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You guys and your off the shelf controllers... I built one based on CapnBry's design earlier in the year, but have only had my smoker out once this year so far. Need to remedy that.
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Apr 12, 2012 14:21
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Nosthula posted:Do you have a link or instructions for building this? My dad is building his own smoker and I would love to complement it with a homemade controller. This thread will be very helpful to you if you decide to take the plunge.
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Apr 17, 2012 02:09
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AxeBreaker posted:Those homemade power controllers look like they have some nice features, but they don't seem to be any cheaper than the cheapest commercial ones. Of course they have as many features as the really expensive models (CyberQ, Stoker) by man is that a lot of effort to get there. I suppose it depends on if you're a DIY kinda guy.
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Apr 18, 2012 01:43
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So I smoked a nearly 11lb butt this weekend, my first attempt. Two days prior, I applied yellow mustard and a liberal application of rub and wrapped it up in plastic wrap. It turned out great, but it didn't have any bark on it, nor was it black when I foiled it (at like 150F, it stalled for a long time and I was worried). It just looked like a big brown chunk of pork. I smoked it at 225F, and it took 11 hours to get to 200F. I sprayed rum and apple juice on it every hour or two for the first 3-4 hours until I foiled it. What am I doing wrong? Should I have applied more rub prior to cooking? I'm thinking the lack of rub (which did have sugar in it) is the reason why I didn't end up with much in the way of bark. 
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May 30, 2012 16:54
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TECHNICAL Thug posted:I think spraying the butt every hour, especially early in the cook, causes the cooking time to increase, which may be why you were stuck in a plateau at 150 for so long. The amazingribs.com guy suggests not spraying butts but instead adding some apple juice or similar when you foil it. this link should help you out a lot. Good tips, thanks guys! I'm not sure what's next on the smoking agenda, but it probably won't be another butt since I've got a lot of frozen pulled pork to eat. 
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Jun 1, 2012 03:16
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McSpankWich posted:Smoked a shoulder over memorial day weekend. It ruled. Question though, most places I read say to put the smoke wood in with the meat intially and then never replenish it. Other sources say to toss more wood on as soon as the visible white smoke stops pouring out. Which is it? Intial only or keep tossing it on? Only the first 3 hours or so really matter as far as smoke goes.
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Jun 8, 2012 21:02
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BraveUlysses posted:Ok, ill give it another try next time I make some shoulder. 1/3rd rum, 2/3rds apple juice?
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Jun 11, 2012 23:33
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coyo7e posted:Found this fella on craigslist for Get some grill paint on that poo poo, it'll dress right up.
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Jun 18, 2012 19:43
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, works like a charm. 
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GigaFool posted:I've never owned a WSM, but I know they're pretty much the best charcoal smoker you can buy for the price. You can't go wrong with one. I debated purchasing one but settled on the electric because I'm busy enough as it is, so the consistency and ability to run unattended overnight is a big plus for me. I've owned it ~2 months and already smoked more stuff than I did all of last summer on a Weber Smokenator. For the record, if you use the "minion method", a WSM can handle an overnight smoke with no intervention easily. I built a HeaterMeter for mine, and it's insanely temperature stable if you load it up and leave it a lone.
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Jun 20, 2012 21:17
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Stringent posted:Alternatively, I just use the base of my 18" wsm as a grill. I have the little metal clips so I can do this as well, but you have to be careful about how much charcoal you put in the thing or it turns into a blast furnace because the grate sits directly on the fire ring.
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Jun 21, 2012 14:50
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GigaFool posted:I don't doubt it. I thought about building one of those just to monitor/graph the meat temps in my electric (for later reference and planning ahead), but I have this feeling there will eventually be some sort of network-ready thermometer on the market. At least I'm hoping, because I'm not the best at soldering. Well, the HeaterMeter is a very fun project if you are a tinkerer. You don't have to be a great solderer as it's all hole-through stuff. Worth a shot if you've got the time. CapnBry is working on building a new "shield" version that will hook onto a RaspberryPi too which should simplify things.. hopefully.
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Jun 21, 2012 14:52
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Canuckistan posted:Which Maverick probes are you using? The wiki is a little unclear on which one to use. Since you're using wired probes did you bother putting in the radio receiver for the wireless probe? I didn't bother doing the wireless board since I didn't really see the point. My router is going to be right there, why bother with more expensive probes and crap. I'm using the High Heat ET73 probes. So far, so good.
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Jun 22, 2012 00:03
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Canuckistan posted:Here's a forum with people talking about it: By design the HM board has 4 probes. I didn't really have room / didn't see a need for 4 so I only wired mine up for 3. While they make "straight" pit probe type probes, I just use one of the ET73's stuck through a clothes pin I drilled a hole in, clipped to the top grill. Most of the time I'm either doing ribs, or chicken and only care about the pit probe, or I'm doing one to two butts, so I figured 3 is plenty.
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Jun 22, 2012 15:11
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When you're ordering parts, keep in mind you can skip a bunch of them if you're not going to use wireless probes, or if you're not going to use the board standalone (without a router). Also, the button board is sort of useless in my opinion, so that's even more stuff you can skip. The button board doesn't let you do anything you can't do in the web interface..
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Jun 22, 2012 18:01
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LTBS posted:Are there any suggestions for a temp controller for a WSM that can be seen over the internet or has alerts/wifi? Have you considered making a HeaterMeter?
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Aug 30, 2012 00:12
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CapnBry posted:drat right, HeaterMeter for Life! Indeed, I love mine. 
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Sep 6, 2012 20:30
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Niagalack posted:What is the HeaterMeter used for? Is it reliable? Worth making one? I mostly smoke on my propane/coal bbq where I set my stuff and use a wifi probe that gives me the meat temperature. A HeaterMeter isn't going to be of any use to someone using a propane bbq, other than it being a cheaper way to monitor your cook progress remotely than some of the other products out there. It's primarily used as a sort of PID controller to stoke fires to maintain a precise temperature on WSM/BGEs, etc.
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Oct 6, 2012 23:47
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davey4283 posted:I don't use any of the linksys temp control stuff found in this thread and my stuff turns out great. I think that shits all pretty lame imo. To me, smoking is supposed to be pretty simple: Fire, Wood, Smoke, Meat. What's pretty lame is losing meat on overnight smokes because your fire goes out and you don't know about it, or dry butts because of temperature instability, etc. The "lame poo poo" you speak of makes smoking even more fun than it normally is, because you can geek out AND end up with amazing meat every time. Not having to get out of bed to check on poo poo at 4 am is pretty much the best.
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Oct 7, 2012 17:55
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Choadmaster posted:Sounds good. Where do I stick the probe in a rack of babybacks? What temp should I be looking for? IMO, you don't. I've never had any issues with 2-2-1, checking for them to start pulling back and doing the rest by touch.
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Oct 10, 2012 03:41
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GroovinPickle posted:What's the best strategy for keeping pulled pork warm before serving? I'm planning to supply a tailgate Saturday afternoon, so I figure I'll smoke overnight on Friday and take the meat off Saturday morning. I can foil it and hold it in a cooler, but sooner or later I'll have to pull it. Should I just pull it and then heat in an oven at ~225 for 20 minutes, then load the pulled meat into a cooler? You're not trying to cook it after it's pulled, so I'd foil over whatever you pulled it into, and stick that in the oven at a lower temperature to hold it (~170F).
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Oct 10, 2012 20:02
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GigaFool posted:Yep. Pull it when it's still warm, and cover it to reheat. Pulled pork is fine at room temperature anyway, so I wouldn't worry about getting it too hot. If you can save the drippings (I use a drip pan for this purpose in my MES40), adding them back to the pork after you pull it will enhance the flavor and keep it moist. Yeah, I think you need to be more concerned about it getting too cold if you're leaving it at room temperature (food safety!)
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Oct 11, 2012 00:08
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Digital_Jesus posted:Buy yourself the aftermarket steel door. It will change your life. I've been wanting one of those for my 18", but $16 shipping on a $22 door makes me nerdrage.
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Oct 24, 2012 15:32
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I was having difficulty finding hardwoods for smoking locally, so a while back I ended up ordering a couple of the bulk grilling chunks from http://www.mainegrillingwoods.com/. At the time there was free shipping and it ended up being pretty reasonable all things considered.
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Dec 26, 2012 15:42
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dms666 posted:Does anyone have a working link to the plans for the temperature probe/controller made from a router? I was looking around and the original seems to be down. I just got a new modem from the cable company today which has built in wireless, so I now have a WRT54G with no use. https://github.com/CapnBry/HeaterMeter It should be known however, that while building a WRT based Heatermeter will indeed work, development on the software side of things has ended on the 3.x series. The new heatermeter 4.0 based off the Raspberry Pi is way faster and more capable, so that's where CapnBry is focusing his efforts.
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Jan 29, 2013 22:44
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Cuahtemoc posted:Bear Grills (http://www.bear-grills.com.au/) have one similar to mine but apparently better quality for $750 + delivery There is a great joke about drinking piss in here somewhere, but my coffee has not kicked in.
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Jan 30, 2013 17:30
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taqueso posted:Should probably spend a little of that rib money on a thermometer. But not for cooking ribs, of course.
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Mar 9, 2013 20:19
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LTBS posted:Are there any controllers (prebuilt) that have WiFi and are under $300? The Heatermeter based off the Raspberry Pi is not difficult at all to build or get running, if you don't have flippers for hands, own a soldering iron, and can read. I have built 2 now, and it's been one of my favorite projects. 
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Mar 26, 2013 00:44
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CHiMPY posted:That looks really good, I have a Pi on the way but looking into buying all the components to make up the heatermeter is rather costly given that I live in australia. I've never shipped anything to Australia before, would it be cheaper to have the parts shipped to someone in the US, repackaged and shipped onward?
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Mar 28, 2013 00:54
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Flaggy posted:Smoking a brisket on my new smoker today, and had a flair up. Using applewood and it burned a bit of it, I assume no problem in just slicing it off once its out of the smoker? Would it be more prudent to but a layer of foil down next time? I am pretty new at smoking so been reading and planning for a while. What kind of smoker are you using that a "flare up" toasted your brisket that bad?
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Apr 29, 2013 00:36
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Pikey posted:Does anybody have tips for making beef jerky in a smoker? I've got a electric bullet that I've smoked ribs and pork shoulder in, and attempted brisket. I've got a couple of jerky marinades in some cookbooks that I wanted to try out. Any specific things to do other than let them marinade for a while and make sure to slice the beef with the grain? Yes, put it in a dehydrator.
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May 5, 2013 03:44
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Parlett316 posted:Went to Wegmans, what a loving nightmare, full of loving humanoids, got a pork shoulder. 7 and a half pounds. Put a thin layer of mustard on it and some rub. I think it was grill masters. I'll experiment later with home made rubs and sauce eventually, I just have to pop the cherry of this smoker now! It's saranwrapped up and chillin in the fridge. Going on the smoker first thing tomorrow morning. Try rum + apple juice.
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May 11, 2013 00:52
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VERTiG0 posted:Made some armadillo eggs yesterday and did them on the ol' 22.5" Weber OTS, took about 2 hours at between 225-250. Goddamn these things are awesome. They were a big hit with my buddies. I hadn't heard of those but I normally do ABTs (with lil smokies) when I fire up the smoker. I'll have to try armadillo eggs next time!
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May 12, 2013 16:18
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cornface posted:But he wants to be able to run it hotter, not cooler. He could also just rig up a blower to stoke that thing rather than hacking it to bits.
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May 13, 2013 14:28
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VERTiG0 posted:Like the PartyQ from BBQ Guru, they're $130: http://store.thebbqguru.com/weborderentry/Party%20Q Or, the HeaterMeter that a few of us have built (which kicks the WiFi Stoker's rear end.)
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May 14, 2013 01:42
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sellouts posted:welp, project time. Did you grab a case from one of the TVWBB guys? Yup, I think I posted some pics of it a few pages back. The 4.0 build is a really fun project.
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May 15, 2013 03:08
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niss posted:Have the instructions been updated recently. I really want to build one, but every time I have looked at the instructions or parts lists its just hella confusing to me. Check out tvwbb.com, there's a forum there dedicated to the HeaterMeter builds where you can find answers for pretty much anything.
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May 15, 2013 19:36
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cornface posted:Get two garbage bags. Put one inside the other. Empty the charcoal ring and ashes into the garbage bags. Pour the water pan remnants over ashes. What I typically do is let my water pan sit in the smoker overnight after a smoke, and in the morning when all the fat and nasty stuff is congealed, I use a wire "spider" to fish out all the fat and grossness. That goes into the trash, and the rest goes down the drain.
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May 22, 2013 19:30
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dalstrs posted:Beef ribs are the manliest thing you can smoke. I think they are a lot harder to make tender than pork ribs are. I thought making your own bacon was the manliest thing you can do with a smoker?!
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Jun 19, 2013 12:55
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Jun 19, 2013 15:11
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Flaggy posted:This is a beautiful sight. It's not mine sadly, but I have been reading up on makin' bacon. I just need to find a decent butcher in the area that can sell me a slab of pork belly at non crazy prices. I've seen it periodically at Whole Foods and Wegmans but the price per lb is obscene.
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Jun 19, 2013 17:09
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