New 3 owner in Vegas

[Mayday702]

Hi everyone! I just took delivery of my new Smokin It 3, bought the cart and cord hanger.  Took advantage of the sale that included the cover, chip tray, rib hooks.  I started smoking on a Masterbuilt 30" and it turned out some really decent Q, unfortunately the unit itself was a piece of junk.  Element burnt out, door wasn't hung straight so the door gaskets wouldn't even line up, door latches broke, etc.  It's a shame too because had it been put together with just a little more quality it would have been a good and long lasting unit.  I eventually gutted the electronics and bypassed the MES controller with an Auber.  It reached the point to where I had to use giant wood clamps (thank you Harbor Freight) to keep the door closed and I eventually just got tired or trying to make the MES work.

I gave up on electric and turned to my Weber Performer.  Bought the Cajun Bandit adapter ring to make the kettle more WSM like and it works great, in fact I thought I'd never go back to electric.  So I thought...Vegas' "Monsoon Season" has plenty of perfectly calm and perfect mornings followed by 20 mph winds by 11am and after one too many days of it being super windy and just not being able to maintain temps, one too many days of having to change my plans on doing a smoke, one too many days of having to go pick up one of the kids or run an errand and come back to super breezy conditions I pretty much decided that I don't have up to 16 hours (depending on the size of the smoke) to tend to a fire.  My last brisket I had to leave for an hour and came back to 350 degree temp spikes and it took the brisket to an internal of 215...and that was with the vents almost completely closed.

Anyway, after exploring the RecTec and a few other options I now have a Smokin It Model 3, since I already had an Auber WSD-1500GPH that I was using on the Masterbuilt I decided to buy the analog 3 and put that Auber to use.  Ordered the permanent wall temperature probe, bypassed the analog controls (didn't bother with a bypass switch) and running my auto tune right now.

Looking forward to seasoning it and trying my hand at my first Smokin It session, probably a nice and forgiving Boston Butt.  So...just thought I'd stop in here for the intro and a THANK YOU for the resources of the forum that helped me narrow down my decision between a Cook Shack, RecTec, Smoking Tex, etc.  Dollar for dollar the Smokin It seemed to be the best value, the reports of the great customer service and even the small touch of offering us military vets a free cover to go with our new smoker all pointed me here.

 

[drains]

Welcome from Texas Doug! Thank you for your service to our country. I owned a MB but it quit in the middle of the third smoke so I returned it. I have a #3 and have been very satisfied with it. The wind and temps won't have any effects on your smokes from now on. There are people on here who smoke in frigid weather and never miss a beat. I hope you share some of your experiences with your #3 when you can.

 

[AlinMA]

Hi Doug, Welcomw aboard from N'East MA!
Let us know how your first smoke goes....

 

[flying smoker]

Welcome Doug!  I'm certain you'll enjoy the SI experience.  Looking forward to seeing pics of your adventures and success stories!!

 

[old sarge]

Welcome Doug from SE Arizona. The 3 is such a great and dependable smoker. And the results are just terrific.

 

[Mayday702]

Thank you everyone for the warm welcome, I'm actually running my autotune again today...this time with my Maverick temp probe in there as well (because I'm neurotic like that).  My autotune last night actually ran longer than the programmed time, so today I added an hour to each step and now I can verify the installed Auber wall probe to the Maverick probe.

Really looking forward to getting back to Lazy-Q and having the ability to start the smoker at 3:30 in the morning when I'm walking out the door for work and it be ready that afternoon when I get home (the wife will be home so it's not like I'm leaving the house unattended with it running, I trust the appliance but not that much).  Looking forward to a smoke no longer being relegated to just on my days off and having to hope the wind is also co-operating.

Getting back to an electric smoker is kind of like reloading my own ammo, It isn't that it's that much cheaper...I just end up eating (or shooting) more.

 

[ibbones]

Welcome from South Texas, Doug. I also had a 30" Blasterbuilt that needed a little help on a few things but over all, it worked for almost four years.  But I KNEW I wanted a Smokin-It so I just kept using the MB until I saved the coin to get the #3d.  Love the real set it and forget it.
I am in South Texas by the bay so we always have wind here also. 

 

[NDKoze]

Welcome from ND Doug! You are going to love your #3D.

Were you having trouble with your controller? Because you shouldn't have to do an auto-tune as they are auto-tuned from the factory and shouldn't need to be auto-tuned unless you have problems. Just an FYI for others that may read.

 

[Mayday702]

Welcome from ND Doug! You are going to love your #3D.

Were you having trouble with your controller? Because you shouldn't have to do an auto-tune as they are auto-tuned from the factory and shouldn't need to be auto-tuned unless you have problems. Just an FYI for others that may read.

I didn't purchase a 3D...I bought the analog 3 and used an Auber that I was previously using for my Masterbuilt.  But...since you asked...as a matter of fact I seem to be having some problems holding a stable temp.  My Auber is swinging between 5-8 degrees in both directions, it's running right this very moment, set for 225 and going 221 to 233.  Never had this problem with my Masterbuilt it held steady within 1 degree (verified with my Maverick) so I'm a little perplexed.

I know this is an intro thread and not really the thread for the discussion so I apologize, and I literally typed "Auber temp swing" into the search bar and nothing (other than this thread) came up.  Typed same thing into Google and first hit is a few threads from this forum.

Both of my auto tunes were identical, only with the added Maverick grate probe to match to the Auber wall probe.  Actually let me correct that, I did add more time to the program because my auto tune was still running by the time the recommend program ended the first time so I couldn't tell if it was holding a temperature as the box was cooling off.  That being said both auto tunes were otherwise identical (accounting for weather, but close) with a simulated smoke, foiled floor pan, foiled wood lid, four fire bricks on highest rack they would fit (2nd from top), water pan on floor next to wood box.  By the way I was kind of surprised that I had quite a bit of water still in there that never really evaporated.

 

[NDKoze]

Thanks for clarifying that you are using a stand-alone Auber. I am not an Auber user/expert, so don't have much else to add. I am sure others will have more constructive comments and will be able to help out.

Regarding the water pan, I have found that if I place my water pan right next to my element hot spot (most smokers have one) I lose a lot more water. After 10s/100s of smokes I have found where my hot/warm/cool spots are and place my wood/water pan accordingly based on the type of smoke I am doing. For example, on a low temp smoke like fish or jerky, I place my wood on the hot spot, whereas on a warm/hot smoke, I place my wood in a combination of the hot/warm spots to get an even level of smoke and thus helping to prevent any combustion problems.