RickNE's Auber Review

rickne

New member
So some of you know that I was having some issues getting to an appropriate cooking temp in my #3.  So I bypassed the controller and plugged the unit into an Auber PID.  I had no time to do any type of test run so I dove right in and cooked two 8 lb pork shoulders for a small office Christmas lunch for 20 people.  The lunch is today (Friday) at noon.  I'm in charge of pulled pork and bbq beans.

As it turns out, everything was stacked against me:
- New Controller that I've never used
- Cold front with 9 degree temps and 20 mph north winds, including a "wintery mix" of freezing rain and a dusting of snow.
- Cooking boneless shoulders, which I've never done in my life

I washed the butts and used butchers twine to tie them up.  I rubbed them (heavily) and had them in the cooker at 3:30pm on Thursday, to be safe.  The Auber seemed to be working well.  I didn't auto tune it but it was holding temps easily in the +/- 5 degrees.  I set it at 225 and had the probe at the rack that both butts were loaded on.  I did have a small pan of liquid below it.

Everything was moving along smoothly but by 11pm I noticed the internal temps of the butts was higher than I expected.  They were getting done much fast than I anticipated.  At 12:30am they were at 150 Internally.  I backed the auber down to 210 degrees and let it chug through the cold wintery night. 

I woke up at 6:30, checked on things, and found the internal temp of the Butts was only 156 degrees.  Holy Stalls!  This was the problem I had with the stock controller. I just couldn't power through the stalls when averaging 210.  I could but it took forever.  I kicked the auber up to 250, which it handled without any issue.  At 10am I kicked it up to 275, again with no issues.  Finally, by 10:30 both butts had hit 198 IT and I removed them and wrapped them.  I had the beans warming in the oven during that time.  Once the butts were removed, I dropped a couple of very small apple chunks in the wood box and let the beans go for 1 hour at 275 degrees.  I plan to remove them in about 20 minutes and head to the office with my feast.

I still have to learn the "habits" of the Auber, but I'm impressed.  I made a mistake dropping it down to 210 degrees over night and it would have cost me dearly if I wouldn't have had the auber to push this cook along this morning. 

I've said many times the swings don't bother me at all.  I just needed higher temps and the flexibility to run as high as 250 degrees.  Something I did when I cooked on my Klose.  When I needed higher temps to push the cook, I built a hotter fire.  Now I have that flexibility with my SI #3. 

I will let you know how the food came out.  But as for the cook and the Auber, I'm really liking this thing.  More to come.
 
How did,it turn out?

Let me know the auto tune numbers you get.

This Sunday we are installing finishing touches on vent to push smoke out of garage with an oven/ stove exhaust. I'm not worried about CO or other stuff as the smoke goes out the vent and there is very little wood and next to no actual combustion in these... It's not I'm trying to exhaust a stick burner or something wild like that through the garage.
 
Sounds like you got to really test the features you were most interested in. I do like that you were able to bump up the temps when needed. 

Let's us know how it all turned out. I'm sure you will get rave reviews!
 
Sounds like a great "rugged conditions" test of the Auber, Rick!  Yep, the drop to 210 was a mistake, I'll agree.  Amazing how quickly temp will rise sometimes to the 160-ish range, and the panic sets in...even with experienced smokers!  Sounds like you got bit by the stall!  No worries, we've all been there before!

Thanks for the review, and I look forward to more details about your settings.  Oh, and some pics of the finished butts would be good, too!  lol  ;D
 
Thanks, RickNE. I have been playing with my Auber as well, and just getting used to the settings.  I have been a bit hesitant to try it on a brisket, but I am going to dive in this evening and try it.  I have had mixed results with my briskets so far, but I am hoping the Auber will hold the temp at 225 and not have such drastic swings.  I will try and take picks as well. 

I am looking forward to hearing your results, RickNE.  I am sure those butts turned out great!! 

Happy Holidays everyone!!
 
The butts turned out great.  Everybody loved it.  There was a large chunk of one but that ware really tough and didn't want to fall apart.  I had plenty of food so I simply discarded that piece.  That's happened to me before.  I don't think it's any result of the cook, but more likely the meat.  The beans were amazing.

I actually threw another one (with a bone) into the #3 last night at 7:30.  A family in my neighborhood lost their daughter last week so we are cooking a BBQ feast to take over to them tonight.

I really like this Auber.  It gives me so much flexibility with the temp ranges.  I started it last night at 7:30 and purposely went low and slow.  It's been 20 hours but it was a 8+ lb butt and like I said, I was purposely cooking it as slow as I could.  I did bump up the heat an hour ago to 255 to finish it up.  Internal temp was 191.  It should be ready to rest pretty soon.

I don't usually take pictures of my finished food.  I'm too busy eating it.  I will snap a picture of this one.

As a side note, I've been using alot of Apple/Oak combinations.  I really like it.  I've also been adding a singe lump of Kingsford to my smoke box.  Maybe it's just me, but it makes it taste like it comes off by old smokers.
 
Great job, Rick!  Sounds really good!  Very nice of you to make bbq for your friends in a very tough time; I'm sure they'll appreciate it.  My sympathies to all.
 
I agree with DM.  Great job Rick.  That is a very nice thing to do at such a tragic time.  Very sorry to hear of this tragic loss, and I hope everyone at least had a little comfort being together. 
 
Incredibly tragic story.  I'll never understand why such bad things happen to such wonderful families. 
 
God bless the family with such tragedy ... I could not imagine such travesty and can only sympathize (and hopefully never empathize with such pain). 

My Uncle and Aunt (and godparents) who turned me on to smoking barbecue lost their adult son several years back. Suspect while the pain has been numbed they likely only await the day to meet again.

Godspeed.
 
You are doing a great thing Rick.

A woman in my neighborhoods just wend through a double mastectomy and several families in the neighborhood have signed up to make meals for their family. Their teenage boy eats like a horse so my wife signed us up bring them some dinners.  I think smoking up a couple butts and vacuum sealing them into portions to feed 6 - 8 would be good. It's great to see people coming together to help others.

Congrats on the Auber!  Let us know if there was much difference is taste or texture with the bone in vs the boneless.
 
So the bone in was way way easier and better.  It just cooks so much better.  I didn't really get to taste it, but I could tell by the way it pulled that it was very very good.  That was the first and last boneless I will ever do.

I did hear from our neighbors tonight.  They really enjoyed the feast and took advantage of it by having some family/friends over.  I seriously had enough food for 20...  easily.  An 8 1/2 lb butt, buns, plenty of beans, potato salad, cole slaw, chips, bbq sauce, and cookies.  They hadn't been eating well and hadn't did any grocery shopping.  All she kept saying was they "ate like kings".  There is so little you can do for a family in that situation.  I'm so happy I could help, even if it was just a small gesture.  I feel so bad for them. I lost my mom in August, and I can't even imagine how it would feel to lose one of my children.  They are going to have a rough week.  I wish I could do more.
 
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