Hi All!
I posted over here about issues I was having with a new LEM smoker I got as an early Christmas gift. Long story short, the temperature was swinging 60 degrees when trying to hold at a sausage-appropriate smoking temp. The smoker was a gift, and we were all pretty bummed when it didn't work out as expected. We weren't having any luck getting LEM to take it back without having to pay return shipping. Between multiple frustrating phone calls and me just wanting to show appreciation for the thoughtful gift, I decided to just make it work. And I did!
I ordered an Auber temperature controller to get the smoker holding temperatures correctly. I chose the WS-1510ELPM model because it fit the wattage requirements, I didn't need a dual probe, and I like that I can also use it to control a fridge for a curing chamber once I get around to that project.
Santa also brought me a fancy Fireboard thermometer for Christmas (my people seem to know me pretty well!) so once the Auber arrived yesterday I decided to take all three for a spin and see if I could get the smoker holding steady in the 130-160 degree range.
I put the Fireboard and Auber probes right next to each other on the middle rack. The ambient temp was around 40-45 degrees, no wind, smoker was otherwise empty. I hooked up the Auber PID to the smoker, turned the smoker on full blast, and switched everything on. I set the Auber PID to single step mode (ignore programming, just hold at one temp) and set the temp to 130.
Success! The smoker cruised up to 100 fast, then the PID controller started a more controlled increase to 130. It leveled off for 10 minutes and then I opened the door a few times to see how far the temp dropped and how quick it rebounded. For an empty smoker, it was pretty darn good, not more than 3-4 minutes to get back to temp.
Then I stepped up the temp 10 degrees for 5-10 minutes at a time up to 180 to see how well that worked. I opened the door a few times again (you can see the little dips). Everything looks good for sausage smoking!
Then I bumped it up to 225 to see if I could get smoke - juuust barely. The AMNPS will fit nicely in the LEM, so I think that'll be my go to smoke source. I might consider a mailbox-type mod and better insulation down the road, but for now I'm just happy it works!
Here's a full chart of my 3.5 hours of testing courtesy of the Fireboard -
By the way, I freaking love the Fireboard thermometer. I'm a tech geek by day, so this sort of thing really gets me worked up.
I grilled a few Cornish hens for Christmas dinner on my Weber kettle - here's what those looked like:
The two darker areas are probes in two of the birds, the lighter area is the ambient probe in the center of the grill rack. One bird was obviously over a hot spot. And you can see each dip when I took the lid off and how the temp rebounded.
I'll be smoking belly bacon next Thursday, it's been in Pop's brine the last 10 days. Then I have about 80 pounds of venison that needs to be ground and made into various sausages. Should be a busy month! More to come :)
I posted over here about issues I was having with a new LEM smoker I got as an early Christmas gift. Long story short, the temperature was swinging 60 degrees when trying to hold at a sausage-appropriate smoking temp. The smoker was a gift, and we were all pretty bummed when it didn't work out as expected. We weren't having any luck getting LEM to take it back without having to pay return shipping. Between multiple frustrating phone calls and me just wanting to show appreciation for the thoughtful gift, I decided to just make it work. And I did!
I ordered an Auber temperature controller to get the smoker holding temperatures correctly. I chose the WS-1510ELPM model because it fit the wattage requirements, I didn't need a dual probe, and I like that I can also use it to control a fridge for a curing chamber once I get around to that project.
Santa also brought me a fancy Fireboard thermometer for Christmas (my people seem to know me pretty well!) so once the Auber arrived yesterday I decided to take all three for a spin and see if I could get the smoker holding steady in the 130-160 degree range.
I put the Fireboard and Auber probes right next to each other on the middle rack. The ambient temp was around 40-45 degrees, no wind, smoker was otherwise empty. I hooked up the Auber PID to the smoker, turned the smoker on full blast, and switched everything on. I set the Auber PID to single step mode (ignore programming, just hold at one temp) and set the temp to 130.
Success! The smoker cruised up to 100 fast, then the PID controller started a more controlled increase to 130. It leveled off for 10 minutes and then I opened the door a few times to see how far the temp dropped and how quick it rebounded. For an empty smoker, it was pretty darn good, not more than 3-4 minutes to get back to temp.
Then I stepped up the temp 10 degrees for 5-10 minutes at a time up to 180 to see how well that worked. I opened the door a few times again (you can see the little dips). Everything looks good for sausage smoking!
Then I bumped it up to 225 to see if I could get smoke - juuust barely. The AMNPS will fit nicely in the LEM, so I think that'll be my go to smoke source. I might consider a mailbox-type mod and better insulation down the road, but for now I'm just happy it works!
Here's a full chart of my 3.5 hours of testing courtesy of the Fireboard -
By the way, I freaking love the Fireboard thermometer. I'm a tech geek by day, so this sort of thing really gets me worked up.
I grilled a few Cornish hens for Christmas dinner on my Weber kettle - here's what those looked like:
The two darker areas are probes in two of the birds, the lighter area is the ambient probe in the center of the grill rack. One bird was obviously over a hot spot. And you can see each dip when I took the lid off and how the temp rebounded.
I'll be smoking belly bacon next Thursday, it's been in Pop's brine the last 10 days. Then I have about 80 pounds of venison that needs to be ground and made into various sausages. Should be a busy month! More to come :)
