bit longer with a set screw to attach better to the Guru interface to prevent it from falling off. I'm sending you one, ChrisB, once I get it printed out.
 
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