Building a better PID smoker controller

building-a-better-smoker-controller

[Matt] wanted to have more control over his meat smoker so he built this advanced PID smoker controller. It uses the solid state relay seen in the bottom-right of this image to switch the smoker's heating element. But all of the other goodies that are included add several features not usually found in these builds. This is a replacement for the commercial PID unit he used on the original build. … [Read more...]

Some technical improvements on [Alton Brown's] hacked smoker

hacked-smoker-al-a-alton-brown

Bringing that smoky goodness to your cooking is neither hard, nor is it expensive. [Alton Brown], who we consider to be the MacGyver of cooking, always seems to be able to build cooking contraptions from common items. The smoker he built from a flower pot was the inspiration for [Tom's] own project. But [Tom] added in PID hardware to smoke at just the right temperature. The enclosure hides a … [Read more...]

Kitchen Hacks: Home made meat smoker

smoker

[Matt] noticed an overabundance of sous vide builds in the past week, so he decided to throw his Home made meat smoker into the ring. There's not many things more delicious than a nice cut of smoked meat, and the fact that it's very similar to the sous vide hacks we've seen is an added bonus. [Matt] decided to build a ceramic smoker like a Big Green Egg. He took a cue from [Alton Brown] and … [Read more...]

Web-enabling your smoke breaks

web-enabled-smoke-breaks

If you're going to freeze your butt off smoking in the middle of winter you might was well have company while you're out there. [Zach's] company wanted to crunch some data about smoking breaks and worker productivity. Instead of just meeting the bland data collection needs he decided to add functionality. He took time to explain the different parts of the system. Above you can see the web … [Read more...]

PID controlled Bradley smoker clone

bradley_smoker_clone

Bradley smokers are coveted for their ease of use, as they require very little interaction from the user once the hopper is loaded with wood pucks and the machine is powered on. The more robust models are quite pricey, so [Maukka] decided to build his own version of a Bradley smoker as an add on to his existing unit. He fabricated a smoke generator out of aluminum, including all of the components … [Read more...]

PID controlled smoker

The-Smoke-O-Tron

[dafonso] purchased a nice 1500W smoker but was somewhat dismayed that it only had one cooking temperature. To compensate he designed his own PID control system which allows him to set the cooking temperature digitally. At the heart of the system is a PICAXE 18 micro which switches the smoker on and off using a solid state relay. Rather than testing the 110V system on the smoker itself … [Read more...]

Meat smoker texts you when it is done

yummmmm

[Peter Rauch] has built this meat smoker that has a touch screen control interface. His system is capable of controlling the cooking by monitoring the internal temperature of the smoker as well as the temperature of the meat itself. His touch screen interface allows him to enter his desired parameters and it basically just takes over from that point and texts him when it is done.  You'll have to … [Read more...]