Camp Chef Woodwind WiFi Temperature Controller Question

[saucisse]

Do any of you that have the Woodwind WiFi use a temperature controller or have you?

Here is my scenario. I recently ordered a 36" Woodwind Wifi. I currently have a Smoky Mountain Series propane smoker, a Bradley, and a Weber 22" Performer Deluxe. In the past I have primarily used the Smoky mountain smoker for making sausage, sticks, jerky, bacon as I like that I can hang in it. Temperature control has always been an issue. So I bought the Bradley in the hopes of more control. There were some temp swings so I bought an Auber WST1510H-W and man is this thing amazing! The swings went away but it is really too small to do what I want to do. So to remedy the problem with the Smoky mountain smoker I bought a dual hotplate to "convert" it to an electric smoker for making sausage and used the Auber with that successfully.

I have toyed with the idea of a pellet grill/smoker for awhile and decided on the Woodwind 36" since it goes down to 160 and you can allegedly sear on it. I did buy the sidekick to just in case I can't. Plus, I like that it is big enough to do large batches of sausage, sticks, whole sides of bacon etc.. So here is the crux of it. My thoughts are to use the Auber with the Woodwind to go even lower than 160 for sausage/stick making and step it up. Has anyone tried this or similar?

I reached out to Camp Chef to see if it's possible, I don't know what the lowest temp pellets smoke at so I'm not sure it's even possible. I did see a thread on here where it was suggested to just use a hotplate in the beginning and then fire up the pellet smoker as you progress. The thing I don't like about this is that I have an Amaze-N pellet smoker and I have never been able to keep it going and hate having to mess with it all the time and I would have to use it if I went the hot plate route most likely.

Thanks!

 

[bregent]

I think the majority of pellet grills have a min temp of 170-180F. 160F is only possible on some pellet grills because there is a minimum amount of pellets required to keep the burn going. I've heard several folks talk about flame out when running at 160F. I think you'll have a hard time getting it to stay lit if you try to go lower using a different controller.

I think it's best to keep the Smokey Mountain for sausage, as the configuration allows you to hang more and I think you get much better smoke penetration. I had a GOSM that I used for sausage and bacon, although I never used a hot plate - but it was tough regulating the temp with gas.

 

[kruizer]

Bregent has you covered.

 

[dubob]

Saucisse,
The Auber PID controls the electrical current going to an electrical heating element. You don't have a heating element in the Woodwind; you burn pellets for heat. The newer wifi pellet grills from CC have a built in PID I believe, but it can't control the temp +/- 1 degree like the Auber does. I think it's more like +/- 15 degrees. Which is good for a pellet grill. I don't believe your Auber will work at all with the CC. But I've been wrong before.

 

[saucisse]

Saucisse,
The Auber PID controls the electrical current going to an electrical heating element. You don't have a heating element in the Woodwind; you burn pellets for heat. The newer wifi pellet grills from CC have a built in PID I believe, but it can't control the temp +/- 1 degree like the Auber does. I think it's more like +/- 15 degrees. Which is good for a pellet grill. I don't believe your Auber will work at all with the CC. But I've been wrong before.

That makes sense. It looks like the hot plate Auber combo is going to have to be the way if I want to go below 160F. I did see a bearded butcher video where they did sticks on the Traeger and started at 160F so may try that just for ease and to see if there is any discernable difference.

 

[bregent]

That makes sense. It looks like the hot plate Auber combo is going to have to be the way if I want to go below 160F. I did see a bearded butcher video where they did sticks on the Traeger and started at 160F so may try that just for ease and to see if there is any discernable difference.

Since getting rid of my GOSM, I do sausage in my Memphis which has a min of 180F. It's not ideal, but I haven't had problems with fat rendering. You just have to watch IT close and give them a quick cold shower once they hit your target. If the CC gets to 160 and does not have big swings, you'll be fine.