Need help using BBQ Guru

[Tom.A]

Recently bought a Humphrey Battle Box. With my 1st cook the Cyber Q over shot the temp by 25-30 deg. The people at Humphrey's BBQ suggested I Close the exhaust damper to 1/8 to 3/8inches open and close damper on fan by 50%.
I've always cooked with the exhaust wide open on my offset, so this advise goes against what i'm used to doing. I'm now on my 2nd cook. I'm smoking spare ribs using the 3-2-1 method. Still having trouble controlling smoker temp, I'm frequently adjusting the fan and exhaust dampers. Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

[DN]

I have the same set-up -- Battle Box and CyberQ. I keep the front wheel closed (on the firebox) and the damper on the fan wide open. The top exhaust damper I keep wide open during the start-up but then close it ~50% as it gets close to temp. At that point, I'm done making adjustments. It might overshoot about 5 degrees but that's it. Works great.

[Tom.A]

I have the temp set at 230deg, temp is 239deg, fan damper is wide open (10cfm fan) Exhaust damper ~30%, using about 6lb of lump and about 6 hickory chunks.

[hogs122]

I've got a battle box and a DigiQ II. Make sure open lid detect is set to "yes". That will allow it to gradually come up to to temp and helps keep you from overshooting your set temp.

[BigTSmoker]

That might be as close as it can get. My guess is there are some gaps and air gets in depending on wind speed and causes the temp to go up. Maybe set for a lower temp if it is windy.

[Tom.A]

Thanks for the advice, I haven't noticed a 'lid detect' on the Cyber Q but I will check into it. As far as wind goes it is pretty mild right now. Here in Kansas City temp is ~40deg. I'm wondering if briquettes would be easier to manage than the lump, but I hate all of the ash briquettes produce.

[hogs122]

Thanks for the advice, I haven't noticed a 'lid detect' on the Cyber Q but I will check into it. As far as wind goes it is pretty mild right now. Here in Kansas City temp is ~40deg. I'm wondering if briquettes would be easier to manage than the lump, but I hate all of the ash briquettes produce.

If your fan runs constantly after you open the door (once your cooker is up to temp), I would imagine your lid detect is set to off.

[Tom.A]

The fan does run when the door is opened.

[BigTSmoker]

Maybe you are lighting to many coals

[Tom.A]

When I light the coals I'm using 1 Weber gel cube place it in a corner of the firebox light it add charcoal/wood chunks

[IamMadMan]

Recently bought a Humphrey Battle Box. With my 1st cook the Cyber Q over shot the temp by 25-30 deg. The people at Humphrey's BBQ suggested I Close the exhaust damper to 1/8 to 3/8inches open and close damper on fan by 50%.
I've always cooked with the exhaust wide open on my offset, so this advise goes against what i'm used to doing. I'm now on my 2nd cook. I'm smoking spare ribs using the 3-2-1 method. Still having trouble controlling smoker temp, I'm frequently adjusting the fan and exhaust dampers. Any advise would be greatly appreciated.


I think you have it backwards... Exhaust damper at 50% and fan slide slightly closed. But call Chad at Humphrey's to verify or check your insert papers to verify...

I have a Humphrey's and they recommend (printed in the insert) to leave the exhaust vent set at 50% open. Yes I know normally it is wide open on other cookers, but thing differ slightly with reverse flow. With the Guru in place, you are forcing more air than normal out the exhaust . I start with all vents wide open, and when about 20 degrees below the target temperature, I fully close the intakes, and close the exhaust by 50% and then turn on the guru.

Also note there is an exhaust vent and a fan damper (slide), two different things. I have never had to adjust my fan damper, but you have a smaller unit so you may have to experiment there. I use the 25cfm fan with the sliding damper on the fan wide open.

Things I learned when first using my Humphrey's with a BBQ Guru..

1) don't turn on the Guru until you are about 25 degrees below the temperature that you want the cooker to run at. The Guru has an anticipatory algorithm and will learn reaction times to temperature changes. If you turn it on in the beginning and it takes 30 minutes to get to the desired temperature it will anticipate that time frame for all changes. Over a period of time during the cook it will correct the reaction times. This will cause high and low swings in your cooker's temperature. A simple fix for when in already into a cook, is to unplug the guru power, wait 20 seconds, and plug it back in. This restarts the reaction time and memory from that point in time.

2) As hogs122 stated, make sure the "DOOR/LID" open feature is turned on, this allows for a gradual increase rather than a turbo effect when the door is opened and closed. Yes the fan will still run when the door is opened, it just reacts differently to sudden drops in temperature that are typical when the door is opened and then closed.

3) make sure the "RAMP" feature is on, as the meat nears the target temperature, it slightly drops the cooker temperature to prevent fast over-cooking of your foods.

.

[Blanton]

Interesting discussion. I found that with the exhaust at half or less that during an overnight cook with out opening the door at all for several hours, that temps were locked in so well with the insulated cabinet that I had very little call for the fan. I would open the door in the morning, lose temp, then could never recover because the fire was actually choked out during the night and barely burning. Opening the exhaust fully seems to let let heat out, thus calling for fan, and with a good draft the fire stays burning better. Hope this makes sense

[sparkii]

I have a pint with no front wheel/vent. Totally rely on the Guru fan for air. As others have mentioned, I let it get to within 20-30 degrees of temp and shut the damper down to 1/2 and she settles right in without much overshoot if any. I typically leave the top most of the way open. 10 cfm is plenty.

[Tom.A]

Thinks guys this is really good advise, and yes, I did use the Guru from the very beginning.

[hogs122]

Be sure to let us know how it goes during your next smoke