This article will use some hands on testing to illustrate the lessons learned in the previous article.
We will use a temperature logging tool that is readily available to anyone, to run some simple tests and show how the gradient heat works in the Yoder Smokers pellet cookers, and how an aluminum pan, introduced into the cooking chamber, affects temperature performance.
We will use a Fireboard temperature logger to gather the data and chart the test results: https://www.atbbq.com/fireboard-fbx11-w ... ition.html
The photos and test results from this test are from a well used Yoder Smokers YS640 that was built in early 2012. This cooker has cooked thousands of pounds of meat, burned through tons of pellets, and has been the guinea pig for engineering and programming changes. It is currently running U29 firmware and configured like the cookers currently leaving the factory, with the exception of the original prototype of the 2 piece diffuser. The pellet fuel that is exclusively used is a 50/50 mix of BBQR's Delight pecan and cherry. In consideration of this, if the reader attempts to exactly duplicate the listed results, there will be differences and variations in the data, but the overall findings should be the same.
We will use 4 Fireboard temperature probes for this test. There will be 2 Fireboard meat temperature probes, one on the lower grate and one on the upper grate, placed in the approximate center of the cooker, and 2 fireboard ambient temperature probes, one on the lower grate and one on the upper grate, mounted in Fireboard probe holders 1" above the meat probes lying on the grate surface. The goal is to simultaneously record 4 temperature locations, over 5 hours, to illustrate the gradient temperature in the cooking chamber, from bottom to top, and the effect an aluminum pan has on the temperatures inside the cooking chamber.
This is how the 4 Fireboard probes were arranged in the cooker. The placement is approximately in the center of the cooker, and placement was predicated on the attachment of the probe holder to the grate.
This is showing that the probes are in the same location, directly above and below each other
This is showing the upper and lower set of probes are in the same location, in the approximate center of the cooking grates.
This is showing the Fireboard probe leads run through the probe port.
This is how the Fireboard probe leads are plugged in to the Fireboard unit; #1 is lower grate level, #2 is lower grate in probe holder, #3 is upper grate level and #4 is upper grate in probe holder.
This is the set temperature for the duration of the test.
This shows how the pan was placed centered in the cooker at the 2.5 hour mark into the test.
This shows how 2 slots were cut into the bottom of the pan so the probe holder could be attached inside the pan.
This is the resultant ash left in the burn grate after 5 hours of running at 250
Here is the resultant Fireboard chart of the collected data.
I made an all inclusive chart to illustrate the test results and to better explain the clear conclusions.
Let's concentrate on the chart that I created.
All of the data came from the captured data from the Fireboard session, with the exception of the controller display temperature, which was captured directly to a laptop using our internal proprietary testing tools. The fireboard session data was downloaded at the highest resolution of data points, and then put into a spreadsheet to chart and calculate the results shown in the chart.
The first thing to understand is that the #1 probe is consistently reading hotter than the set temperature. This is the result of using the original prototype of the 2 piece diffuser in the test cooker. Using the standard diffuser, or the production model of the 2 piece diffuser, will provide differing results that what was captured during this test.
In any testing that we do at the factory, we always drop the first 30 minutes of a cooking session to allow for the initial ignition and warm up of the cooker. Including this data provides erroneous results for the targeted data set(s). You will also see that we dropped the 30 minutes of data starting at the 2.5 hour mark in the test. This is when I opened the lid, put in the aluminum pan, and positioned the lower grate probes exactly in the same location as the first part of the test. As with the first 30 minutes of data, this transition time for recovery would provide erroneous results for the targeted data set(s).
So what the chart illustrates, is the total of a 5 hour test run at 250 degrees, with one hour dropped from analysis. which give us two, 2 hour, data sets to analyze and compare.
The first data set is showing the temperatures of the 4 probes with the cooker running at a set temperature on the controller of 250 degrees. The focus is placed on the resultant averages over this 2 hour period of time, which are listed in the box below the charted data. This clearly shows the normal gradient temperatures in the cooker, from the bottom to the top. This is called "cooking from the bottom up". Of interest, and one of the most asked questions, and the source of confusion, is that setting the temperature on the controller directly correlates to the physical lower grate surface, there is a noticeable drop in temperature at one inch above the grate surface, and an even greater temperature drop at the upper grate surface and one inch above the upper grate surface. So, the temperature that you set on the controller, is going to be an approximation of the physical grate surface of the lower cooking grates. Any temperature reading(s) not taken from the physical grate surface of the lower grate are considered suspended air temperature, as the temperature probe taking the temperature reading(s) must be suspended in the air space above the physical surface of the lower grate. In this test, probes #2, #3, and #4 are all gathering suspended air temperature readings.
From the data averages, for this particular cooker, if you want to cook on the lower grate at 250 degrees, set the controller temperature to 250. If you want to cook at 250 degrees on the upper grate surface, raise the controller set temperature 10 degrees (this may be different from cooker to cooker, especially ones that are less seasoned cookers as this test cooker) to 260 degrees, to compensate for the air gap between the heat source and the location of the food that is cooking. Another clear takeaway, and source of confusion, is that there is a large temperature differential in just the first inch of air gap above the physical lower grate surface. Run this test periodically on your cooker to know how your cooker is performing and to keep up with the its ever changing dynamic.
In the second 2 hour data set, again, focus on the data averages in the box below the charted data. Nothing changed from the first 2 hours of the test, except for placing a full size aluminum pan in the cooker and putting the lower grate temperature probes inside the pan.
Putting the pan in the cooker shows not only the change in the effective cooking temperature inside the pan, but also the effective cooking temperatures on the upper grate surface and above. Owners will cook meat in a pan, or put a pan under what is cooking on the upper grate to catch drippings, or specifically to keep the lower portion of the cooker cleaner. It is a personal choice to use pan(s) in the cooker, but the changes that are made to the cooking environment must be understood, and compensated for.
As you can see, cooking in a pan will drastically change the effective cooking temperature. In the case of this specific test cooker, to cook at 250 degrees in the pan, would require raising the controller set temperature 20 degrees, to 270 degrees, per the temperature differential of probe #2 from the first part of the test. A takeaway on this data, is that the effective temperature one inch above the upper grate surface is hotter than the physical grate surface. With this particular cooker, to cook at 250 degrees on the upper shelf, with a pan on the lower grate, you would need to set the temperature on the controller 25 degrees higher to 275 degrees (set temperature minus the average of the 2 upper grate average temperatures or 250-225,75).
Also, putting liquid in the pan complicates things, as the physics of the maximum temperature obtainable from the boiling liquid must be considered. i.e., water changes to steam at 212 degrees at sea level, and the resultant steam maximum temperature, directly above the liquid, which in this case, unlike in a pressure cooker where water boils at a higher temperature and the resultant steam is also hotter (superheated) because of the increase in atmospheric pressure, will be the temperature of the boiling water which quickly cools the further the steam gets from the boiling liquid.
Here are some related articles for your review:
Pan(s) in the cooker: viewtopic.php?f=36&t=1392
Cooking with grate temperature or suspended air temperature: viewtopic.php?f=49&t=1368
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- The views and comments entered in these forums are personal and are not necessarily those of the management of this board.
