I ran my first ever overnight smoke. I ended up having to adjust it when the temp wouldn't go over 205 after a couple hours and then I over-adjusted and didn't catch it (fell asleep) until I woke up and it was at 250.

I'm convinced that I just need to find the right damper setting because I ended up adjusting it one more time and the last 4 hours of heat was at 230-ish.

The brisket turned out GREAT especially as I was experimenting with a leaner trim and I let it rest for 2 hours+ which was an excellent call (thank-you Aaron Franklin).

Still, I'm intrigued. I'm not going to always have a ear-infected child waking up every 2 hours to help me maintain the smoker.

But I'm also really cheap but a snob about equipment.

The Auber PID seems to be a really nice go between to me. It's not terribly expensive and is super effective at what it does. It runs off of electricity from the wall rather than batteries. I love mine now that I've used it multiple times.

BrooksBearLives said:

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I ran my first ever overnight smoke. I ended up having to adjust it when the temp wouldn't go over 205 after a couple hours and then I over-adjusted and didn't catch it (fell asleep) until I woke up and it was at 250.

I'm convinced that I just need to find the right damper setting because I ended up adjusting it one more time and the last 4 hours of heat was at 230-ish.

The brisket turned out GREAT especially as I was experimenting with a leaner trim and I let it rest for 2 hours+ which was an excellent call (thank-you Aaron Franklin).

Still, I'm intrigued. I'm not going to always have a ear-infected child waking up every 2 hours to help me maintain the smoker.

But I'm also really cheap but a snob about equipment.

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In re damper

I have best luck running it open to within about 20 degrees then slowly closing it up until I get to temp. The final damper setting on my daisy wheel is usually literally a half centimeter open. The BGEs are functionally ovens so once you hit temp you'll want to cut off extra air flow and let it maintain with the Q.

The petals have to be about a quarter of the way open.

BrooksBearLives said:

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The petals have to be about a quarter of the way open.

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Anything more and the fan will cut off but the temp will keep climbing, too much air flow. I learned the hard way on this one.

Beesville said:

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BrooksBearLives said:

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The petals have to be about a quarter of the way open.

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Anything more and the fan will cut off but the temp will keep climbing, too much air flow. I learned the hard way on this one.

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Yep. Let the fan do the job rather than the air coming out the top.

Beesville said:

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BrooksBearLives said:

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The petals have to be about a quarter of the way open.

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Anything more and the fan will cut off but the temp will keep climbing, too much air flow. I learned the hard way on this one.

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I think every one of them varies slightly. Mine hit the bullseye at just slight slits in the daisy wheel. I can run at 225-235 on my XL for at least 19 hours (haven't had to try longer yet) like that.