Auber on the Prototype Digital Model 2!

[DivotMaker]

Steve and Ben were nice enough to let me try an Auber PID on the prototype unit, as a means of verifying the box function, while they work on the new controller.  Yesterday, I bypassed the stock digital controller (very easy).  As you can see from the photo, the black and white power wires are on 2 terminals, and the wire from the other side of the element has its own.  I jumped the black power wire to the other side of the element wire to complete the circuit.  I did this with a short #12 jumper cable with blade connectors, then shrink taped it.

I performed an autotune on the Auber.  I placed 3 bricks on the top shelf, with the probe in between them, and placed the tip of the meat probe in a pan of water on the shelf below.  Not sure if this was a good method, but here's the autotune results:

P=57    I=5    D=125

Today, I'm trying it out with 2 5lb pork loins that I brined last night.  2.9 oz of Fruitawood hickory.  I'm using the following program:

C01  160  E01  t  F01 .5  (temp to 160 for 1/2 hour to allow a slow ramp-up of temp for the wood)
C02  220  E02  f  F02  140  (220 degrees until meat is at 140 IT)
C03  240  E03  f  F03  150  (240 degrees until meat is at 150 IT)
C04  135  E04  t  F04  7.0  (135 to hold for a bit while I get the grill ready)

I placed the meat probe in the larger 1/2 of the loin, and the Maverick probe in the other loin.

The Auber reached the first step of 160 in 21 minutes, so the wood got to "rest" for 9 minutes before the element kicked back on.  No combustion or belch!

Once the Auber went to step 2, it hit 220 @ 1:05 into the cook.

Initial impressions: 

1.  The Auber is easy to set, once you grasp the 3 settings for each step.
2.  Temp is being held +/- 2 degrees, but mostly +/- 1 degree.
3.  The Maverick temp in the second loin is reading about 8-10 degrees higher than the meat probe from the Auber.  This may be due to this being a little smaller than the Auber loin.  I'll keep an eye on this...

More to follow!

 

[DivotMaker]

OK, 2 1/2 hours in, I moved the Maverick meat probe close to the Auber probe in the bigger loin.  The Maverick is now only reading 3-degrees higher than the Auber.  I'll have to do a boiling water test with both, just to check. 

 

[DivotMaker]

The loins finished to 150 at 3:20 total time.  I wrapped them, and brought the oven up to 500.  I normally do my reverse-sear on the gas grill, but 31 degrees and windy changed my plan.  Five minutes in the oven, and the little jewels were ready to eat!  I love the pink "faux smoke ring" produced by a 1/2 Tsp. of #1 curing salt in the brine. 

Had some good sammies for lunch!

The Auber performed great - I'm a believer!  When I moved the meat probe from the Maverick, it was within 3 degrees.  I went off of the Auber probe, as it's probably more accurate than the Maverick.  I'm going to test them with boiling water to see.

I love the ability to set different temperature steps!  Other than the +/- 1-degree accuracy, this is the single greatest feature of the Auber! 

The box performed flawlessly; no problems with the element, the the previous stock digital controller problems appear to be isolated to the controller and/or temp probe.

I now realize that I did my autotune wrong.    I now see that it should be set to a program, like you would cook at, and then run the test under actual conditions.  I'm not certain what program was in this Auber unit.  I'll rerun the autotune again later.

 

[benjammn]

Well at least it was a success and glad to hear that you are liking the Auber. I don't see why Steve and Ben don't just license an Auber unit converted to fit the SI units? Would save them a ton of time and R&D to get one that is already available. Might check with them on that idea.

 

[DivotMaker]

Good idea, Ben.  It really is an awesome unit!

 

[benjammn]

Well I have posted results on your brine for pork butt with loins, turned out just great. I will make your loin brine next to see which I prefer but I am sure I won't be disappointed at all.

Let me know if you need help finishing off those loins.

 

[NDKoze]

Well at least it was a success and glad to hear that you are liking the Auber. I don't see why Steve and Ben don't just license an Auber unit converted to fit the SI units? Would save them a ton of time and R&D to get one that is already available. Might check with them on that idea.

I like this idea too. They could fabricate a frame for it so it could slide right in and look like a totally integrated unit.

 

[DivotMaker]

Well I have posted results on your brine for pork butt with loins, turned out just great. I will make your loin brine next to see which I prefer but I am sure I won't be disappointed at all.

Let me know if you need help finishing off those loins.

Thanks, Ben!  Glad it was good!

 

[Wik]

Hey Tony,

Interesting on your thought on the first step to control the belch of smoke.  I tried a similar approach of 140F for 0.2hr (which was too short by the way) and just read your approach.  I'd have to agree that 0.5hr is probably more in the ballpark as my attempt didn't even hit 140 before 0.2hr setting.

If you do decide to autotune with real life cooking environment, I'd probably suggest letting it getting up to temp and stabilizing a bit before enabling the autotune option.  My theory on this is at first the wood probably ignites a bit throwing off its own heat due to the long element heat ON times which probably settles down after the element is cycling a bit at the preset temp.  (At least that is my theory as I as getting pretty different results when I autotuned from the get-go versus waiting about 1hr into my cooks).

Cheers,
Wik

 

[DivotMaker]

Wik, I'll definitely be drawing on your experience with the Auber - and several others here, as well!  I have to admit, that a lot of the posts I read on it, before having one in my hands, were a bit foreign.  I just wasn't grasping the programming steps.  Once I fiddled with it for just a bit, it actually became clear, and really simple to grasp!  I wish they could rename the steps to make it more "obvious."  I think that probably intimidates a lot of people considering an Auber.  Great unit - don't be scared, huh?

The 1/2 hour 160 step seemed to eliminate the belch.  I test this more in the future.

As for the autotune:  I was under the impression (correct me if I'm wrong, please) that a big part of the autotune was how fast the temp "ramps up" to temp, then maintains that temp, and analyzes how fast the unit cools down.  So my question is this; if you start with a hot smoker, how does it know how fast/slow to ramp up to set temp without overshooting?  Wouldn't that kind of "fool" the unit?  I don't know the answer - I'm just asking, based on my understanding of the autotune settings.  Any thoughts?

 

[Wik]

I have to say at first I thought the same thing, meaning that I should autotune from a cold smoker for the reasons you mentioned.  But I think I was getting wacked results from the heat from the wood starting to burn.  Maybe if you didn't have any wood in there to start with that might be a good way to tune it.

What I noticed is I had tighter temp controls when I autotuned in the middle of my smokes and seem to get more stability / less overshoot during initial warm-up on future smokes as well with these previous autotuned values.  But I'm curious to see what others come up with.  I certainly would take what I'm saying with a grain of salt!

I have to agree the thing is dang simple to set and use once you get your hands on one.  I was certainly thinking it was going to be a larger learning curve prior to my first use.  I also think the original preset tuning settings are probably fine, but I'm slowly getting a better feel for it as I do more autotuning on each cook when I have time to see if I can get a good average value for it.

Keep us posted on your PID settings / findings!
Cheers, Wik

 

[DivotMaker]

I did the first autotune without wood, Wik.  My mistake was that I didn't realize I needed a program to follow.  What you're saying makes sense.  Next time I do a longer smoke, like a briskie or pork butt, I'll run an A/T after the smoker gets to temp, just to compare results. 

I think there's enough PID experience on here that, between us (even a newb like me), we can get this thing dialed-in to perfection for the SIs!  Thanks for the great advice!