DigiQ II with the Spicewine

Keller Steeler

Keller Steeler

Full Fledged Farker
Joined
Oct 12, 2007
Location
Keller, TX
Fired her up this morning to play with the DigiQ and the new u-shaped charcoal basket. I brined some chicken and have one rack of loin backs that will go on later. I will also probably throw on some sausage.

So far I am pretty happy - if I want to get sleep, it looks like I will be able to.:eusa_clap

I loaded the basket with two bags of rancher and lit one chimney. I am running her dry for the first time so I foiled the bottom. Dumped the coals around 8:20 am let her sit for about 15 minutes before I decided to set the guru to 175 and let it rise that way. When it hit there I turned off the Guru and took out the fan. The intake was fully open from the inducer and the stacks were wide open.

When it hit 215, I put the guru back on and set it for 225. I also closed the stacks halfway. The guru damper was set to 1/2 open. It overshot and held around 237. I closed the stacks to a little less than 1/4 and closed the guru damper so it was only 1/3 open. The temp came down. Now I am just playing with raising the temp for the chicken which will go on in an hour.

I want to use it with water also. I have a couple of contests coming up so it looks like if I have success today I will run dry for the contests and then practice in a few weeks at home with water in the pan.
 
MilitantSquatter said:
Good update K.

Did you dump all the coals in the first compartment ?

How long did it take to get to 175 ? and then to 215 w/ Guru ?
Click to expand...

Yes, I dumped the entire Weber chimney into the first compartment. I should have kept better track of the times. I was up to 215 before an hour had passed.
 
Chicken finished quicker than I had planned - a touch over cooked, but still good and juicy from the brine. It was my fault - I started playing with dampers and stacks when I should have let the guru go. I opened up too much and got about 25 degrees hotter than I wanted. I let it sit there too long, before I dampered back to where I was running smoothly.

Not exactly contest worthy, but still good. This was the first time I have really ever had the skin shrink so much. Don't really think cooking on a different cooker would affect it. Might have start toothpicking like some teams. Practice, practice, practice. Wish my chicken halves looked as good as Brewmaster' brisket.

ChickenPractice006.jpg
 
Here are the ribs....
Ribs002.jpg


So what did I learn today - that I need to learn more about my new cooker. The temp kept trying to get away from this afternoon, no matter what I did with the stacks and dampers - is it leaking too much? I do not know - maybe. Everything is too new. The temp kept sitting about 25 degrees higher than I wanted. I guess the next question would be if I set the Guru 25 degrees lower than I wanted would maintain where I wanted it to?

So what am I going to do at Irving next weekend? With charcoal basket or without, wet or dry, guru or no guru. Too many options (not a bad thing).

With the short experience I have with it, I sure enjoyed cooking with water and was happy with my brisket. I also found it pretty easy to control the temp. Plus, I did not mind feeding her every hour or two. I think what I might do in Irving is use it with water, the basket, and the guru. I need to worry more about learning my cooker than getting a call.

Anyone using a guru with water, please share you advice and experience.

Thanks
 
May I ask why are you turning your Guru on and off, and starting it 15 minutes after you dump your coals in.

I have a Digi2 and I never unplug it/remove it, turn it on and off, let my smoker rise to a temp on its own then put the Guru back on etc (basically everything you said you did)

Try plugging it in, set your desired temps , dump your coals and let the Guru work its magic. Thats what they are designed for. I have had mine overshoot a couple times, and thats because I was looking and fooling around with it.

try leaving it alone next time, you will have much better results.

Your food pix look really good. That chx looks amazing.




Keller Steeler said:
Fired her up this morning to play with the DigiQ and the new u-shaped charcoal basket. I brined some chicken and have one rack of loin backs that will go on later. I will also probably throw on some sausage.

So far I am pretty happy - if I want to get sleep, it looks like I will be able to.:eusa_clap

I loaded the basket with two bags of rancher and lit one chimney. I am running her dry for the first time so I foiled the bottom. Dumped the coals around 8:20 am let her sit for about 15 minutes before I decided to set the guru to 175 and let it rise that way. When it hit there I turned off the Guru and took out the fan. The intake was fully open from the inducer and the stacks were wide open.

When it hit 215, I put the guru back on and set it for 225. I also closed the stacks halfway. The guru damper was set to 1/2 open. It overshot and held around 237. I closed the stacks to a little less than 1/4 and closed the guru damper so it was only 1/3 open. The temp came down. Now I am just playing with raising the temp for the chicken which will go on in an hour.

I want to use it with water also. I have a couple of contests coming up so it looks like if I have success today I will run dry for the contests and then practice in a few weeks at home with water in the pan.
Click to expand...
 
Good lookin' chicks. I seasoned my new spicewine today with thighs and wings, but they didn't look like that!! Nobody told me 'bout that option. .........stan
 
I have not gotten mine much more than out of the box yet. gotta clean up the Spicewine a lot before installing... hopefully next weekend if the weather is nice. I wouldn't use water though. They don't recommend it. It fools with the unit thinking the temp is different than it actually is. Maybe that was the issue for you?
 
Keller Steeler said:
Chicken finished quicker than I had planned - a touch over cooked, but still good and juicy from the brine. It was my fault - I started playing with dampers and stacks when I should have let the guru go. I opened up too much and got about 25 degrees hotter than I wanted. I let it sit there too long, before I dampered back to where I was running smoothly.

Not exactly contest worthy, but still good. This was the first time I have really ever had the skin shrink so much. Don't really think cooking on a different cooker would affect it. Might have start toothpicking like some teams. Practice, practice, practice. Wish my chicken halves looked as good as Brewmaster' brisket.

ChickenPractice006.jpg
Click to expand...


that is some pretty chicken
care share your brine recipe?
 
Like everyone else has already said, nothing wrong with the way those birds look.
 
NotleyQue said:
May I ask why are you turning your Guru on and off, and starting it 15 minutes after you dump your coals in.

I have a DigiQ II and I never unplug it/remove it, turn it on and off, let my smoker rise to a temp on its own then put the Guru back on etc (basically everything you said you did)
Click to expand...

Good question - you would think I know better since I used to use a guru with my WSM. Everything was fine, even bringing it up to temp since I had it set way below where I wanted. The problem started about an hour after the chicken and ribs went on (about 5 hours into the burn - it dropped 10 degrees lower than the set temp, and that is when I started playing with the damper and the stacks. I only turned it off when I was bringing it up to temp. I did close the damper completely once to bring the temp down.

chinesebob said:
how many times have you used your spicewine? It took a couple cooks before she settled down to what I was used to.
Click to expand...

This was only my fourth cook. I would have liked to practiced more without the guru to learn more about the cooker, but since the cooker was gone for a month getting mounted and I had a new toy in the DigiQ, I had to try it -you know, the new toy thing with men.

Nitrofly said:
that is some pretty chicken
care share your brine recipe?
Click to expand...

The brine is a simple mixture equal parts sugar and salt to a gallon of water - 3/4 to 1 cup sugar and salt. I marinade after and then the glaze with sauce is what gives it a nice color.

Jeff_in_KC said:
I have not gotten mine much more than out of the box yet. gotta clean up the Spicewine a lot before installing... hopefully next weekend if the weather is nice. I wouldn't use water though. They don't recommend it. It fools with the unit thinking the temp is different than it actually is. Maybe that was the issue for you?
Click to expand...

I ran this one dry. I know they recommend running it dry, but in reading a bunch of past posts and talking to people using them with Backwoods and water, I just am going to have to try it myself.

I kind of liked how the SW cooked out of the crate with water. Just like the way Jay designed it.:eek:

Disclaimer: that in no way means, I won't continue to play, try new things, and just mess around with the cooker.
 
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