First Stoker Cook

4Runner

Been going for an hour now but this is my first Stoker cook. I bought the Stoker at least 3 months ago after a night of no sleep with a BB. I said I have to do something. 9# butt on a large with plenty of dizzy dust.

For those with a Stoker or Guru, how do you set the daisy on top? I have mine closed with just the small holes open. Just curious.

Oh yea, just had to add....used my Apple Express to allow my Stoker to connect to my wireless network so now I can monitor from my laptop. Very nice!

Gator Bait

Hi 4Runner,

When I do a low and slow with my DigiQ II I close the daisy wheel all the way. I have a medium egg with a 10CFM blower set at 50% and it will run for well over 24 hours on one load of lump if need be. For hotter cooks, 300° or higher, with the DigiQ II I might have to open up the daisy wheel and blower to get enough oxygen to maintain the fire.

The Stoker looks like a great rig, good luck with your cook and keep us posted.

Gator

WADoug

I have a Guru DigiQ. Used it just twice so far and very impressed with how it keeps the temp, better than my oven. I don't really know "best practices" with this type of device, but I think that if the stoker product is forcing air from below, there should be some opening at the top to let it (and ash) out. I keep the daisy wheel small holes slightly open, like a toothpick width. No complaints, but like I said, I'm a real rookie.

SMITTYtheSMOKER

4R,

I would open up the DW a bit more, maybe a 1/2 inch plus the little holes open.

A good rule of thumb is the Stoker should have to work very much so if you find it frequently on you may need to open the top more. If you are running hot you will need to do the opposite and close down the top a bit.

Good luck, you'll love the Stoker.

-Smitty

Grandpas Grub

My large gaskets are old and I have leaks when the blower is turned on.

I have 10 CFM blowers on both my DigiQII and my stoker.

When I use the DigiQII, I choke the blower to 1/3 output. I close the DMT slider, and close the petals to completly closed or 1/8" open at the widest part.

The DigiQII blowers will allow free air to pass through the blower even when the power is not on.

Because the Stoker blower has the damper, which I wonder if it always closes, I close the DFMT slider and leave the petals about 1/8" open. If I see the pit temperature is fluctuating I will adjust the Petals open/closed to a steady temperature. It usually doesn't require any adjustment at all.

GG

SMITTYtheSMOKER

Hey Kent,

I'm interested in why you choose the 10cfm fan instead of the 5. I feel the 10 blows too much ash as opposed to the 5.

My fans hardly come on through my long cooks, the Egg seems to only need a boost in the second half of a cook.

Grandpas Grub

I got the DigiQII before getting the Stoker.

At the time I only had the large egg. I talked to Fred Sr. and asked him what I should get. He recommended the 10 CMF blower. So that is what I got.

Kent

4Runner

Thanks for all the replies. It's been on for approx 11 hrs now and at last check a few minutes ago, my grate was 224.6 with a target temp of 225. I have the pedals open at 100%. I'll keep a close watch on how stable my temps are today and make adjustments as necessary. I didn't install the Stoker software that would keep a log of all the stats but late last night I was at 225.1 so I'm feeling pretty good about the temps. I bumped her up to 250 a few minutes ago and will ride it out from here. Meat is at 159 so I guess I'm in the plateau. I will report back upon completion.

Thanks again.

Chappy

4 runner, I'm doing a brisket now also with a stoker. I keep the top open about a quarter of an inch with the daisy wheel just slightly open...kind of like what I would do without the stoker to keep it at 250. I'm almost to 190 now. I love the stoker. I didn't wake up at all last night and I know the temp didn't fluctuate more than a couple of degrees.

4Runner

still going good. I found the logging software and have been charting my stats for a couple of hours now. I get email updates too. Nice to know what is going on while a Lowes shopping. It's official...I'm a BGE Techno Geek

4Runner

Slight problem at the 14 hour mark. I noticed I wasn't receiving an email updates from the Stoker so I pulled it up on the web and got an error. Went outside and the until was dead. Went through some trial and error and determined that if I unplugged the blower from the unit, it worked perfectly. Not sure what happened. Finishing up the cook without a blower. I have an email into Roc.

Internal temp is at 188.7 and I'm pulling at 195.

Grandpas Grub

Odd response on the unit.

Keep in mind the blower has a damper that closes when the blower is not operating, thus cutting all air off from the bottom vent.

If you turn the blower upside down the damper will be full open.

GG

Chappy

4Runner wrote:

Slight problem at the 14 hour mark. I noticed I wasn't receiving an email updates from the Stoker so I pulled it up on the web and got an error. Went outside and the until was dead. Went through some trial and error and determined that if I unplugged the blower from the unit, it worked perfectly. Not sure what happened. Finishing up the cook without a blower. I have an email into Roc.

Internal temp is at 188.7 and I'm pulling at 195.

I would call him instead of emailing him.

The Naked Whiz

Did you make sure the blower and any other plugs were plugged all the way in? The plugs can be partially out, as I recall, and this can mess things up.

4Runner

I think they are closed on Sat so I sent the email. I will followup with a call tomorrow.

Plugs should be fine. the unit was working properly for approx 12 + hours when it went out. I could unplug the blower and it would come on and then plug it back in and immediately turn off. I tried using different sockets as well. I'm guessing something happened to the blower causing a "short" so to speak which causes the main unit to not function. Just a guess on my part.

Finished up the butt in approx 15 hours and it was perfect. Family loved it. I think it was a bit short on smoke and next time I'm going to pull her off at 190 instead of 195. I did wrap it in foil/newspaper/towels and in the cooler for 3 hours. Still hot to the touch when I unwrapped and pulled and chopped. It was wonderful.

4Runner

Grandpas Grub wrote:

Odd response on the unit.

Keep in mind the blower has a damper that closes when the blower is not operating, thus cutting all air off from the bottom vent.

If you turn the blower upside down the damper will be full open.

GG

GG - yea I saw that. I guess installing that way would be safer in case a problem, like with me, happened in the middle of the night. Had my problem happened while I was asleep then I guess my fire would have gone out and I would have been out of luck. I might try it that way next time.

4Runner

The Naked Whiz wrote:

Did you make sure the blower and any other plugs were plugged all the way in? The plugs can be partially out, as I recall, and this can mess things up.

TNW - you were close. The wire that connects to the plus isn't making good contact. I haven't peeled it back to see, but I just tried it and all I have to do is hold the grey wire up and it makes contact and the unit turns on. I'm going to wait to talk with Rock before trying any self repair.