Pulled pork with Auber - Going Sci fi

[warren012]

Morning all,

I'm just putting mu butt on the smoker and plugged in my BRAND NEW Auber 2615. I'll be playing golf this morning and wanted to to cook this butt. I tested the Auber against thermapro Smoke yesterday. Temps appeared to be very close.

QUESTIONS:

1. I put the fan on at the very beginning to see how Auber would bring the pit temp up. Do you leave the top vent wide open, closed, or something in between?

2. Once at temp, should top vent be positioned open, closed, or in between?

When I tested it yesterday, the top vent had to stay closed to keep the temp down. Thanks for the input.

[scottranda]

1. I bring my temp up naturally without the Auber. My Kamado wouldn’t bring it up with the Auber itself. I looked it up, and Auber says to bring up temp without the Auber, then use it to keep temps.

2. It depends on your pit, but my Kamado needs a sliver of the top vent opened. I have to imagine yours needs to be slightly opened too (unless your pit is very leaky). Besides, all pits need to vent air on the outflow so you’ll need some sort of out-go. I recommend experimenting, but you need at least a little bit!

[Troutman]

I use a Pit Viper and do the same on my WSM. Establish a fire first, then let the fan do it's thing. I shut off all bottom vents and leave the top vent cracked about 1/3.

[scottranda]

What size fan do you have? That might help or hurt how fast your pit comes to temp (if you solely bring it up by the Auber fan). Too small a fan, it’ll hardly get to temp. Too large, you’ll blow by it (literally). That’s why you should just bring it up naturally THEN use the Auber to keep temps.

[RonB]

The reason to use something like the Auber is so it can regulate the temp unattended. So you have to experiment to find out what works for your cooker/fan combo.
On my kettle, I set up the controller and probes as the starter charcoal is lighting. The SnS is already prepared with charcoal in place and there is water heating on the stove for the water tray. As soon as I add the meat I plug in the CyberQ. At this point the vent is wide open, but when the temp is 30 to 40 degrees from the set temp, I close the vent down to about 1/4, (I used a paint pen to mark the spot that holds 225*).
However, since you are using a controller, with a fan, I don't think the exact position is critical. The fan will adjust automatically. If the top vent is not open far enough, the temp will drop, and if too far open, it will continue to rise. But there should be a fairly large leeway where the fan can adjust to the set temp.

The bottom line is that I leave the top vent wide open so the temp will rise to the set temp quicker, and when it gets close to set temp, I shut the top vent down to the point that I know will maintain set temp.

[warren012]

Thanks all. I struggled with temp control on this cook. Temps would bounce between 205 and 235. Auber wouldn't hold it very steady. I agree that bringing the WSM up to temp and then installing the fan is the right call. Cook took way longer than expected.

I'm going to try a brisket overnight tomorrow. . This will be a first without foil. Any tips or suggestions?

[Jerod Broussard]

When my Auber(s) wanted to bounce up and down too much I adjusted my Damp Constant to 0.8 and my Cycle Rate to 10.

[warren012]

When my Auber(s) wanted to bounce up and down too much I adjusted my Damp Constant to 0.8 and my Cycle Rate to 10.

Thanks for that piece of advice. I'll give it try this evening.