BBQ Guru VS Stoker

Have you checked out the Product Reviews section of my website? I have some side by side comparisons and some reviews of most of the models out there.

Good luck!

Well, I just recently went through the same dilemma. While I love gadgets, with my XL setup the Stoker was going to cost around $100 more, and THEN I had to get a wireless bridge to connect to my wireless router. All that so that I could see that the temperature was still holding steady on my iPhone. So, I decided to get the guru. Much easier to set up (you don't have to name your plugs, etc,) and really and truly the egg is so good about holding temperatures the guru just lets you sleep well at night. You can set the pit temp and the food temp and walk away. It is really that simple. I understand the "cool" factor of the stoker, but the guru is all you need. Just my 2cents.

I recently got the stoker, and I love it. I haven't set it up to the internets, but i will eventually. It's also easy to set up right out of the box without using the internet.

Basically, if you want the option of adjusting the temperature control remotely, then the stoker is for you. If you don't care about that, get the Guru.

 
I have both the q2 and the stoker and love them both.

When I was trying to decide which one to get I read the side-by-side comparisons but those facts helped me understand the units but really didn't do a lot for making the decision.

Talking and reading others posts is what helped me.

The q2 is smaller. Temperature up or down on either pit or food is a simple button push. Changing features are a multi button push/sequence.

Only 1 pit and 1 food probe. I love the small footprint. My bedroom is too far away from the cooking area I can't hear the q2's alarms. I purchased a Maverick ET-73 for $45 and I use both most of the time. Remote monitoring is a very nice feature.

Stoker is a bigger unit and after the first set up it is easy to set for the second cook. The probes do not have to be named, but it sure is a nice feature.

The stoker can be hooked up to a network by using a ehternet cable. $12 for 50' of cable. I can control many eggs at one time or I can monitor 1 egg and use multiple food probes which is nice when I do multiple food cooks or multiple pieces of same food.

With the stoker I have also used two eggs, the stoker controlling the pit temperature in the large and monitoring 2 meats in the large at the same time it monitored the pit in the medium as well as monitored two pieces of meat in the medium. No other unit will do that. Several forum members have controlled and monitored 6 eggs and the food in those eggs with one stoker.

Hooking up wireless is pretty simple and can be done for under $30 to $40. This is where the stoker really comes to life. Single page monitoring and control within your own network or via the web. Any device that access the web can see the stoker, if you share the ip address and allow it to the web.

The new stokers have color changing plugs which indicate which probes have alarms and which are monitoring.

If I had to sell one or the other I would probably sell the one that would get the most money the quickest.

If I were buying for the first time and had the money I wouldn't hesitate to buy both again. I don't regret either purchase.

One last comment... The egg can very well control the long cooks without help. A $45 Maverick ET-73 will monitor both the pit and food and sound an alarm if the pit goes too high or too low and when the food hits your desired temperature.

GG

Well, I vote neither. The egg will hold temps all day long without help. At the moment, I'm cooking a 10+ lb butt on my large with Wicked Good lump. Got up this morning at 4:15, stirred the old lump, topped it off, used the wiggle rod, lit the fire, let it stabilize and finally put the butt on at about 5:30-ish. Been out to check it a few times this morning and it has not moved from 250. At all. Dead solid perfect, as always. The only reason I don't start these lo 'n slo's before I go to bed is that the food would be done at the wrong time.

I do have an ET-73 so I can supposedly see what the egg is doing. Funny thing though, the Maverick grid temp has been fluctuating (between 225 and 245) all morning, but when I go outside to check it out, the egg is always 250 dome.

Butt is at 156 now, after 6 hrs. Gonna be great!!! And I fully expect to have at least half a firebox full of lump left over for next time.

Good luck, whichever way you go.

This is just so cool. My husband is the antithesis of computer and boy-toy geek. Can you come to our house and give him lessons?