Hi Tania,
let me tell you what I found out from my tests these last days and if you can share this information of mine with the engineering team for everyone’s benefit.
In a generic kamado – mine is a Monolith classic – because of its efficiency (large thermal inertia, low dispersion, direct air flow, more uniform heat) combustion is more efficient resulting in slower airflow than in a traditional bullet smoker or offset bbq.
The algorithm can hardly get the device’s thermal hysteresis right the first time: the stage at which it would go into correction, stopping ventilation at zero, after going above the target temperature is now too late.
In fact, a kamado, with its efficient combustion and great insulation, would maintain that temperature even with combustion off for more than 1h under optimal conditions.
Too much time to then manage the adjustment, even the risk is to turn off the combustion altogether, then making the fan intervention futile when the algorithm realizes that the device is now below the target temperature.
So understanding this, I ran a test trying to make combustion as inefficient as possible by almost completely shutting down the vent-out and igniting a small amount of charcoal, so that I had to rely entirely on the controller’s ventilation to ensure combustion.
And so the magic happened: the controller was able to not overshoot the target temperature too much and keep the range within a reasonable range and in a reasonable time.
So I invite you to reconsider your responses to those who complain of the same problem:
-
Yes, charcoal counts among the factors, especially in the low&slow (107°C as the target temperature) little of it should be turned on and in one spot only;
-
Yes, vent-out is very important, it is not true that it doesn’t matter, especially in those high efficiency devices like kamado;
-
Yes, instructing the algorithm with the device type (even if only in broad strokes, just as you do on the ISC-007BW) would help the device to readjust how to intervene on ventilation;
I remain available for further testing; I would be very happy if you would consider my feedback.
Attached are curves demonstrating the success of my test starting at 110°C and after at 170°C.
Matteo
Member of the Devils BBQ team - Meet us at the European BBQ world championships in Stuttgart on July, 27-28, 2024