A while back I mentioned about using industrial temperature controls to
control the temperature of my electric Brinkmann. Some mentioned that it
would be neat to be able to smoke to an internal temp of ~195 (pulled pork)
and then drop the temperature to ~140 to keep ready to serve.

I bought some temperature controls that have 4 step ramp & soak programming.
You set your first temperature (-328 to 3272 deg. F with some
thermocouples), the amount of time you expect/desire it to take to get to
that temperature (0 to 99hrs & 59 minutes), the amount of time to soak at
that temperature (0 to 99hrs & 59 minutes), and so on for 2nd, 3rd, & 4th
segments. Of course the porgram mode can be disabled and it can be used to
hold a constant temperature.

I plan to sell 5 or 6 of these controls either by themselves or wired to a
thermocouple & solid state relay. I'm buying this stuff through surplus or
eBay and should be able to sell a complete temperature control for ~$99,
this includes (approx. new prices) a controller $189, a solid state relay
$30, & a thermcouple made with thermocouple wire ~$10 (type J for 0 to 14XX
deg F), plus a power cord and recepticle.

Many current thermometers use the thermistor probes that are only good to
about 400 deg F, get em much hotter than that and buy an new probe. This
control uses a thermocouple made from 2 different types of wire, if it burns
out, simply snip the end, strip a little bit of wire, & twist and/or crimp a
terminal on the end.

Uses for this would include programming a "keep warm" temperature after the
food is cooked, tempering chocolate, jerky making, etc. This temperature
control could be used with an electric smoker, electric grill, or hotplate
( or ceramic kiln, heat treating furnace ....).

If anyone here is interested in buying one of these controllers from me,
controller alone (~$40) or wired & ready to plug in (~$99), let me know. If
I don't find any bad ones, I plan to sell 5 or 6 of them.

Information on the controller, MODEL PXZ4RC1-4VC26-D
http://www.ttiglobal.com/Product%2Easp?Param1=PX

Here's a link where someone used one of these same model (but with lower
cost options) Fuji PXZ4 controller to control temperature of a glass kiln.
http://www.toblerglasscreations.com/fuji/

On Thu, 16 Oct 2003 15:31:07 GMT, "Roger N" >
wrote:


>I plan to sell 5 or 6 of these controls either by themselves or wired to a
>thermocouple & solid state relay. I'm buying this stuff through surplus or
>eBay and should be able to sell a complete temperature control for ~$99,

Isn't that like buying leather seats and chrome rims for a '80 Pinto?

-sw

In article k.net>,
"Roger N" > wrote:
<snip here>
> I plan to sell 5 or 6 of these controls either by themselves or wired to a
> thermocouple & solid state relay. I'm buying this stuff through surplus or
> eBay and should be able to sell a complete temperature control for ~$99,
> this includes (approx. new prices) a controller $189, a solid state relay
> $30, & a thermcouple made with thermocouple wire ~$10 (type J for 0 to 14XX
> deg F), plus a power cord and recepticle.
<snip there>

Roger-you may run into trouble using J-type (iron-constantan) TC wires
in a high moisture environment.
They rust easily and you either hafta tin the ends or use some kind of
shield which slows response.
Go for K-type (chromel-alumel) instead. Saves lots of repairing later.
Upgrade to stainless!

monroe(BTDT)

"Monroe, of course..." > wrote in message
...
>
> Roger-you may run into trouble using J-type (iron-constantan) TC wires
> in a high moisture environment.
> They rust easily and you either hafta tin the ends or use some kind of
> shield which slows response.
> Go for K-type (chromel-alumel) instead. Saves lots of repairing later.
> Upgrade to stainless!
>
> monroe(BTDT)

Sounds like a good idea! I was thinking type J because of the lower temp
range, the error specs are usually a percentage of the full range. What
about copper constantant? (Type T?). Looking for high accuracy within the
range suitable for cooking. RTD's are another possibility.

> Roger-you may run into trouble using J-type (iron-constantan) TC wires
> in a high moisture environment.
> They rust easily and you either hafta tin the ends or use some kind of
> shield which slows response.
> Go for K-type (chromel-alumel) instead. Saves lots of repairing later.
> Upgrade to stainless!

I remember using J-types in environmental test chambers at Zenith. We always
tinned them, and they could be used in the altitude, humidity, or heat
chambers, no problems. Each TV got about 70-80 of them. I suppose you'll
have to use lead-less solder, since we're talking food.

John O

"Steve Wertz" > wrote in message
...
> On Thu, 16 Oct 2003 15:31:07 GMT, "Roger N" >
> wrote:
>
>
> >I plan to sell 5 or 6 of these controls either by themselves or wired to
a
> >thermocouple & solid state relay. I'm buying this stuff through surplus
or
> >eBay and should be able to sell a complete temperature control for ~$99,
>
> Isn't that like buying leather seats and chrome rims for a '80 Pinto?
>

Leather seats and chrome rims wouldn't help the performance of an '80 Pinto.
Hopefully temperature control would help performance of BBQ'ing & cooking in
general. Sort of like making that '80 Pinto handle like a sport car. Those
$20 Sunbeam electric grills at Wal-Mart could hold temperature better than
an oven, and curing jerky at 150 deg. F for days would be no problem.