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Harvard engineering students devise BBQ smoker

bostonglobe.com

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Re: Harvard engineering students devise BBQ smoker

#31

Post by jsabo »

parasubvert wrote: post #29

I think the article exaggerates the lack of accessibility in BBQ. There sure is a fair amount of BBQ-broscience but resources like AmazingRibs.com, Aaron Franklin's YouTube videos, and Virtual Weber Bullet all have great recipes, guides, and forums. The challenge is that BBQ is true regional American cuisine, with a lot of variation. This is similar to authentic Chinese or Indian food where there are significant diff…

I agree, there's plenty of good online resources, and brisket especially is pretty straightforward. When I was learning, I absorbed Aaron Franklin's videos and was delighted with the results even as a beginner. By the time I mustered the willpower to actually wait in line and try some BBQ at Franklin's, I was pleased to find that I really wasn't too far off.

This line from the article was a little silly: "In the end, the secret was to precisely control the temperature both in the smoker and in the meat over the “low and slow” smoke."

When really the importance of heat control is pretty well known. Something I use and that may be of interest to HN is a heatermeter:

https://github.com/CapnBry/HeaterMeter

which uses a fan to maintain a set temperature automatically and has a web interface to monitor it remotely. The article mentioned the students had built something similar too.

Re: Harvard engineering students devise BBQ smoker

#32

Post by Turing_Machine »

hackuser wrote: post #19

Anyone hungry tonight? How about some delicious Boston-style BBQ? Harvard-style BBQ? Engineering student-style BBQ? Anyone? Harvard is one of the world's great educational institutions, but perhaps it's spreading the branding a little thin to apply it to BBQ made by engineering students. Now a BBQ smoker from Central TX A&M might be interesting.

Yeah, it makes me think of the knockoff "New Jersey Fried Chicken" and "Wisconsin Fried Chicken" restaurants you see in other countries.

Edit: some examples

https://www.pinterest.com/rhysdgriffiths/not-quite-kentucky/

Re: Harvard engineering students devise BBQ smoker

#33

Post by tmuir »

I have a related project that I've considered commercializing. I've built a temperature controller with an embedded linux board that serves a webpage and runs a python websocket server that updates the page. I've also got a daughterboard with a thermocouple amplifier and transistor to power a small fan that feeds the fire. The system logs and graphs temperature data. It's basically complete control from your phone.

http://imgur.com/a/aGr0H

Re: Harvard engineering students devise BBQ smoker

#34

Post by summerman12 »

I prefer the hot and fast cooking method (smoking temperature around 275). Ribs can be smoked in an hour and 10 minutes. I compete in KCBS sanctioned bbq events and do well using the hot and fast method. I've tried many smokers out over the years and now solely use vertical drum smokers (specifically Hunsaker Vortex Smokers) as they do well with the hot and fast method.

Re: Harvard engineering students devise BBQ smoker

#35

Post by el_benhameen »

tmuir wrote: post #33

I have a related project that I've considered commercializing. I've built a temperature controller with an embedded linux board that serves a webpage and runs a python websocket server that updates the page. I've also got a daughterboard with a thermocouple amplifier and transistor to power a small fan that feeds the fire. The system logs and graphs temperature data. It's basically complete control from your phone. h…

If you're willing to throw it up on github, I'd love to see the code that you're running. I'd understand if you want to avoid that if you're planning on commercializing it, though.

Re: Harvard engineering students devise BBQ smoker

#36

Post by chiph »

will_work4tears wrote: post #26
scep12 wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's the difference between Austin and Boston when it comes to cooking brisket? Given the ubiquity of information and the ease of travel, I wouldn't place such a premium on location. Some of the best BBQ I've ever had was in Brooklyn (and I didn't have to wait 2 hours for it).

Experience and standards? It's like asking what's the difference between NY Style pizza in NY and NY style pizza in LA. Do you think they are the same? It's also like saying that TexMex in MN is the same as in TX or CA. Anybody can open up an BBQ place in Anytown, USA, and it could be passable or even pretty good, but it'll not beat a moderately good place in a town known for BBQ. It's mostly because the low quality…

Aaron Franklin just got the James Beard stamp of approval, winning Best Chef: Southwest for 2015. I expect there'll be Franklin-Style BBQ "Just Like Austin" places opening up around the country as a result.

http://dining.blog.austin360.com/2015/05/04/aaron-franklin-w...

Re: Harvard engineering students devise BBQ smoker

#38

Post by protomyth »

crikli wrote: post #13
kwantam wrote: post #5

I wonder if they used the "Texas Crutch," i.e., wrapped the brisket in foil after ~4 hours. The upshot of the Texas Crutch technique is: after about 2 hours on the smoke, the internal temperature of a brisket will plateau for 6-8 hours before climbing toward its final temperature. According to experiments by Greg Blonder[0], this stall is caused by evaporative cooling: once the internal temperature reaches a point wh…

I was under the impression from his book and his videos[0] that Franklin's didn't use the crutch as "policy" unless it was necessary...but I've never been lucky enough to get down there to Austin yet so I can't say for sure. [0] https://youtu.be/pGZ39yYxeBk?t=5m7s

Might want to hurry http://reason.com/archives/2015/05/09/will-austin-proposal-t...

Re: Harvard engineering students devise BBQ smoker

#39

Post by tmuir »

el_benhameen wrote: post #35
tmuir wrote: post #33

I have a related project that I've considered commercializing. I've built a temperature controller with an embedded linux board that serves a webpage and runs a python websocket server that updates the page. I've also got a daughterboard with a thermocouple amplifier and transistor to power a small fan that feeds the fire. The system logs and graphs temperature data. It's basically complete control from your phone. h…

If you're willing to throw it up on github, I'd love to see the code that you're running. I'd understand if you want to avoid that if you're planning on commercializing it, though.

I'm an embedded developer, so this has been my first experience in HTML/CSS/JS/Websockets. Here's a general overview:

The Python server periodically reads the thermocouple chip over SPI and sends a JSON object over the websocket with temperature and time data.

The javascript websocket handler is a switch statement to parse the incoming JSON, which is data updates, log info, and graph data.

Each button on the webpage has a jQuery callback that sends a JSON command over the websocket.

The Python websocket handler has a class for each command, which is set point control, hysteresis control, fan on/off/auto, start log, finish log, delete log, fetch log info, fetch graph data. Incoming JSON is deserialized into a command object, and command.parse() processes the command through polymorphism.

The application is working well. What's holding me back is the general logistics of joe consumer connecting to the device. The system can act as a wifi access point, or it can join a network. The access point will be easier for a user to connect to, and I can run mDNS to give it an address like smoker.local, but it seems cumbersome to have to change your wifi every time you want to open the app. On the other hand, if it's on a network, there's no easy way to discover it without going into your router settings. Then you're going to 192.168.1.149. Building native Android and iOS apps would solve that, but I'd really like to keep it as a webapp.

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