# Welcome Master Bradley Auber



## pounce (Jun 24, 2019)

I've been using a Bradley with an Auber PID and a double burner for a several years. That cabinet was on it's last legs so I decided to build a new smoker. Well, two actually, but this post is about the Masterbuilt.

Sam's club had a sale on the 340G and I picked one up for 250. I was impressed with the cabinet and it's MASSIVE compared to a Bradley. I really had no intent to use the Masterbuilt for anything other than the basic cabinet.

I found the electronics very easy to modify. I turned the whole thing upside down and the electronics are behind poorly weather sealed access panels held with philips screws. The PCB in the base has the relay and transformer for the electronics on the top panel. I rewired the main cord directly to the heater. I added a second power cord and connected to the PCB so I could retain the LED lights, temp and temp probe. I only really wanted the lights. I color coded the cords so I didn't get them mixed up. 

I added the Auber recirculating fan and off-set it slightly from the side and back of cabinet. This was mainly to  help ensure airflow when through the wire racks and not aimed at the edge of the rack. I'm using an adjustable power supply for the fan that gives me control from 2v to 24v so i can adjust the fan speed.

I added the Bradley smoke injector and removed the rack and pan from the burner meant for the Masterbuilt smoke generator. I left the chip drawer/caddy, but may replace it with a vent cover.

For the PID I'm using an Auber WSD-1200GPH with the cabinet mount sensor. I mounted the sensor below the top rack to the right of center. I didn't want to risk center and drilling through wires. I wanted to stay out of the path of the fan and off-set from the right side where it looks like I'll probably get heat from the burner rising up the wall.

To help balance the heat and mix the smoke as well as direct drippings I added a Bradley head deflector rigged from the Masterbuilt shelf supports. I had to remove one shelf to make room for the smoke generator so I clipped and bent the support to hold the deflector.

I think it looks great. I may need to work on the heat deflection, but test results hopefully will show the mix of fan and deflector help enough to balance the heat.


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## rexster314 (Jun 24, 2019)

Now that's impressive


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## tallbm (Jun 25, 2019)

Hahhaa that is the wildest franken build on here.  Bradley and MES combined with Auber pieces as well!  Nice work!


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## pounce (Jun 25, 2019)

tallbm said:


> Hahhaa that is the wildest franken build on here.  Bradley and MES combined with Auber pieces as well!  Nice work!



Thanks! 

Auber has been great. They are only a few miles from me and are super friendly and helpful. I think this is the first Masterbuilt with the fan since it was really designed and tested for a Bradley. Adding the variable power supply allows me to test it out.

I have to cook for a party this weekend (75 people) and will be using this and my Bradley at the same time. When I get a chance I'm planning on testing the fan using some simulated food (probably jars of liquids) and a FLIR camera.  I'd like to try to visualize how the convection impacts the heat balancing/distribution and heat transfer/dissipation. Snapping an image with my FLIR camera after a period of time at a given temp should show how some jars vary in temp... or not. This would help show if the fan and the heat deflection approach works or fails ;)


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## tallbm (Jun 26, 2019)

pounce said:


> Thanks!
> 
> Auber has been great. They are only a few miles from me and are super friendly and helpful. I think this is the first Masterbuilt with the fan since it was really designed and tested for a Bradley. Adding the variable power supply allows me to test it out.
> 
> I have to cook for a party this weekend (75 people) and will be using this and my Bradley at the same time. When I get a chance I'm planning on testing the fan using some simulated food (probably jars of liquids) and a FLIR camera.  I'd like to try to visualize how the convection impacts the heat balancing/distribution and heat transfer/dissipation. Snapping an image with my FLIR camera after a period of time at a given temp should show how some jars vary in temp... or not. This would help show if the fan and the heat deflection approach works or fails ;)


Sounds interesting!  Does the FLIR differentiate temp via color over 125F?


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## pounce (Jun 26, 2019)

tallbm said:


> Sounds interesting!  Does the FLIR differentiate temp via color over 125F?



Yes, up to 250c. I can configure the color range to a tight range at high and low temps. Like if I wanted to show stark contrast on objects between 175 and 185 rather than between 0 and 250. That will show hotspots and subtle differences. I have a FLIR E6.


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## tallbm (Jun 27, 2019)

freakin nice!

A co-worker had a FLIR he asked me if I was interested in for a super good price and I said yeah but he never got back so I guess it never went up for sale lol.

I would love to have one for recovering deer in the dark.  I DESPISE tracking deer in the dark taken during the evening hunts.  In TX we don't have snow and I'm hunting in brushy, hilly, wooded, etc. terrain so the animal could be 10 feet away from you in tall grass or in a little crevice and you would never see it without good tracking techniques.  My tracking skills have become really good over the past 6 years BUT times when there is little to no blood trail it makes it very hard tracking purely on non-blood trail sign.

Anyhow enough about my FLIR fantasies for hunting hahaha.  I look forward to seeing the results!!! :)


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## pounce (Jul 1, 2019)

This is Bradley on the left and Master Bradley Auber on the right. I ran both of them to produce 9 racks for a party Saturday. The main reason to spend the time on this Masterbuilt was to get the width to do a full rack and whole brisket. It always bothered me I can to whittle things down for the Bradley. They both turn out great, but the full rack is really impressive.













And we made our own cookies for Banana pudding. I modeled and 3d printed the stamp for the banana design and we used a chessman recipe from the internet. I didn't smoke it ;)


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## tallbm (Jul 1, 2019)

That looks fantastic!

I swear the pork ribs we get in TX never look that good hahaha.  Oh well, we get all the good beef cuts so I guess you can't have it all


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## pounce (Jul 1, 2019)

tallbm said:


> That looks fantastic!
> 
> I swear the pork ribs we get in TX never look that good hahaha.  Oh well, we get all the good beef cuts so I guess you can't have it all



Thanks!

I also did 4 brisket and 15lbs of chix thighs. I didn't get a shot of the brisket, but I did 4 hours of hickory/oak then 24hrs of sous vide at 155f. Then an ice bath and held for 12 hours overnight. Then about 4 hours of back in the smoker to reach about 165 before serving and hour later at the party. This smoke, sous vide, hold and then smoke ends up very moist and perfectly smoked. The first smoke helps to render some fats and get some bark. The smoke then penetrates during the 24hrs of sous vide while everything is getting fork tender. The final 4 hours of smoke gives the bark another kick. I've tried 163f for 30 hours and it was too much. I think the 155f for 24 is the best balance so far.


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## tallbm (Jul 1, 2019)

pounce said:


> Thanks!
> 
> I also did 4 brisket and 15lbs of chix thighs. I didn't get a shot of the brisket, but I did 4 hours of hickory/oak then 24hrs of sous vide at 155f. Then an ice bath and held for 12 hours overnight. Then about 4 hours of back in the smoker to reach about 165 before serving and hour later at the party. This smoke, sous vide, hold and then smoke ends up very moist and perfectly smoked. The first smoke helps to render some fats and get some bark. The smoke then penetrates during the 24hrs of sous vide while everything is getting fork tender. The final 4 hours of smoke gives the bark another kick. I've tried 163f for 30 hours and it was too much. I think the 155f for 24 is the best balance so far.



Wow nice!

That sounds like a very interesting brisket for sure.
Wow that just gave me an idea! I should Sous Vide my venison shanks and then smoke them!!!!!!! 
Looks like I have a project on the books now :D


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## pounce (Jul 1, 2019)

tallbm said:


> I should Sous Vide my venison shanks and then smoke them!



Definitely. 

If you sous vide before smoking I'd strongly recommend searing in a pan or hot flame on the bbq etc. It's important with this kind of meat and really any meat to kill naturally occurring stuff on the surface. If you don't you get bags that float and weird smells and subtle off flavors. For this reason I like the brown/smoke/sear even a little before the water bath. I might do 36-48 hours at 144f. I think a couple of hours of smoke then sous vide would be really nice. If you have torch you can put a little sear on the outside with some good control.


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## tallbm (Jul 2, 2019)

pounce said:


> Definitely.
> 
> If you sous vide before smoking I'd strongly recommend searing in a pan or hot flame on the bbq etc. It's important with this kind of meat and really any meat to kill naturally occurring stuff on the surface. If you don't you get bags that float and weird smells and subtle off flavors. For this reason I like the brown/smoke/sear even a little before the water bath. I might do 36-48 hours at 144f. I think a couple of hours of smoke then sous vide would be really nice. If you have torch you can put a little sear on the outside with some good control.



Thank for the input!  I would smoke it a little first and then SV it to completion.
I could also propane torch sear it from a distance (to avoid weird flavor) and then SV or smoke as well.
My biggest issue is going to be to keep the bone from puncturing the bag when I vac seal it.  The shanks were "cut" with tree limb loppers since they crack through with hardly any effort but they leave jagged points a lot of the time :(
I guess I could remove the meat from the bone but I would forfeit all of those great bone and marrow flavors... we'll see what I end up doing :)


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## pounce (Jul 2, 2019)

tallbm said:


> Thank for the input!  I would smoke it a little first and then SV it to completion.
> I could also propane torch sear it from a distance (to avoid weird flavor) and then SV or smoke as well.
> My biggest issue is going to be to keep the bone from puncturing the bag when I vac seal it.  The shanks were "cut" with tree limb loppers since they crack through with hardly any effort but they leave jagged points a lot of the time :(
> I guess I could remove the meat from the bone but I would forfeit all of those great bone and marrow flavors... we'll see what I end up doing :)



Use an electric heat gun, Searzall or maybe a BZ4500HS. It's not the distance that causes or prevents the taste. Point the torch away from the food when lighting and let it get good and hot before getting close to the food.

You can put something else inert in the bag to prevent the bone from puncturing the bag like a piece of silicone baking mat or maybe wax. You an also just grind it with a grinder when frozen and smooth it over. Always double bag for long sous vide and a large cut.


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## tallbm (Jul 2, 2019)

pounce said:


> Use an electric heat gun, Searzall or maybe a BZ4500HS. It's not the distance that causes or prevents the taste. Point the torch away from the food when lighting and let it get good and hot before getting close to the food.
> 
> You can put something else inert in the bag to prevent the bone from puncturing the bag like a piece of silicone baking mat or maybe wax. You an also just grind it with a grinder when frozen and smooth it over. Always double bag for long sous vide and a large cut.



Noted.  I'm not sure when I'll ever get to it, but I definitely have this noted down :)


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## dr k (Jul 2, 2019)

https://www.ebay.com/i/223514276262...k9mX4wIVh8x3Ch23HwziEAQYAyABEgIdIfD_BwEAmazon $39. 20k btu. Weedburner, meat searer, ice melter, fire starter......


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