What are the best options for having a backup monitor for the ambiant probe, that provides ease of use and convenience (ie don't have go be standing at the smoker to monitor).
What do you all use?
So I bought a very gently used (10 cooks) XT from marketplace and decided to mod it.
I bought the LSS mods (water pan, shelf extender, larger grease bin, and the ash bucket ramp).
I then decided I can't leave well enough alone and decided I needed to pimp this unit up some more.
So I decided one roll dispenser was simply not enough. I decided I needed 3 (paper towel, foil and butcher paper.) so I set out figuring how to make it all fit.
I decided the best way was to use a tension rod under the side table as the width was perfect. The problem was there was not enough clearance for the roll butcher paper, so I moded up a jig that lowered the push pull handle down 3" out of 1/8 stainless. Now it fits perfect just above the handle with the tension rod pressed to the table trim sides.
Tension rod I bought... https://a.co/d/06dhJpn3
I then used a magnetic foil mount dispenser and stuck it under my front folding table with the end facing in to lock the roll in place since the front table is much wider.
My magnetic foil holder...
Now I had to cut the rolls so I ordered these little 18" wide slide paper cutters...
Now the foil after cutting I can just crimp it around the cutter, but for the butcher paper I had to head down to my local staples office supply and buy some scotch reusable light weight mounting tabs, so I could stick the butcher paper to so it did not fall back through the crease.
So now I have easy access to all my wrapping supplies.
I then decided that the ash bucket ramp needed a place for storage when not in use, so I added a bolt through the perforated guard metal at the back of the hopper and bent it slightly upwards. I then drilled a hole just big enough in the ash ramp.
I then added some small magnetic hooks to the hopper and I improved the standard side table hooks.
They are of a poor design, because when the table is folded up anything attached to the hooks can just fall off. So I simply added some #10 3/4" screws to the plastic holes.
Finally I didn't like having to run a power cord to my smoker, so I bought a 10,000 mAh mag safe batter pack with PD power output (https://a.co/d/08nCoBAA) and bought a adaptor (usb c to 5.5x2. 1mm 12v - https://a.co/d/0jgvEBrw)
The magsafe power pack sticks to the inside of my XT leg, to be out of the weather. It can more than handle a full brisket cook.
So that is about it... What do you all think?
Edit... I also bought the ash bin grate to put wood chunks on, can't believe I forgot that.... Out of site out of mind? Lol
What are the acceptable best methods?
I shared this on another forum, but I thought perhpas I should share it here...
Holding ovens are expensive, and I also like cooking with sous vide, so I thought I could get the best of both worlds.
I got to work building a sous vide holding oven/cooker out of a camping cooler.
ITEMS YOU WILL NEED FOR THIS BUILD:
-50q igloo cooler (sportsman profile II 50)
- 2-3/8 hole saw
- Longer 4" pilot drill bit for hole saw
-drill
-2" ABS pipe
-speed square tool
-electrical tape, butt crimp connectors
-Large kitchen rack from Walmart (17"X 10" X 5.3")
-Silicon
-Super glue
-Gorilla glue
-expanding tight foam (if you make mistakes)
I decided to put the opening in the side as It makes better use of space.
To make this all work and fit perfectly you need to get your hole location and angle correct.
Start off by measuring from the top ridge of the open cooler (not the lip riser, but the flat part closest to the outer wall) you want to measure on both sides of the handle to 8" down from the top and draw a line between the 2 points.
Next you have to figure out the exact spot to make you guide hole for the hole saw. The hole saw is 2 3/8 but you can not just go up half that amount from the line, since we will be drilling on a 45 degree angle. I trialed this out for you and extra height away from the line was 1/2 inch so make your drill hole location at 1 11/16 above the line.
Drill your pilot hole (straight on) through just the outer plastic layer of the cooler (NOT ALL THE WAY TROUGH)
Now using a speed square for guidance angle your drill bit to 45 degrees. With the 4" guide bit in your hole saw you will have just enough room so that the edge of the hole saw touches the plastic.
Very gently with the with the drill running in the forward direction slowly make a score with the tilted inner part of the hole saw at 45 degrees. (just enough of a cut to act as a guide).
Now switch the drill into reverse as it will still cut through the cooler, but will not grab aggressively.
Eyeing your angle of the drill to the 45 degree angle of the speed square slowly start drilling through the cooler at a 45 degree. (while one can do this themselves, this step might be better performed with someone helping to hold the square and cooler)
If you make a mistake on your angle you can always expand/adjust your angle of your cut and then fill with tight foam later.
Now cut the abs pipe collar at the same 45 degree angle both sides with the length being about 1.5" from 45 to 45
Clean up any debris on the pipe and then on the outer edge (the collar flush with the outer part of the cooler) apply a few drops of crazy glue to the collar. Place and position the collar so that it is flush with the outer wall of the cooler and aligned so the 45 degree angle is in the right direction heading downwards into the cooler.
Hold in place for a couple minutes till the super glue drops firm up (if they are not attached to the outer plastic wall of the cooler now is your chance to apply where the collar touches the cooler. Once the outer collar is set with the crazy glue do the same with the inner section (which will poke out a little inside the cooler) once the inner collar is locked in position, go over the outer and inner collar where it touches the cooler wall with more superglue (or if bigger gaps, gorilla glue)
After this hardens take your silicon and apply a thick bead all around around the collar on the inner and outer wall of the cooler. Then wetting your finger use your finger to evenly spread out the silicone, making sure there are no holes or gaps. (if you had to fill with tight foam wait for it to dry and cure, then trim it flush with the cooler and then apply silicon all over it to make it water tight.)
Congrats, your cooler is done!
Now this cooler is sized to work with a instant pot sous vide machine I had... Please check if your unit is the same width and length. The good news is these instant pot sous vide units are easy to find used if others do not work.
Now I found optimally I had to strip off the hook connector on the instant pot heater. (although a friend of mine was able to make it work with it on (but it was not optimal) build the cooler, trial your machine (with the cooling rack installed) and decide for yourself if the next step is needed.
Hook removal of the instant pot sous vide heater:
Remove screw tightener. There are three clip tabs on the L Shaped hook both sides mid way up and one in the bottom. Get a small slot screw driver push into the gap line and rotate the slot screw driver to pry apart at each clip. Once open there will be 4 screws to remove. Once separated now you have to either find a way to cut the L bracket plastic to free the cord or since I wanted a longer cord anyways just cut off the plug, remove the wire from the collar and splice on a computer power cord with the butt connectors, some electrical tape and shrink wrap.
Once this is all done install your heater, your cooling rack and fill with water to hit below the rack or where the top of the collar comes out of the cooler.
I ran a test on the performance by putting a pint jar on top of the rack and two thermometers on the jar. This raised the monitoring height 5" to be more in the center of the warming area away from the water. I set the temperature of the sous vide heater to 150F and within 15 minutes of the water reaching temperature the probes stabilized at around 144F and never varied more than a degree over 1.5 hours of monitoring.
Rock solid temperatures.
Set to what ever temp desired (say you want 150F you set the sous vide heater to a extra 5 degrees to 155F) and you are in business. I my case cooking a brisket to 195, then holding it wrapped in the BeefBin at 155 for 18 hours to finish.
With the rack, there is enough room to use 2 of these racks stacked in the cooler. One simply just has to reverse the legs on them so the flare points inwards.
With this cooler one could fit at least 2 briskets while at the same time sous vide cook vacuum packed ribs in the water below.
Pretty sweet I say!
I hope this helps.
Holding ovens are expensive, and I also like cooking with sous vide, so I thought I could get the best of both worlds.
I got to work building a sous vide holding oven/cooker out of a camping cooler.
ITEMS YOU WILL NEED FOR THIS BUILD:
-50q igloo cooler (sportsman profile II 50)
- 2-3/8 hole saw
- Longer 4" pilot drill bit for hole saw
-drill
-2" ABS pipe
-speed square tool
-electrical tape, butt crimp connectors
-Large kitchen rack from Walmart (17"X 10" X 5.3")
-Silicon
-Super glue
-Gorilla glue
-expanding tight foam (if you make mistakes)
I decided to put the opening in the side as It makes better use of space.
To make this all work and fit perfectly you need to get your hole location and angle correct.
Start off by measuring from the top ridge of the open cooler (not the lip riser, but the flat part closest to the outer wall) you want to measure on both sides of the handle to 8" down from the top and draw a line between the 2 points.
Next you have to figure out the exact spot to make you guide hole for the hole saw. The hole saw is 2 3/8 but you can not just go up half that amount from the line, since we will be drilling on a 45 degree angle. I trialed this out for you and extra height away from the line was 1/2 inch so make your drill hole location at 1 11/16 above the line.
Drill your pilot hole (straight on) through just the outer plastic layer of the cooler (NOT ALL THE WAY TROUGH)
Now using a speed square for guidance angle your drill bit to 45 degrees. With the 4" guide bit in your hole saw you will have just enough room so that the edge of the hole saw touches the plastic.
Very gently with the with the drill running in the forward direction slowly make a score with the tilted inner part of the hole saw at 45 degrees. (just enough of a cut to act as a guide).
Now switch the drill into reverse as it will still cut through the cooler, but will not grab aggressively.
Eyeing your angle of the drill to the 45 degree angle of the speed square slowly start drilling through the cooler at a 45 degree. (while one can do this themselves, this step might be better performed with someone helping to hold the square and cooler)
If you make a mistake on your angle you can always expand/adjust your angle of your cut and then fill with tight foam later.
Now cut the abs pipe collar at the same 45 degree angle both sides with the length being about 1.5" from 45 to 45
Clean up any debris on the pipe and then on the outer edge (the collar flush with the outer part of the cooler) apply a few drops of crazy glue to the collar. Place and position the collar so that it is flush with the outer wall of the cooler and aligned so the 45 degree angle is in the right direction heading downwards into the cooler.
Hold in place for a couple minutes till the super glue drops firm up (if they are not attached to the outer plastic wall of the cooler now is your chance to apply where the collar touches the cooler. Once the outer collar is set with the crazy glue do the same with the inner section (which will poke out a little inside the cooler) once the inner collar is locked in position, go over the outer and inner collar where it touches the cooler wall with more superglue (or if bigger gaps, gorilla glue)
After this hardens take your silicon and apply a thick bead all around around the collar on the inner and outer wall of the cooler. Then wetting your finger use your finger to evenly spread out the silicone, making sure there are no holes or gaps. (if you had to fill with tight foam wait for it to dry and cure, then trim it flush with the cooler and then apply silicon all over it to make it water tight.)
Congrats, your cooler is done!
Now this cooler is sized to work with a insta pot sous vide machine I had... Please check if your unit is the same width and length. The good news is these insta pot sous vide units are easy to find used if others do not work.
Now I found optimally I had to strip off the hook connector on the insta pot heater. (although a friend of mine was able to make it work with it on (but it was not optimal) build the cooler, trial your machine (with the cooling rack installed) and decide for yourself if the next step is needed.
Hook removal of the insta pot sous vide heater:
Remove screw tightener. There are three clip tabs on the L Shaped hook both sides mid way up and one in the bottom. Get a small slot screw driver push into the gap line and rotate the slot screw driver to pry apart at each clip. Once open there will be 4 screws to remove. Once separated now you have to either find a way to cut the L bracket plastic to free the cord or since I wanted a longer cord anyways just cut off the plug, remove the wire from the collar and splice on a computer power cord with the butt connectors, some electrical tape and shrink wrap.
Once this is all done install your heater, your cooling rack and fill with water to hit below the rack or where the top of the collar comes out of the cooler.
Set to what ever temp desired (150 for a 18 hour hold of a brisket is a amazing) and you are in business.
With the rack, there is enough room to use 2 of these racks stacked in the cooler. One simply just has to reverse the legs on them so the flare points inwards.
With this cooler one could fit at least 2 briskets while at the same time sous vide cook vacuum packed ribs in the water below.
Pretty sweet I say!
I hope this helps.
Holding ovens are expensive, and I also like cooking with sous vide, so I thought I could get the best of both worlds.
I got to work building a sous vide holding oven/cooker out of a camping cooler.
ITEMS YOU WILL NEED FOR THIS BUILD:
-50q igloo cooler (sportsman profile II 50)
- 2-3/8 hole saw
- Longer 4" pilot drill bit for hole saw
-drill
-2" ABS pipe
-speed square tool
-electrical tape, butt crimp connectors
-Large kitchen rack from Walmart (17"X 10" X 5.3")
-Silicon
-Super glue
-Gorilla glue
-expanding tight foam (if you make mistakes)
I decided to put the opening in the side as It makes better use of space.
To make this all work and fit perfectly you need to get your hole location and angle correct.
Start off by measuring from the top ridge of the open cooler (not the lip riser, but the flat part closest to the outer wall) you want to measure on both sides of the handle to 8" down from the top and draw a line between the 2 points.
Next you have to figure out the exact spot to make you guide hole for the hole saw. The hole saw is 2 3/8 but you can not just go up half that amount from the line, since we will be drilling on a 45 degree angle. I trialed this out for you and extra height away from the line was 1/2 inch so make your drill hole location at 1 11/16 above the line.
Drill your pilot hole (straight on) through just the outer plastic layer of the cooler (NOT ALL THE WAY TROUGH)
Now using a speed square for guidance angle your drill bit to 45 degrees. With the 4" guide bit in your hole saw you will have just enough room so that the edge of the hole saw touches the plastic.
Very gently with the with the drill running in the forward direction slowly make a score with the tilted inner part of the hole saw at 45 degrees. (just enough of a cut to act as a guide).
Now switch the drill into reverse as it will still cut through the cooler, but will not grab aggressively.
Eyeing your angle of the drill to the 45 degree angle of the speed square slowly start drilling through the cooler at a 45 degree. (while one can do this themselves, this step might be better performed with someone helping to hold the square and cooler)
If you make a mistake on your angle you can always expand/adjust your angle of your cut and then fill with tight foam later.
Now cut the abs pipe collar at the same 45 degree angle both sides with the length being about 1.5" from 45 to 45
Clean up any debris on the pipe and then on the outer edge (the collar flush with the outer part of the cooler) apply a few drops of crazy glue to the collar. Place and position the collar so that it is flush with the outer wall of the cooler and aligned so the 45 degree angle is in the right direction heading downwards into the cooler.
Hold in place for a couple minutes till the super glue drops firm up (if they are not attached to the outer plastic wall of the cooler now is your chance to apply where the collar touches the cooler. Once the outer collar is set with the crazy glue do the same with the inner section (which will poke out a little inside the cooler) once the inner collar is locked in position, go over the outer and inner collar where it touches the cooler wall with more superglue (or if bigger gaps, gorilla glue)
After this hardens take your silicon and apply a thick bead all around around the collar on the inner and outer wall of the cooler. Then wetting your finger use your finger to evenly spread out the silicone, making sure there are no holes or gaps. (if you had to fill with tight foam wait for it to dry and cure, then trim it flush with the cooler and then apply silicon all over it to make it water tight.)
Congrats, your cooler is done!
Now this cooler is sized to work with a insta pot sous vide machine I had... Please check if your unit is the same width and length. The good news is these insta pot sous vide units are easy to find used if others do not work.
Now I found optimally I had to strip off the hook connector on the insta pot heater. (although a friend of mine was able to make it work with it on (but it was not optimal) build the cooler, trial your machine (with the cooling rack installed) and decide for yourself if the next step is needed.
Hook removal of the insta pot sous vide heater:
Remove screw tightener. There are three clip tabs on the L Shaped hook both sides mid way up and one in the bottom. Get a small slot screw driver push into the gap line and rotate the slot screw driver to pry apart at each clip. Once open there will be 4 screws to remove. Once separated now you have to either find a way to cut the L bracket plastic to free the cord or since I wanted a longer cord anyways just cut off the plug, remove the wire from the collar and splice on a computer power cord with the butt connectors, some electrical tape and shrink wrap.
Once this is all done install your heater, your cooling rack and fill with water to hit below the rack or where the top of the collar comes out of the cooler.
Edit: I ran a test on the performance by putting a pint jar on top of the rack and two thermometers on the jar. This raised the monitoring height 5" to be more in the center of the warming area away from the water. I set the temperature of the sous vide heater to 150F and within 15 minutes of the water reaching temperature the probes stabilized at around 144F and never varied more than a degree over 1.5 hours of monitoring.
Rock solid temperatures.
Set to what ever temp desired (say you want 150F you set the sous vide heater to a extra 5 degrees to 155F) and you are in business. I my case cooking a brisket to 195, then holding it wrapped in the BeefBin at 155 for 18 hours to finish.
With the rack, there is enough room to use 2 of these racks stacked in the cooler. One simply just has to reverse the legs on them so the flare points inwards.
With this cooler one could fit at least 2 briskets while at the same time sous vide cook vacuum packed ribs in the water below.
Pretty sweet I say!
I hope this helps.
Holding ovens are expensive, and I also like cooking with sous vide, so I thought I could get the best of both worlds.
I got to work building a sous vide holding oven/cooker out of a camping cooler.
ITEMS YOU WILL NEED FOR THIS BUILD:
-50q igloo cooler (sportsman profile II 50)
- 2-3/8 hole saw
- Longer 4" pilot drill bit for hole saw
-drill
-2" ABS pipe
-speed square tool
-electrical tape, butt crimp connectors
-Large kitchen rack from Walmart (17"X 10" X 5.3")
-Silicon
-Super glue
-Gorilla glue
-expanding tight foam (if you make mistakes)
I decided to put the opening in the side as It makes better use of space.
To make this all work and fit perfectly you need to get your hole location and angle correct.
Start off by measuring from the top ridge of the open cooler (not the lip riser, but the flat part closest to the outer wall) you want to measure on both sides of the handle to 8" down from the top and draw a line between the 2 points.
Next you have to figure out the exact spot to make you guide hole for the hole saw. The hole saw is 2 3/8 but you can not just go up half that amount from the line, since we will be drilling on a 45 degree angle. I trialed this out for you and extra height away from the line was 1/2 inch so make your drill hole location at 1 11/16 above the line.
Drill your pilot hole (straight on) through just the outer plastic layer of the cooler (NOT ALL THE WAY TROUGH)
Now using a speed square for guidance angle your drill bit to 45 degrees. With the 4" guide bit in your hole saw you will have just enough room so that the edge of the hole saw touches the plastic.
Very gently with the with the drill running in the forward direction slowly make a score with the tilted inner part of the hole saw at 45 degrees. (just enough of a cut to act as a guide).
Now switch the drill into reverse as it will still cut through the cooler, but will not grab aggressively.
Eyeing your angle of the drill to the 45 degree angle of the speed square slowly start drilling through the cooler at a 45 degree. (while one can do this themselves, this step might be better performed with someone helping to hold the square and cooler)
If you make a mistake on your angle you can always expand/adjust your angle of your cut and then fill with tight foam later.
Now cut the abs pipe collar at the same 45 degree angle both sides with the length being about 1.5" from 45 to 45
Clean up any debris on the pipe and then on the outer edge (the collar flush with the outer part of the cooler) apply a few drops of crazy glue to the collar. Place and position the collar so that it is flush with the outer wall of the cooler and aligned so the 45 degree angle is in the right direction heading downwards into the cooler.
Hold in place for a couple minutes till the super glue drops firm up (if they are not attached to the outer plastic wall of the cooler now is your chance to apply where the collar touches the cooler. Once the outer collar is set with the crazy glue do the same with the inner section (which will poke out a little inside the cooler) once the inner collar is locked in position, go over the outer and inner collar where it touches the cooler wall with more superglue (or if bigger gaps, gorilla glue)
After this hardens take your silicon and apply a thick bead all around around the collar on the inner and outer wall of the cooler. Then wetting your finger use your finger to evenly spread out the silicone, making sure there are no holes or gaps. (if you had to fill with tight foam wait for it to dry and cure, then trim it flush with the cooler and then apply silicon all over it to make it water tight.)
Congrats, your cooler is done!
Now this cooler is sized to work with a insta pot sous vide machine I had... Please check if your unit is the same width and length. The good news is these insta pot sous vide units are easy to find used if others do not work.
Now I found optimally I had to strip off the hook connector on the insta pot heater. (although a friend of mine was able to make it work with it on (but it was not optimal) build the cooler, trial your machine (with the cooling rack installed) and decide for yourself if the next step is needed.
Hook removal of the insta pot sous vide heater:
Remove screw tightener. There are three clip tabs on the L Shaped hook both sides mid way up and one in the bottom. Get a small slot screw driver push into the gap line and rotate the slot screw driver to pry apart at each clip. Once open there will be 4 screws to remove. Once separated now you have to either find a way to cut the L bracket plastic to free the cord or since I wanted a longer cord anyways just cut off the plug, remove the wire from the collar and splice on a computer power cord with the butt connectors, some electrical tape and shrink wrap.
Once this is all done install your heater, your cooling rack and fill with water to hit below the rack or where the top of the collar comes out of the cooler.
Edit: I ran a test on the performance by putting a pint jar on top of the rack and two thermometers on the jar. This raised the monitoring height 5" to be more in the center of the warming area away from the water. I set the temperature of the sous vide heater to 150F and within 15 minutes of the water reaching temperature the probes stabilized at around 144F and never varied more than a degree over 1.5 hours of monitoring.
Rock solid temperatures.
Set to what ever temp desired (say you want 150F you set the sous vide heater to a extra 5 degrees to 155F) and you are in business. I my case cooking a brisket to 195, then holding it wrapped in the BeefBin at 155 for 18 hours to finish.
With the rack, there is enough room to use 2 of these racks stacked in the cooler. One simply just has to reverse the legs on them so the flare points inwards.
With this cooler one could fit at least 2 briskets while at the same time sous vide cook vacuum packed ribs in the water below.
Pretty sweet I say!
I hope this helps.
Holding ovens are expensive, and I also like cooking with sous vide, so I thought I could get the best of both worlds.
I got to work building a sous vide holding oven/cooker out of a camping cooler.
ITEMS YOU WILL NEED FOR THIS BUILD:
-50q igloo cooler (sportsman profile II 50)
- 2-3/8 hole saw
- Longer 4" pilot drill bit for hole saw
-drill
-2" ABS pipe
-speed square tool
-electrical tape, butt crimp connectors
-Large kitchen rack from Walmart (17"X 10" X 5.3")
-Silicon
-Super glue
-Gorilla glue
-expanding tight foam (if you make mistakes)
I decided to put the opening in the side as It makes better use of space.
To make this all work and fit perfectly you need to get your hole location and angle correct.
Start off by measuring from the top ridge of the open cooler (not the lip riser, but the flat part closest to the outer wall) you want to measure on both sides of the handle to 8" down from the top and draw a line between the 2 points.
Next you have to figure out the exact spot to make you guide hole for the hole saw. The hole saw is 2 3/8 but you can not just go up half that amount from the line, since we will be drilling on a 45 degree angle. I trialed this out for you and extra height away from the line was 1/2 inch so make your drill hole location at 1 11/16 above the line.
Drill your pilot hole (straight on) through just the outer plastic layer of the cooler (NOT ALL THE WAY TROUGH)
Now using a speed square for guidance angle your drill bit to 45 degrees. With the 4" guide bit in your hole saw you will have just enough room so that the edge of the hole saw touches the plastic.
Very gently with the with the drill running in the forward direction slowly make a score with the tilted inner part of the hole saw at 45 degrees. (just enough of a cut to act as a guide).
Now switch the drill into reverse as it will still cut through the cooler, but will not grab aggressively.
Eyeing your angle of the drill to the 45 degree angle of the speed square slowly start drilling through the cooler at a 45 degree. (while one can do this themselves, this step might be better performed with someone helping to hold the square and cooler)
If you make a mistake on your angle you can always expand/adjust your angle of your cut and then fill with tight foam later.
Now cut the abs pipe collar at the same 45 degree angle both sides with the length being about 1.5" from 45 to 45
Clean up any debris on the pipe and then on the outer edge (the collar flush with the outer part of the cooler) apply a few drops of crazy glue to the collar. Place and position the collar so that it is flush with the outer wall of the cooler and aligned so the 45 degree angle is in the right direction heading downwards into the cooler.
Hold in place for a couple minutes till the super glue drops firm up (if they are not attached to the outer plastic wall of the cooler now is your chance to apply where the collar touches the cooler. Once the outer collar is set with the crazy glue do the same with the inner section (which will poke out a little inside the cooler) once the inner collar is locked in position, go over the outer and inner collar where it touches the cooler wall with more superglue (or if bigger gaps, gorilla glue)
After this hardens take your silicon and apply a thick bead all around around the collar on the inner and outer wall of the cooler. Then wetting your finger use your finger to evenly spread out the silicone, making sure there are no holes or gaps. (if you had to fill with tight foam wait for it to dry and cure, then trim it flush with the cooler and then apply silicon all over it to make it water tight.)
Congrats, your cooler is done!
Now this cooler is sized to work with a insta pot sous vide machine I had... Please check if your unit is the same width and length. The good news is these insta pot sous vide units are easy to find used if others do not work.
Now I found optimally I had to strip off the hook connector on the insta pot heater. (although a friend of mine was able to make it work with it on (but it was not optimal) build the cooler, trial your machine (with the cooling rack installed) and decide for yourself if the next step is needed.
Hook removal of the insta pot sous vide heater:
Remove screw tightener. There are three clip tabs on the L Shaped hook both sides mid way up and one in the bottom. Get a small slot screw driver push into the gap line and rotate the slot screw driver to pry apart at each clip. Once open there will be 4 screws to remove. Once separated now you have to either find a way to cut the L bracket plastic to free the cord or since I wanted a longer cord anyways just cut off the plug, remove the wire from the collar and splice on a computer power cord with the butt connectors, some electrical tape and shrink wrap.
Once this is all done install your heater, your cooling rack and fill with water to hit below the rack or where the top of the collar comes out of the cooler.
Edit: I ran a test on the performance by putting a pint jar on top of the rack and two thermometers on the jar. This raised the monitoring height 5" to be more in the center of the warming area away from the water. I set the temperature of the sous vide heater to 150F and within 15 minutes of the water reaching temperature the probes stabilized at around 144F and never varied more than a degree over 1.5 hours of monitoring.
Rock solid temperatures.
Set to what ever temp desired (say you want 150F you set the sous vide heater to a extra 5 degrees to 155F) and you are in business. I my case cooking a brisket to 195, then holding it wrapped in the BeefBin at 155 for 18 hours to finish.
With the rack, there is enough room to use 2 of these racks stacked in the cooler. One simply just has to reverse the legs on them so the flare points inwards.
With this cooler one could fit at least 2 briskets while at the same time sous vide cook vacuum packed ribs in the water below.
Pretty sweet I say!
I hope this helps.
I have a XT with the ceramic tiles at the bottom of the fire box. I noted after my cook that I had lots of buildup on my hopper and under the lid after I was done. I have seen some videos where I noted that people seemed to have tinfoil protecting the bottom of the lid, is this recommended? I am also curious would It work if someone wrapped the entire hopper above the ceramic hot spot with thick tinfoil would it help keep it clean, or would it melt?
thoughts?
So I have a the Masterbuilt gravity xt, and I bought the klotes mod rear slide vent to better control the amount of smoke, what I am now trying to understand is how best to use the mod. While I am happy that it saves me a lot on charcoal/wood, I am trying to understand the pros and cons of using this.
I read some Texas BBQ places go with thinker smoke, and some use more flowing across techniques. While I like smoky meat, some people might care for less.
That also got me thinking. When setting the smokiness of the meat, if one made the smoke thicker (as long as it is not white smoke) could one just smoke for less time with wood, or does a proper application of smoke require longer exposure over longer times for a better flavor profile?
How does time vs amount of smoke compare? Has anyone trialed this?
Curious on everyone's opinion, as I am just learning and trying to get better at this art.
Question for you users of the vent mod, What do you set it at? How closed down to you keep it and do you vary the openness during a cook or between cooks (and different kinds of cooks)?
Is it all about saving wood/charcoal or do you use it for dialing in your smoke/temps?
I am looking if anyone has pulled off the hopper/ash bucket assembly in its entirely?
If so how was it? Any tips, guides, videos?
So I just bought very lightly used new to me XT. I will be doing my first cook in it in a couple of weeks once I get all the mods shipped and installed. While I am doing that I want to trial out how the temperature control and probe on my unit are working to see if they are accurate.
What do you think I should use to get a second live reading of what is happening inside my smoker, to confirm all is ok?
Thanks.
Just scored a very slightly, used one season XT from a farmer that bought one because his (now recently ex...lol) brother in-law recommended it, but his kids don't like smoked food for $1100 Canadian. I am getting to work putting all the mods on it from LSS and the adjustable vent from Klotes with the money I saved.
I want to run it on battery power so I don't have to run a cord, so I am just trying to make sure I am sizing this right. My plan is to use one of those magnetic USB phone charger packs so I can stick it to the inside of a leg somewhere (question is the metal of the xt magnetic compatible or something like aluminum?) and then use the step up cable from 5v to 12v.
A couple questions... Sizing the battery pack (with the losses created by the step up cable), how big to run for a full 24 hours?
Second most of the posts out here recommend a step up cable, that I do not see on amazon Canada. The cable in question lists 2 sizes (2.5mm and 2.2mm) what is the actual size I need?
Bonus question... Some people say that the battery packs might shut down from inactivity, are there battery packs that do not, or should I just buy one of those usb c micro plug in led light dongles to keep a small power draw happening?
Thanks.