New toy - data logger

wade

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• Sep 27, 2014

• #1

Wooo hoo 

 my latest gadget arrived today. It is a two channel data logger. It wont replace any of my Mavericks but it will let me log in detail what is happening with temperature during every smoke.

Out of the box with calibration certificate from 0 C to 1000 C (Yes - one thousand degrees C !) Accurate to 0.1 C over that range.

OutOfTheBox.jpg

• wade
• Sep 27, 2014

No probes attached yet so showing "Err". In the background the latest batch of salmon being cured

ProbesAttached.jpg

• wade
• Sep 27, 2014

Probes attached - within 10 seconds the temperatures are being logged.

First test is without any meat/fish. I will just log the difference in temperature today between the inside and outside my smoker (for when I am cold smoking) to see what effect the sun has on it. The smoker is in its usual position and the forecast today is cloudy with some sun.

InSmoker1.jpg

• wade
• Sep 27, 2014

InSmoker2.jpg

• wade
• Sep 27, 2014

Hope to be able to show some nice graphs soon

Before you say anything Danny, Yes, I know - I am a sad individual. But people have been telling me that for years 

 

 

Last edited: Sep 27, 2014

dirtsailor2003

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• Sep 27, 2014

• #2

So what's the brand? Need more info!

 

Last edited: Sep 27, 2014

jarjarchef

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• Sep 27, 2014

• #3

:yeahthat:

I am very in for this one. Need lots and lots of details.

 

smokeburns

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Navarre Fl.

• Sep 27, 2014

• #4

Isn't that a thermoworks product? I had no idea you could store data logs. That's really kick butt.

 

wade

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• Sep 27, 2014

• #5

Yes it is ThermaData Thermocouple Logger. In the UK it is sold by ETI and in the US it is sold by ThermoWorks

http://thermometer.co.uk/data-loggers/1001-thermocouple-therma-data-logger.html#/model-lcd

http://thermoworks.com/products/logger/thermadata/thermadata_thermocouple.html

It comes with the ThermaData Studio software for graphing and saving logged data and is also suitable for HACCP documentation here in the UK.

The graph today....

At 7:15am this morning the logger was put in position. One probe in the chamber and the other outside measuring ambient temperature. 

At 9:17 you can see that the internal temperature was already beginning to increase faster than the outside air temperature and you can then see a spike where I introduced the smoke generator (AMNPS pellet style generator).

SmokerTemperature.JPG

• wade
• Sep 27, 2014

From that point onwards you can see the temperature difference start to grow. At 13:00 the difference was 6 C degrees (10 F degrees) although it is not clear whether the cause was the smoke generator or the sun.

Tomorrow I will be smoking a beef joint in the Weber and will log that too. I will post more when it is done.

 

Last edited: Sep 27, 2014

dirtsailor2003

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• Sep 27, 2014

• #6

Yeah is thing wifi? Blue tooth? Plug m play? Dos, Mac? Windows 8 come on don't leave us hanging!!!

Got that Salmon smoking yet? Geeezzzzz'

 

wade

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• Sep 27, 2014

• #7

No - Just USB. I was looking for a Wifi based logger that was affordable however I drew a blank. I have seen options for extending USB over IP (Wifi) but I have not tried any of them yet.

I am running it on Windows 8.1 so I know it works on that. I put in the CD and just pressed "next" "next" etc and it installed without a problem. Not sure about MAC, sorry. Certainly plug and play.

Software is adequate and you can import to other apps (e.g. Excel) if you want to,

Salmon has just gone in and will be ready in the morning 

. Being cold smoked over hickory.

 

oldschoolbbq

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• Sep 27, 2014

• #8

Cool , Wade.. Should be a 'Hoot' playing with it... Kudos on the new toy  .  .  .

Stan.........

 

wolfman1955

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• Sep 28, 2014

• #9

I agree Kudo's on the new toy!!! We all know that he who has the most toys WINS!!

 

wolfman1955

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• Sep 28, 2014

• #10

I copied this from there US web site.
System Requirements:
•Windows 98 Second Edition, 2000, ME, XP, Vista, 7 (32 & 64-bit)
•256 MB Memory
•800 x 640 Video
•10MB Disk space
•1 available USB port or serial port

 

themule69

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• Sep 28, 2014

• #11

Nice addition to your arsenal.

Happy smoken.

David

 

wade

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• Sep 28, 2014

• #12

I smoked a beef joint today - the first one since I got the logger. 

Rub applied overnight

BeefRub.jpg

• wade
• Sep 28, 2014

Weber Snake lit - I was using Texas Blend pellets which include Mesquite and Hickory

SmokerLit.jpg

• wade
• Sep 28, 2014

To compare I also had my ET-720s in place as well. The logger and the Maverick were always within 0.5 C degree of each other.

The temperature log

Beef Temperature 29 sept 14.JPG

• wade
• Sep 28, 2014

A few points that were immediately obvious...

At Point 1 the beef was placed in the smoker and probes inserted into the meat. - 0 hours

At point 2 the beef was foiled. - 2 hours

- You can see the significant effect of lifting the lid on the IT as the meat was foiled.

At point 3 the beef was ready and both of the probes removed - 6.75 hours

Notice the smooth rise in the IT of the meat. I was somewhat surprised just how smooth this was - no indication of a stall at all.

Between points 1 and 2 you can see some swings in smoker temperature from 88.5 C (191 F) to 121.4 C (250.5 F). This was due to me taking the lid off the smoker 3 times to check a few things. You can see the consequence - the smoker had difficulty compensating for these and each time the IT rose slightly higher than I wanted.

Following the 2 hour point (when I wrapped the meat in foil) look what happened...there was an immediate high blip and then the temperature remained very steady for the next 4 hours. That was because I went out for lunch and JUST LEFT IT ALONE ! The IQ-110 was then able to establish complete control and for the next 4 hours just sat there quietly doing its job.

The beef is currently resting and I will post again after it has been cut.

 

Last edited: Sep 28, 2014

wade

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• Sep 28, 2014

• #13

A bit of an anticlimax. The meat was lovely and moist and I was half hoping to pull it - but no chance. Unfortunately, although it sliced nicely and had good flavour the texture was quite leathery. I will have to find some way of using it up. Oh well.

 

wade

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• Sep 30, 2014

• #14

Butcher owned up to giving me Top Side instead of Silverside. He has apologised and replaced it.

 

smokeburns

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• Sep 30, 2014

• #15

What a cool butcher. That was awfully nice of him to do that for you.

 

Last edited: Sep 30, 2014

wade

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• Oct 1, 2014

• #16

It pays to make friends with your local butcher and I put a lot of business his way.

 

smokeburns

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• Oct 2, 2014

• #17

Lol. Indeed .