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Temperature Variation

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    Temperature Variation

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    #2
    ??? Are we supposed to guess what the variation is? It will be a lot. Verticals are hard to control temp wise

    Comment


      #3
      ok, my guess is "yes" and if this a pole, and I don't win, I say "rigged".....oh wait, can ya win a pole? I defer to FireMan

      Comment


        #4
        Nice pics!

        Comment


          #5
          I'm just confused .... the state I'm normally in

          Comment


            #6
            For some reason the forum did not include my comments about the test I ran. Fortunately I also posted this on the Barbecue Brethren site so I have copied my comments from there.

            "Just ran an experiment with my new Inkbird 6 probe wireless thermometer. Put each probe on a different shelf of my Oklahoma Joe Bandera and then dropped a full chimney of lit charcoal in the fire box. Wanting to see how much difference there was in the temperature in the cooking chamber, top to bottom. Interesting results. As the temperature was rising the top level (about 2 inches from the top exhaust) was running 30 to 40 degrees above the bottom probe, which was sitting just above the empty water pan (left it in empty as a heat diffuser). Didn't expect that much difference in such a small confined area. As the temps began to level out the differences also narrowed, but the top was always at least 20 degrees hotter than the bottom. And the change was not as evenly distributed as I would have expected. The bottom three probes were usually 5 to 10 degrees apart, top to bottom. Meanwhile the top two were substantially higher, usually 15 or more degrees above the hottest of the bottom three. Also discovered that the thermometer in the door was pretty accurate, usually within 5 to 8 degrees of the digital thermometer at the same level. If this experiment is "normal" I can assume that the temps above the included thermometer will run 10 to 15 degrees above it, while the area below the in door thermometer will run 8 to 10 degrees below.*

            Also one of the 6 channels on the unit malfunctioned. It read 210 degrees on the back porch! The other 5 read 47 to 50 degrees! I am returning it to Amazon for a refund and will either purchase another one (maybe just got a bad unit?) or perhaps their 4 probe, rechargeable, unit. Since channel 2 did not work there was a larger distance between 1 and 3 than between any of the other operational probes. That accounted for some of the large difference between the top 2 probes and the bottom 3. But the difference was still larger than I would have expected.*

            While I always cook to a specific internal meat temperature, knowing this about my cooker will help me plan how much and how often to add fuel and how to plan a cook better. Still love the Bandera."

            Comment


              #7
              nice job characterizing your oven!

              Comment


                #8
                Just my opinion, but I would be pretty happy with just a 20 or so degree difference top to bottom with that setup.

                Comment


                • DogFaced PonySoldier
                  DogFaced PonySoldier commented
                  Editing a comment
                  No kidding!!! I have 70°F difference between back left and front right on my Yoder!

                #9
                I've come to realize over the years that there can be too much information when it comes to smoking using electronics. It causes you to overthink things and start chasing temps and times in a never ending chase your tail scenario. I have both a horizontal and vertical. I prefer cooking on a horizontal. It is more difficult to control temps in a vertical and verticals do present some problems when cooking different meats at the same time.

                You did well in running your test and finding the hot spots. Because heat naturally rises it's always going to be hotter at the top. Now that you know that you don't need to run all those wires when you cook the food will let you know what's going on inside the smoker.

                Comment


                • Troutman
                  Troutman commented
                  Editing a comment
                  Well said. Ditch the electronics in favor of the toast test. Cook with your senses; site, feel, taste.

                • holehogg
                  holehogg commented
                  Editing a comment
                  Frozen Smoke Why do you say it is more difficult to control temp in a vertical is it the rising heat or does the fuel type affect control. My vertical gas smoker I believe is fairly easy to control. I'm forever needing to understand how things work and why. Topics like this grab my interest. Been in manufacturing all my days.

                • texastweeter
                  texastweeter commented
                  Editing a comment
                  KenC52 that's why i always rotat my top two and bottom two grates halfway through the cook when the cooker is loaded up. When cooking a single HOM (hunk o meat) i always use the middle one. You will notice the same in your fridge... Yes i tried it. Top is always warmer than the bottom. Remember that huge cook I did for the town of Whitehouse. They all didn't get pulled at the same time.

                #10
                Very good points. Sometimes, you just need to let the smoker do its thing.

                Comment


                  #11
                  Very great write up and points made.

                  Comment


                    #12
                    My approach to electronics (thermometers, controllers, ...) is basically to alert me to unusual circumstances or that it's time to consider pulling something out. I didn't have a controller until last summer, nor anything other than a Tel-Tru and a Thermapen before 2012 or so. So, I'm also of the "pay attention to what you see and smell, and to your adult beverage" school.

                    The "alerts" tend to have something to do with "you're paying too much attention to your adult beverage"!

                    Comment


                    • holehogg
                      holehogg commented
                      Editing a comment
                      EdF My wife looking at the screen from afar mentioned you look like the beard of wisdom from Pawnstars and then on closer inspection said it was only the hat. My response "he is a pit beard of wisdom" you just proved me right again.

                    • EdF
                      EdF commented
                      Editing a comment
                      Thanks, Buddy!

                    #13
                    Guess I have always been a bit of a nerd when it comes to understanding how things work (like reading volumes about headspace, pressure, powder burn rates, primers, etc. with my reloading). Being that this is a relatively new purchase (about 3 months) and my first vertical cooker I was curious to know how the size, shape, orientation, etc. would affect the internal temps. I still cook with a remote thermometer in the meat to determine when to wrap, pull, etc. any of the big meats I cook. I suspect that if you cook everyday or so, and even more so if you are cooking pretty much the same thing, you can get pretty expert at telling when things need to be done. I can't devote that kind of time to it and thermometers just don't lie (well good ones don't!).

                    Comment


                    • JeffJ
                      JeffJ commented
                      Editing a comment
                      I think your experiment is really cool. Helps you to get to know your cooker.

                    • texastweeter
                      texastweeter commented
                      Editing a comment
                      Dad, try moving your water pan into the horizontal portion of your cooker too, It will help even out the cook temps. you are always going to have a "flyer" with a verticle if you don't rotate.

                    #14
                    Know that with mapping out the exact temp inside a cooker all will change when you add big chunks of meat or at different temps it will behave differently. For me I just use my thermapen and pay more attention to other things than can mess up your cook. (fire monitoring, running out of beer, forgetting to add salt to the rub).

                    Here's a beef rib from the bbq class I taught yesterday. Click image for larger version

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                    Last edited by Ahumadora; April 8, 2018, 07:55 AM.

                    Comment


                    • texastweeter
                      texastweeter commented
                      Editing a comment
                      That beef rib looks suspect. should probably come to my house and cook it so I can taste test it for quality assurance. Ahumadora

                    • Ahumadora
                      Ahumadora commented
                      Editing a comment
                      Probably the only guy in the whole class who waited long enough to snap a pic before wolfing it down!

                    #15
                    When I converted my gas vertical to stick I had the same issue but I rotated the racks every 30 minutes.

                    Comment

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