There's another Mod 3 in Virginia...

It appears the abnormally slow cook times are all associated with the 3's.  I have yet to see one of these observations with the other units.  However, an interesting note is the 4 now comes standard with the PID. Hmmmmm
 
Apologies for the typos in my last note, I entered it using my tablet this morning over coffee.

I have to tell you Sarge, I was feeling a little bipolar after that smoke.  I was disappointed that Sunday dinner didn't turn out as planned, yet I was elated at the quality of the product (best ribs ever).

I gave a day-old rack of the remaining 4 to a neighbor/friend from Georgia and not only was she reluctant to share them with her husband, she later told me they were some of the best ribs she'd ever had as well.

My PID arrived this afternoon and I can't wait to try it out.
 
post up some picks after or during your modding, a lot of guys like to see what others have done with the PID
 
Dan
I would consider raising your temperature to 240.  With 6 racks of 40 degree or so meat you may need a little boost.

I have smoked 3 racks at 240 for 5.5 hours no peeking and they were the best ribs ever.  I would suggest trying three racks and find your temperature sweet spot. 

BTW, I have a #3.  I was a foiling until I joined the Divotmaker revolution.  I still foil butts and brisket.

You can see some pictures under the pork section posting christmas eve ribs. 

If you like ribs try BJ's imo better than costco.

Welcome aboard.
 
Ha!  The DivotMaker revolution, eh?  I can't take credit for the "no peeky" method, I just promote it because I believe in it!  I actually learned about, early in the forum, from UWFSAE (Joe from Houston).  Credit where credit is due!  I miss Joe around here; great recipes and advice.  He pops in every now and then, though.
 
On Tony's advice, I didn't foil this batch of ribs and everyone, myself included, declared these to be the best they'd ever had.

So no more foiling for me.  I'm climbing onboard this revolution!

Now that the PID has arrived, I'm considering duplicating that smoke as closely as I can using the PID to provide a with/without comparison.  Has anyone ever done this?

Benjammn:  I'm not a big fan of the local BJ's, they just seem to have lost their spirit.  They don't care and don't care if you know it.  Costco on the other hand, wants your business and makes sure you know it.  They'll cut, wrap, re-wrap, pull out stuff from the back, discuss the latest shipment with you and even if you don't buy a sliver, they're still glad you came.
 
Welcome to the revolution, Dan! ;D  One thing I like about the PID is the ability to set steps.  To avoid the possibility of wood combustion, I ramp up slowly.  Set the first step to:

C01  130  E01  t  F01  .5

C02  225  E02  t  F02  7.0

This allows the wood to smoulder a bit before ramping up to final temp.  I like 225 for ribs, but some like 240.  Since you're only monitoring box temp with the ribs, you can put the meat probe in the box, or outside.  It does have to be attached for the PID to work.
 
If you do not get the  temperature results you are looking for with the PID, you may need to bypass the analog controller as they can conflict as the stock therm is connected to the controller.  I believe it is one or the other that is in charge. If you want the PID to control all, then I am fairly certain that those using the Auber for controlling the heat, the on board control must be bypassed.  Tony and Steve and others can add to that or correct me if I am wrong.
 
I only bypassed to get temps higher than 250.  That said if the stock thermostat is set to max and smoker light is going off when Auber still is saying heat'r up, then it could be that the stock thermostat is prematurely turning off the switch.  Usually that isn't the case as that would point to a bad or not quite calibrated correctly stock thermostat. 

So yes you can bypass if you want higher temps, but it shouldn't be necessary.  Just make sure you dial the built in one as high as it can go and it shouldn't interfere with the Auber control of the unit.
Wik
 
I agree, Wik!  The stock controller, on max, just becomes a pass-through for the power being directed at the unit from the PID (through the power cord).  For those that don't know, the power cord from the smoker is plugged into the PID, so it would be like you plugging and unplugging the power cord, really fast, to add or remove power to the unit.  Also, the power applied to the unit is varied, based on the PID settings (how fast or slow the temp is modified).

My understanding sound right to you, Wik?
 
Well with the stock settings the PID has a default cycle time setting of 2 seconds.  What it does is figure out based on current temp, rate of temp increase, etc how long the power should be on for the 2 second cycle time.  So if it calculates that it should be on full blast still then it leave power on for the full 2 second cycle.  If it calculates it should be on at 75% power then it turns on the element for 1.5 seconds and off for 0.5 seconds.  If it calculates it should be on 25% power then it turns on the element for 0.5 seconds and off for 1.5 seconds.  The P, I, D setting affect the Calculation (didn't want to try and get into that part here), but in reality it still is a simple on/off cycle with the portion of the on time changing.  To throw in another option... There is another setting in the PID that for Power Option that basically would allow you to throttle the max on time.  Meaning if you wanted to have the Max on time of the 2 seconds be only 80% you could do this.  But I think leaving this at 100% makes sense for these smokers as I'd presume the element is already sized fairly close to what is needed.  If you had an oversized wattage element for the smoker size you might want to restrict this a bit.  Maybe another reason to mess with this is if you wanted a slower rise in temp for things like jerky for example, but I doubt it is worth messing with.  (that is me just thinking out loud as I think about this last setting that I never messed with)...  Sorry I run on...

Check out the Aubers website and in the PDF I'm referring to the following settings:
http://auberins.com/images/Manual/WSD-1503CPH.pdf
T - Page 9
Out - Page 12
 
Tony I've got to jump in here. Please realize I don't yet have a PID ;), but I have read the manual pretty completely (plus, I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express). You stated the meat probe had to be plugged in for the PID to work. My reading of the manual is, you can set ALL the programming steps to TIME, and leave the meat probe unplugged. I could be wrong..........
 
You may be right, Gary.  My understanding was that both plugs had to be in.  I'll have to re-read that section - thanks!
 
As yet, I won't be bypassing the built-in thermostat.  Maybe later.

Do any of you use an extension cord for your PID?  I now have a 12ft cord running from the smoker to the PID and about a 4ft cord running from the PID to the wall.  I have a few heavy duty outdoor cords that should handle the power requirements, but thought I'd check with you guys for some real world advice.

Many thanks,
 
GeeBee said:
Tony I've got to jump in here. Please realize I don't yet have a PID ;) , but I have read the manual pretty completely (plus, I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express). You stated the meat probe had to be plugged in for the PID to work. My reading of the manual is, you can set ALL the programming steps to TIME, and leave the meat probe unplugged. I could be wrong..........
Click to expand...

I looked back through the manual, but am just not seeing the reference to this.  If you could point it out, I would appreciate it!  Definitely not very obvious.
 
Tony,

2 questions:

    1. You step up to 225 by "ramping" to 130 for half an hour (.5)?

    2.  225 is the temp for nearly every smoking recipe I find, yet SI owners seem to work all around it, some tweaking up to 300 degrees.  Is there any basis for comparison to a "standard" cook time or are we just poking and hoping since there's so little reference material?

Thanks,

And thanks Polish Q, for the response on the cord question!
 
I use 225 for all of my regular smokes, excluding low temp smokes like jerky, cheese, etc.
 
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