Upgrade charbroil big easy elec. to PID?

[Jayjay1976]

Hiya friends,

Long time lurker, first time poster here. I picked up a practically new big easy 2-in-1 electric smoker a couple years back and have used it a handful of times with mixed results. I've been reading more about smoking meats and am pretty convinced that the shortcomings of the stock unit could be overcome by hard-wiring the heating element to an external temperature controller.

The built-in controller has 15 levels of heat (I assume it produces a variable-pulsed output) providing really crude temp control, and a digital meat thermometer which can turn it off at a preset set point, but neither of these can provide a steady 225f chamber which is my goal. I've built a PID-based controller for my electric brewery so I know enough to build one, just wondered if building a whole PID controller is necessary or if just a simple on/off controller would be sufficient. I think I read some where that PID will result in less smoke output and I don't want that. I might also hack a soldering iron element into the chip chamber to boost smoke output. Hey, maybe I can repurpose the built-in controller to pulse the soldering iron.

 

[bregent]

I think I read some where that PID will result in less smoke output

You might be thinking about pellet grills. Pellet grills with big temperature swings produce periods of heavy smoke, followed by periods of little smoke. PID controlled grills tend to produce a little more consistent smoke throughout the cycle. Because the smoke is very heavy at times, I think many people believe that non-PID pellet grills produce more smoke - I don't really think that's true. Both probably produce the same average amount of smoke per cook.

In any case, the Big Easy is not a pellet grill - it uses chunks that are heated by an element. I would think a PID will solve your temperature control problem and will not negatively affect smoke production.

 

[Jayjay1976]

Thanks for the feedback! So a PID controller will provide a steady temperature, and smoke production shouldn't be a problem? I kinda like the idea of managing both parameters independently.