Smoking by Computer? No Way!

Smoker Computers and Controllers

BILL:
Robin, let me digress here for a few minutes and talk to our audience about griller/smoker computers. Anyone would agree that a hot pit cooks quicker than a cold pit. The old truism of "If you're lookin', you ain't cooking" is a dilemma for every cook who strives for outdoor perfection in their cooking. The problem with grilling on a hot pit is that when the internal meat temperature over-shoots or goes too high, which can happen really easily a the end of a cook, the meat becomes dry, tough or both. To prevent this, I advocate the use of a spike meat thermometer to monitor the temperature of the meat as it cooks, so that you can remove the meat when the desired temperature is reached. Simple, right? So how do we monitor the meat without frequently opening and closing the lid of the smoker/griller and dropping the pit temperature below our set temperature for cooking repeatedly? First and most basic, we put a thermometer in the meat that we can monitor remotely. The simplest of these would be a probe shoved into the meat, with a long enough wire to reach a reader on the outside so we don't have to pop the lid every time we need to read it. Here is a website that addresses this excellently - http://www.amazingribs.com/BBQ_buyers_guide/thermometer_buying_guide.html. I will not try to comment further - this website is extraordinarily comprehensive and self - explanatory. We have two Mavericks, by the way.

Okay, next step. Until the advent of the computerized controller, keeping a stable and even temp on a smoker was a boringly long, repetative and frequently fiddly task. With the introduction of the BBQ Guru in 2004, outdoor cooking entered the 21st century thermostatically controlled cooker era. Simply put, these gadgets consist of computerized variants on a blower, a meat thermometer and a pit thermometer. The goal of these systems is to automatically regulate the temperature on the BBQ/smoker by constantly reading the internal pit temperature and/or the meat temperature. By automatically making the necessary adjustments to airflow and the damper, automatically increasing or reducing the inflow of air to fuel the charcoal/wood mix, the computer can keep the meat temperature and the pit temperature rock solid stable, ensuring a perfect cook and a great product. Regardless of the weather outside, "set it and forget it" has now arrived in my back yard, just like in my kitchen.

ROBIN:
Originally expensive and often bafflingly complex, more modestly priced and user-friendly computerized smoker controllers are only now beginning to appear. They all are designed for charcoal and wood fired grills and smokers, but thermostats for gas fires cannot be too far in the future, especially given the ingenuity of engineers and the advancement of technology. Look at how many competitive outdoor chefs now use their smart phones to control their barbecue pits! Every pellet smoker/grill seems to have one, and after years of frustrating fiddling with damper and air intake, this technology suddenly makes smokers a joy to use. All of them work on a simple feedback principle - the thermometer in the cooking chamber tells a blower to turn on and feed more air to the fire when the temp drops below a set target. It then tells the fan to turn off when the temp gets above the set point. For maximum efficiency, though, you need a tight cooker so air doesn't leak in or out. Weber Kettles and Weber Smokey Mountains seem to work well, as do most ceramic and kamado grills. There are many variants of computer systems out there – the Stoker, BBQ Guru and Pitmaster seem to be the faves. There are numerous other iterations on the Web as well. Let’s look at some of the more popular ones.

Traeger Wood Pellet Smoker

BILL:

While not a “computer” in the true sense we defined above, the Traeger is a pellet smoker that has two variations to control the pit temperature – the simple manual system (which we do not recommend simply because it is too simple) and the digital thermostat control system (which we love, and use daily). The Manual Control has three settings: smoke, medium, and high. Upgrade this to the digital if you can, as we found the three set system overly simplistic and frustrating. A Traeger with the upgraded digital control is almost idiot proof. The start-up process and operating temperature are controlled by Traeger's electronic control board, which regulates the heat and smoke in the Traeger by stopping and starting the auger motor. You plug it in, you turn it on, you open the hatch and wait for the smoke to clear, and ther it is. The Digital Thermostat Control allows you to select a specific cooking temperature, automatically feeding pellets as needed to maintain the desired temperature, keeping it rock steady and producing lots of lovely smoke. The operating temperature inside the Traeger is monitored by a built-in RTD (resistance temperature detector) probe and is displayed on a bright red LED display on the pellet hopper.


When the Traeger is turned on, the igniter rod becomes heated to red hot, the auger begins to feed pellets, and the draft induction fan feeds air into the firepot. The igniter rod glows red hot just long enough to ignite the pellets in the firepot. From this point on, the combination of selective feeding and forced air keeps the Traeger as close to it's selected temperature as possible. Traegers require standard household electric current (110 VAC), which powers the igniter rod, auger motor and draft induction fan. Using a remote meat thermometer and watching the internal temperature of the meat, you can produce outstanding smoked food in a short space of time every time. The hotter the pit temperature, though, the fast you'll burn through a bag of pellets, and a $22 or so a bag, that can be expensive. Regardless, the Traeger is my most reliable and much loved standby smoker, and we will always have one. Downside – initially expensive, and the pellets are costly likewise, but upside - the smoking system is incredibly simple and satisfying, the Traeger is pretty much idiot-proof, is simple and safe to operate, and the pelletized wood choices are excellent.

The BBQ Guru DigiQ DX

First, I must state right out, I felt that using one of these gadgets was cheating, so for years, we have struggled and fought our smokers, and we have done okay. My large Big Green Egg, a Kamado type cooker, bought for me by my family as a birthday gift some 10 years ago, has been the bane of my life. It was cranky, either hard to light or burned too hot, couldn't keep a steady temp and would die after about 2 hours. I was constantly cleaning it out thinking it was my airflow that was the issue, and every time I cooked on it was a misery of constant fiddling with the damper and the DFMT (Dual Function Metal Top). After about 3 years of gradually declining interest, my BGE was now not being used at all, and I had begun to regard it as a storage bin rather than a cooking unit. A year ago, while at a competition, I realized, watching one guy with FIVE BGE's, all spouting huge plumes of thick smoke and seemingly being completely ignored. He was very kind as I badgered him to death on his setup, He showed me that there were things I could do to mine to make life simpler. When I got home, I replaced the stock charcoal rack with a steel version (more air for the coals), changed the top vent to a new, stainless steel fully adjustable vented cap that wouldn't swing open every time I cracked the oven to do something, and lastly, I bought a barbecue computer control system. We chose the BBQ Guru’s DigiQ DX2 simply because that was what the guy was using on his systems. The results were nothing short of miraculous. This means anything we write about the unit is now a tad biased. Having said that, we have not had an ounce of trouble with the DigiQ, and while we can only control one smoker with each unit (unlike other systems out there), the product itself is excellent.

When it arrived, we cleaned out the BGE from top to bottom. We replaced the stock charcoal grid with the steel grid, replaced the daisy chimney top with the steel vent, and slid the adapter into the draft door. That was the most difficult part - my coordination isn't as good as it used to be, so getting the slide to lock in proved more than a bit fiddly, but after several minutes of struggling and profanity, I closed the draft door on the adapter and inserted the fan. I filled the BGE with charcoal, put in some apple chunks for smoke, added a fire starter, and lit it. I placed the plate setter and the grilling rack in it, connected the pit probe to the thermometer clip on the inside (I have since learned to clip it to the cooking grid), and closed the BGE. After a quick 2 minute setup, the fan was whirring away quiety, and there was smoke. SMOKE! TONS of smoke! Almost in minutes, the BGE temp was ready for the butts. I put the meat probe into the larger one, connected it to the DigiQ, and put the meat into the Egg, and walked away. NOT! For the first hour, I was checking the thing every 10 minutes, until I had myself convinced it would work. Then, while I was awake, every hour, occasionally adding some chunks of apple to keep the smoke going. By the time Robin and the family arrived, the DigiQ had kept the BGE heat rock solid at 225°F for the whole time, and the meat temp came up slowly and steadily. 11 hours after it was started, the alarm sounded with the meat at 190°F, and the butts were done. I have never had a smoke that easy or simple - or perfect.

ROBIN:
The BBQ Guru, like all computerized smoker controllers, uses a microprocessor chip to control the pit temperature and monitors the internal meat temperature in tandem with the custom designed draft fan, so that the selected meat temperature is never exceeded. Simply put, as the meat temperature naturally increases during a cook, the BBQ Guru maintains the pit temperature by "puffing" the little blower fan periodically throughout the cook, keeping a consistent and effective pit temperature. When we used the "Ramp Mode" (as Dad did for the butts), as we approached the final temperature for the butts' removal, the DigiQ began decreasing or “ramped down” the pit temperature at a proportional rate using controlled power drafting, slowing down the pit temperature curve and leveling out the meat cooking time to maintain maximum tenderness and juiciness. Holy Moley, Dad, what a cook that was! The butts were so moist we didn't have to pull them, they fell apart! I have never, ever had such a good result, and for it to have come out of our old enemy, the BGE, was unbelievable. We would suggest to the DigiQ makers that ramp mode on should be the default state, not the opposite, but that was the only issue we have had with it. Once you use the BBQ Guru, or ANY computer control smoker system for that matter, you simply will NOT want to cook without it.

One added benefit with this thing has been our warm-up time. 48 or so smokes later, Dad and I find that we can get the BGE lit, put in the plate setter, then let the blower bring it up to temp pretty fast. It makes lighting and cooking with an Egg really easy. The ability to control the fire so accurately adds to the ease of use, and has vastly increased the fun factor to our BGE back yard cook outs. Producing succulent food and almost perfect meals every time is also a benefit. Similar to the Stoker system, the DigiQ has four main parts – a blower, a computer, and two probes – one for the meat, one for the pit. Instructions are very simple and straight forward, and the initial installation and setup took us less than three minutes, Dad's fumbling included. The quality of the product and parts is outstanding, and customer service was (at least for us) excellent. Setting it up was simplicity itself – the adapter plate for the BGE slid in to the damper rails easily, even with Dad's difficulties sliding the upper clip, the set up for the probes was idiot-proof, and the connection was done in less time than it took to start the fire. We smoked the butts for 11 hours while the temp in the oven remained rock steady at 225°F. We only opened the egg to pop another knob or two of apple wood in at 3 hours, 7 hours and 9 hours into the smoke. The rest of the time, we watched the fan puff air into the unit periodically, and wondered why we had been such fools for so long. We will never cook or smoke on an outdoor cooker without a barbecue cooker temperature controller again.

The Pitmaster

BILL:
I personally have had no experience with this often highly praised system, but many of the competitors I have spoken to rave about it. Like the BBQ Guru, it features a set-it-and-forget-it design to give your charcoal cooker kitchen-oven-like temperature control and stability. We are amazed at how easy it has become to cook smokey, succulent, melt-in-your-mouth ribs, brisket, tenderloin, even burgers with any computer controls, and obviously, as popular as it has become, the Pitmaster must live up to it's name. All ad claims aside, the Pitmaster works best with Weber Kettle and Weber Smoky Mountain grills, but the manufacturer offers adapters designed to fit into the lower draft door of kamado style cookers as well. Like the DigiQ, kits come with a stainless steel adapter plate, stainless steel adjustment clip, reusable hose clamp and kill plug. The blower adapter slides in the kamado vent door rail from the side. The temperature probe cables are 72" long.  These should be long enough to reach the appropriate place in the pit to regulate temperature and to measure internal temp of the meat, so 6 feet is pretty generous.

ROBIN:
The 15 CFM air blower included in the standard kit is powerful enough for almost all cookers. The manufacturer has tested these devices on pits from little 25lb. Weber Kettles to 600lb. Superiors (I think this was a Stumps clone). The systems are cheap to buy (around $140 for the basic unit) and relatively robust. Those that have them and use them, love them, but there are a few complaints about the adapter plate, which usually turns out to be a faulty install by the would-be handyperson. (Remember Dad and hia installation trouble? Same complaint.) A good product and a good company.

The Stoker

BILL:
Again, I confess, I have no experience with the Stoker, but those that have them rave about them. Like the other barbecue temperature controllers, the Stoker monitors the pit temperature by a pit temperature probe and internal meat doneness by a meat temperature probe, while it controls the airflow through the pit to keep the set temperature stable using a blower fan attached to an adapter plate to the pit. Like the others, by turning the blower on and off as required, the Stoker keeps the pit within a few degrees of your set temperature as long as there is fuel to keep the fire going. The biggest advantage of the Stoker for the serious competitor is that one unit can control several pits in unison, and allows the cook to concentrate on cooking rather than – well, stoking. The standard setup uses a 5 cubic-foot-per-minute blower, attached to the lower vent of ceramic cookers, and in appropriate locations on other cookers. The manufacturer may recommend a bigger blower unit if you let them know what you're trying to cook on, and as with all of these units, customer service is very knowledgeable and helpful.

The Stoker is unique in that the blower power cable has a plug which contains a small chip, a unique identifier for the controller. When grouped to a food and a pit cable pair, the Stoker can control each blower individually, providing the ability to control several different cookers at the same time. Each blower also contains a built-in gravity damper which automatically opens when the blower is on and closes when the blower is off. This stops the natural flow of air through the cooker which could cause the fire to get hotter than desired, and prevents the cooker from over-temping. Because the damper works by gravity, it must be installed right side up with the cable on top. I have seen four different pits controlled from one Stoker console, but I am sure there are models that can accomodate more. Obviously, with more than one pit, setting up the Stoker to run on your system may take a little longer, but this is still pretty simple, and the results are truly amazing. Remember, controlling multiple cookers requires multiple blowers and multiple temperature probes, which allows you to group designated blowers with the temperature probes that control them. You just tell the Stoker which probes are controlling which pit and which probes are monitoring that pit's food temperatures. The small price you pay for all this functionality and flexibility is that you have to set it all up, and for competitions, this may take up to an hour, depending on the number of pits you're running. Lastly, you can configure the Stoker via the key pad and display on the unit itself (by navigating through the menus and setting all the values), or by hooking it up to your LAN and using your PC to set all the values. Unlike the single port systems, the Stoker has a web server built into the control unit, so you can use a web browser on your PC to access the setup information on the Stoker. For the techie, this is a great idea, especially if you need to control multiple smokers. Biggest downside is that the cost is around $360 for a kamado type oven, with the probe sets and extra blowers costing around $150 or so a set. If you have several smokers, this can get expensive, but the stability and control these systems give mean that a competitor can concentrate on the creative side of his work, presentation, saucing and so on. The Stoker is very well loved by those who have one.

Of course, we haven't seen every one of the available options out there. Wood, charcoal, briquettes, gas or electricity is dictated by budget and taste, and there is no right answer. As long as the meat is tasty, tender and cooked with loving care, the product served will be worth all the agony to prepare and serve it. The only real answer is - what do you want?

Happy picnicing,
Robin and Bill