I'm trying to understand the concept that the Flame Boss (or PartyQ or other PID) can "learn" the cooker. None of these are smart devices. The brains of the Flame Boss are basically the same brains in your kitchen oven.
Believe it or not, pid is not a thermostat lIke you describe. It actually monitors the error and then correct for it. Pretty impressive really.
This is why the lid off feature is so nice on the better units. With the partyq, I have to turn it off when the lid is removed, and wait until it comes back up to temp to turn it back on. If I don't turn it off when the lid is off, it starts stoking the coals and overshoot the temp when the lid is installed.
I agree with the concept on the cook, but I don't think the unit 'learns' a cooker from one cook to the next. I know PID needs to be tuned and I suspect these controllers do some of that, but I doubt they store anything.
I just did a rack of baby backs and four thigh/leg quarters. Absolutely amazing on the pbc. Rather than just reacting to the temp of the pbc and acting according, that thing held a steady 265 and dinner was perfect. I have never been so happy with anything else in BBQ history.
No, we were way too hungry for pics. It has been running at 225 since I pulled the meat off, and I think I will top it off with Kingsford and a pork butt for tomorrow. I'll definitely post some pics of that. Sleeping while smoking sounds glorious for sure.
Last edited by snowandsmoke; September 3, 2017, 07:53 PM.
Just checked on it. Still at 215, and the butt is at 152. I guess this is where a logging thermometer would be helpful. I assume it's in the stall, but who knows where.
If you have a BBQGuru or Stoker, there are a number of apps, The Pit Pall being one, that will track your cooking temperature and make nice graphs. You can export the data to your favorite spreadsheet and slice it and dice however makes sense to you.
The apps also let you control your blower remotely.
JCGrill commented "I agree with the concept on the cook, but I don't think the unit 'learns' a cooker from one cook to the next. I know PID needs to be tuned and I suspect these controllers do some of that, but I doubt they store anything."
I have a CyberQ and have to respectively disagree, at least with regards to the CyberQ.
When I first hooked up the CyberQ it had absurd overshoots. It went as high as 350F when I was shooting for 225. And it wouldn't hold 225, it was limping around 215 to 220 a lot of the time. I was discouraged. Ready to put it back in the box and return it with a nasty note. But I perservered, thinking, "Just one more cook - maybe the darned thing will work now!"
On my last cook, my third or fourth with the CyberQ, I was amazed. It stayed within 2 degrees of the desired temperature, more often within a degree. My pastrami was in a long mack daddy of a stall with the pastrami at 150 with the pit at 225. Like five hours and counting, so I thought I'd kick up the temperature to 250. Within seconds the temperature started rising, and in short order the pit was stable at 250. And shortly after that, the stall was over. It might have ended even without myu raising the termperarure of the pit, but I was getting desperate and wanted to DO something.
Anyway, from here, it looks like it "learned' my offset smoker and the knowledge does seem to have carried over from one smoke to another.
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