I know there have been comments and threads about people adding PartyQ or DigaQ to their PBC and want to know peoples impressions that have them. I love my PBC and the food it cooks, but i have been finding my pit temps moving all over the place lately and it has played havoc with trying to plan meals and thought maybe adding a fan might give me more consistent cook times. I just ordered a Fireboard so that i will be able to track temps better without having to keep going out to the cooker and checking the temps.
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I have a BBQ Guru on mine. I can't tell you if it's better than without it because I got my pbc on Craigslist and it already had it attached. I can tell you that it works wonderfully. I've cooked from 225 to 325 with great results. However, sometimes I wonder if I'm missing out on some of the natural pbc magic I hear about in here so often. Guess I'll never know, but I'm very pleased with my set up. -
I don't have a fan controller, but do have a Maverick that I can remotely monitor the temps from and it is invaluable to see temp trends happening. After awhile you figure out when you need to react or just let it ride.
I have also thought about a controller, but for now I am satisfied as I seen to be getting better and better learning little tricks to control the temps with each PBC cook.Comment
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I would recommend that you get to the bottom of what is causing these temp problems. Fan systems work best when the unit is properly sealed. Having a fan on the unit will not fix the problem if the system is not air tight.
If your PBC is having trouble settling down, the lid might not seal correctly. This would be my number one culprit.
Do a dry run and load it with wood chips so the smoke billows. Put your thermo in the Pit and put the lid on. Step back and note where the smoke is leaking out. I find that a spray of PAM under the lid, were the lid meets the barrel will help build a grease layer that will seal the lid better. Give it a good push, down to make sure the seal is created. You may also have to put some weight on the lid to keep it sealed. After a few cooks, the weight won't be needed as that grease seal will be developed. The PBC should never have up and down temps, if it is sealed correctly.
Another thing to check is to make sure that you barrel its not out of round. If it is, call Noah and he will replace it for you.Comment
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My lid seals perfectly, In fact sometimes it is so tight i have a hard time removing it. -
Then I would look at your lighting sequence or where you are cooking. Really windy area will effect the temps too. Northside Brian Unless you really want the fan, which is fine, get it!! It's your back yard.
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I agree with Spinaker. I have mine set up for a fan so the fan can help things out when a barrel full of butts stalls and cools things off. It allows me to sleep during those pesky overnight cooks. Other than that things roll nicely without the fan.Comment
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I dont have a remote thermometer to accurately monitor the temps constantly so I was having to frequently go and manually check the pit temps. Like i stated above i just ordered a fireboard so i should be able to get a better idea of what my temps really are over the duration of my cooks. Plus, the OCD side of me likes the idea of accurate control over pit temp. Maybe its just MCS. So far this year i have gotten an Anova, Kitchen Aide Mixer and now my fireboard.Comment
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I feel you. I have kicked around this idea for a while. Just not sure if I want to mess with the design of the PBC....don't want to mess it up or void any kind of warranty out there.Comment
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Great buy getting the Fireboard that has been on my MCS list for about a month now. They seem like a great product. I bet once you get the FB and you see how the temps in the PBC run, you may fore go the Controller. But maybe not, either way let us know what you come up with.Comment
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Plus 1 on this comment though I've never considered a controller. After using mine for over 2 years now, using a Maverick and charting every cook, I pretty much instinctively know what it's going to do before it does and how to make "adjustments" using foil in the rebar holes. Keep mine rock steady in the 270's except when cooking poultry, which I do in the 350 range. If I cooked heavy weight amounts of meat like Jerod Broussard does I might consider it, but I don't - at least not at present. I DO get requests to smoke stuff from neighbors, but I'm not cramming huge amounts into it at once.Originally posted by lschweig View PostComment
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Heh heh. Want to know how bad MY OCD / MCS is regarding temperature controllers? I have spent two years or so designing and constructing my own! The first version had some PCB design problems and I ran out of memory before I ran out of features.Originally posted by Northside Brian View Post
So a redesign was in order. I have the boards, I have most of the parts (just waiting for a couple to arrive) and I will begin construction.
The new version has a remote controller (300' range) with a 20 character X 4 line LCD. The part at the smoker has a pit temp probe and a meat probe, plus a 4-digit display that alternates between pit temp and meat temp. I have the ability to add WiFi when I get around to it.
The worst part is, it'll probably end up costing me three times what I could of bought one for! But that's not really the point - I wanted to find out if I could do it. Plus, if i want to add/change a feature, I can!
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I did my first cook last night since getting my fireboard and it showed I had some pretty severe temp swings during the first 2 hours. The last 3 hours showed a steady drop in temps, nothing major and it still stayed above 250. I think i will do a test burn with a full basket and no meat following the 15-10-10 method and see what kind of temps I get.Comment
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If I have a full load of meat or it's abnormally cold, I use my hand on top of the cooker to see if the fire is low. That is the only piece of temperature control for the barrel I use. I have, to date, had zero bad cooks. Just let it do it's thing.
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