Airflow

[Ohio1956]

Yes, I understood from reading the post concerning the auber. I like having the maverick. I am always doing something around the house or in the yard, I don't want to be locked down to the smoker.

After going over my past experience with my first smoker, I was able to smoke at 320 and I used a lot more wood. That's why I am going a little slower with the #3. I am hooked on this smoker and now I am ready to start smoking. I don't mind the temp swings, just the end result and so far it's been great. If I could go to 275 or 300 this would be perfect. Anyway thanks;

 

[FunkedOut]

I took the controller from the MES (Masterbuilt) I had and used it on the SI3.
Nice set up.  It's a simple on-off controller, with built in timer and meat probe.

 

[DivotMaker]

I took the controller from the MES (Masterbuilt) I had and used it on the SI3.
Nice set up.  It's a simple on-off controller, with built in timer and meat probe.

Pictures, please!

 

[gmannel]

Very intriguing! What was your final 2nd hole size? Are you still going to expand it to a valved bulkhead for adjustment?

 

[FunkedOut]

Very intriguing! What was your final 2nd hole size? Are you still going to expand it to a valved bulkhead for adjustment?

I enlarged the front slightly to 3/8"
I ended up with 7/16" in the rear.

Actually, it's fine as is.  It will probably stay this way for a bit.
Next step would be to enlarge the rear hole enough to fit 3/4" pipe.
Then, I'd run a section of 3/4" pipe the full length of the element, and drill holes along the way to evenly distribute the airflow.
Finally, install a blower feeding the 3/4" pipe with the ability to control the CFM; original design to jerky with a pot or PWM control. 
Seems to me that blowing clean air in, is better than sucking the smokey air out.  That fan would probably get much dirtier quicker.

 

[FunkedOut]

I took the controller from the MES (Masterbuilt) I had and used it on the SI3.
Nice set up.  It's a simple on-off controller, with built in timer and meat probe.

Pictures, please!

Sadly, this last smoke (probably the 10th or so), the MES controller died.  I was able to troubleshoot it down to the box that I installed down by the element, inside the SI3.  Probably got too hot and killed a voltage regulator.  120VAC is getting to that box, but DC voltage is not getting to the display up top.  The circuit board is covered in some white epoxy so I can't get to any points to measure.  :-\
I took some pictures of the decommissioning.
Looked great and worked great, until it didn't.

Almost got my mind made up on an auber.  Still planning out the install.  I'd rather have it all integrated if possible, rather than a separate box with wires attaching them.  I definitely want to keep the SSR cool.

Good news, Funk!  How about some pics of your successes?

Luckily, I managed to get a solid 4 hours out of it before it went belly up.
Here are some pics of the brisket.
First pic on the foil is at the 4 hour mark.
Second pic on the foil is after another 6-7 hours in the oven.

 

[DivotMaker]

Good looking brisket!  Sorry to hear about the MES controller, but I guessed it was just a matter of time.

 

[gmannel]

What difference have you noticed so far with the enlarging of and adding another air hole? Does the rear hole also act as a drain hole? I don't think the drip pan goes back that far on the 3. Just didn't want to find a mess of drippings on the porch. If so, then the orig bulkhead plan would solve that prob as well as giving you the adjustment option. Also, I wonder if the increased available air would make the A-Maze-N AMNPS functional as I understand it did not work well w this very tight box.

 

[FunkedOut]

difference is better bark.  less of a steamed meat end product and more of a smoked meat end product.
don't get me wrong, its still super moist and fills a water pan rather than dry it out.
also, the box cools off more with the increased airflow, so the element turns on more often and longer, leading to better burning of the wood.

future plans of a bigger hole and fan so i can get to where a water pan is needed would be nice.
of course having the option of closing the valve on the bigger hole and not using the fan to keep the original configuration is part of the plan.

the bulkhead idea was intended to solve the dripping problem.
however, the rear hole never dripped.  I do line the bottom with foil and use a pen to poke a hole (two now) in the foil.  never have had a drop come out of the rear hole; bottom (exterior) of the smoker is just as it shipped.  the front hole has stains from the drippings around it.

 

[gmannel]

It seems if the box is level front to back then you would get drippings from both holes - as the "ditch" runs the full length - maybe if a rear hole w/o a bulkhead is desired then screw the rear casters up a bit to tip it towards front hole. Or put 2nd hole far enough forward to utilize drip pan.
My front hole was already 3/8 as the bit just slid through, so I enlarged to 1/2. Only one hole though.

 

[FunkedOut]

I hear what you're saying about the dripping at the rear hole, but it just doesn't happen.

 

[Trip]

Has this effected the speed of your smokes?

 

[FunkedOut]

negative

 

[gmannel]

Updates on your mods - effects?

 

[FunkedOut]

I bit the bullet and bought an Auber; WSD-1500GPH.
Got the wall-mount probe installed.  I've done some tuning.
No airflow changes yet.

Made some skin-on, bone-in chicken breasts the other day that were real good, as expected.  Skin was rubber is my only complaint.
Cold chicken, cold smoker, set temp to 350F.
Just under 1 hour, chicken hit 165F but the smoker was only at 318F.
I've got more tuning to do.

The dampening of the PID certainly makes the box take longer to reach set temp to avoid overshoot.
Without PID control, just plugging the bypassed SI3 to power, it can reach 400F in 40 minutes.

Boneless pork chops going in the smoker in a few...

 

[gmannel]

Keep posting! I enlarged drain hole to 1/2 " and can already tell a diff

 

[FunkedOut]

Not much to report other than having enlarged the air inlet port on my SI3 to 5/8" (drip hole still at 3/8").
Just did that today and have retuned the auber to match.
Those tune values are posted here for those interested:
http://smokinitforums.com/index.php?topic=1285.msg31112#msg31112

Now to smoke some meat and see how she does!

edit:  I also drilled a 1/2" hole in the bottom of the firebox directly above the rear air inlet port.  All of the holes in the firebox are real close to 1/2".  I'm trying to see if this helps even out the wood burning from front to rear without covering up the opening on the front of the firebox.
I'll post results as soon as I run out of BBQ!

 

[tnlyne]

FunkedOut-

I learned the lesson about not putting things near the heating element myself:

See the HeaterMeter thread:
http://smokinitforums.com/index.php?topic=2765

http://smokinitforums.com/index.php?topic=2765.msg23387#msg23387
http://smokinitforums.com/index.php?topic=2765.msg23809#msg23809

 

[FunkedOut]

Tman, I know your pain.  If only there was a forum where we could learn from each other's experiences.  :
Actually looks like I was erring as you were feeling the effects of your errors.
At least we put it out there for others to read.

Chickens came home with me today.  They will be going in the smoker this week.  I'll post up the results...

 

[FunkedOut]

a pair of 5 pound chickens got 5 hours in brine.
i then rinsed them off well, pat dry completely and placed each in their own pan, uncovered in the fridge for 12 hours to let the skin dry out.
i then pat them dry completely again, and back in the fridge they went for another 6 hours.
olive oil and a light rub all over with a little extra salt on the skin.

cold chicken, cold smoker; in they went, probe in the breast.
a small chunk of cherry and a small chunk of mesquite.
set the auber to 350F until IT hit 140F, then 140F for hours...

results:
1.2 hours into the smoke, chicken hit 140F.  smoker was only at 325F.
i pulled the chicken after a total cook time of 1.6 hours.
chicken was at 170F and the smoker was only down to 233F.
skin was not crispy.
chicken was delicious and juicy as a peach.

without the auber, this box hits 400F in 40 minutes.
I need to find auber settings that allow a quicker ramp time.
I may just give up on that and program the first step of each cook to 999F for as long as it takes to reach the desired temp.
For this cook, it would have looked like this:

C1 - 999F for 35 minutes
C2 - 350F until IT = 140F
C3 - 140F for many hours (hold warm)

maybe scratch the hold warm option for chicken, babysit the smoker after 1 hour and pull at temp.
even with the 3/8" drip hole and the 5/8" air inlet port, this box does not cool quickly at all.
I'm thinking this was the last naturally aspirated smoke I do.
I'm going Pro Modified and adding a blower.

pics in a few...