Ping Grandpa\'s Grub - Stoker Plots

RU Eggsperienced

Hi Kent,

As promised here are a couple of plots of the three butt cook I tracked via the Stoker. I think I mentioned to you the other day that I had some wireless network problems.

In this one the 8.6lb butt that was on the top cooked about 18hrs at 240 dome when I pulled it. The 8lb took about 16 hrs... This is 2hrs/lb...

You can definitely see the plateaus of the cook.. Still it is not a perfect plot due to the problems. I havent looked at the log file since I lost my wireless lan a couple times and so StokerLog had to reboot. I'll take a look at it later. These pics are just a cropped picture using photoshop from a PDF printout of the Stokerlog screen.

Talk to you soon...

Grandpas Grub

 
Jerry, thank you - you are the man.

The over/under plot is pretty interesting where the plateau, both levels held about the same and before and after the lower level the food being at higher temperatures.

If the blower on plot was not wrong the off time is interesting too.

What size drip pan is that on the spider and is it centered in the egg? I am using a 14" and thinking of going to a 16" but was wondering about air flow.

I also have been wondering what a air pizza pan would do for an indirect barrier. I have a pizza pan that is aluminum but has holes drilled all over the bottom. I was thinking the holes would allow a free flow of smoke and possibly the non drilled space would be enough to block the radiating heat.

Just something else to try.

Again thank you. Kent

RU Eggsperienced

Kent,

I use a 16" pan. I think I would be a little concerned about airflow if I was not using a Stoker, however with the Stoker I am not at all concerned. I've done this a bunch of times and what it gains is some vertical space in your egg and at the same time maximizing the indirect area. This allows me to use the Adj rig and get space between the upper and lower butts. If I was not using the Stoker I think I would use a 14" drip pan so that I'ld get better airflow.

In my setup I actually put a small pizza stone right on the spider, put some galvanized 1/2" nuts on that then put a foil lined drip pan.

The idea you mentioned on a vented drip pan may be interesting. My bet though is that you get good smoke in the egg since the daisy wheel is opened only a little and smoke is sitting in the egg. I use some apple chips on butts so I don't get huge smoky flavor.

There was a time on the plot which was around 5or 6 am where I think my flaky wireless bridge was not working and it showed the fan not coming on at all, though I think the Stoker was working fine and just not communicating w/StokerLog. I ordered a new bridge yesterday.

Grandpas Grub

 
What are you using for a bridge and what did you order?

I am still wrestling with my setup (wireless side).

You are probably right with the smoke and air holes, I wondered about that after I pressed submit.

Did you get the 10cmf blower?

Kent

RU Eggsperienced

I have the 5 CFM blower. Do you think it matters? That blower usually only comes on for a few secs at a time.

Here is the bridge/AP I ordered. It was a recommendation from my nephew who sets up wireless LANs and networks for various commercial apps. This one he used for a low cost app. Still it has high power (i.e. 500mW vs std 100mW - think that is right). You can also change the antenna if you want higher gain. Also supports B, G and N modes and WPA2 security.

http://www.buy.com/prod/engenius-300mbps-wireless-n-range-extender/q/loc/101/213273244.html

I ordered two of these @ $38/each (note the Netgear ones I've used don't seem to last as I've also had problems with the one I had hooked to my DVR/TV/BlueRay).

Grandpas Grub

 
Interesting brand choice of extenders (yet another term).

If I recall the manual corectly the DigiQII wants the blower running about 60% of the time. I usually close the vent slider down to 1/4 so on my 10cfm blower that would about 2.5 to 4 cfm depending on how accurate I move the slider.

My Stoker 10 cfm but I haven't noticed any thing one way or the other and haven't really paid attention to the duty cycle during the cooks.

Every time I record a cook (ethernet connection), I am guessing, my notebook goes into sleep mode and I loose the data.

I guess this week I will work on my wireless stoker connection to see if I can get this working.

GG