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Rocks BBQ and Stoker

johnrezz
johnrezz Posts: 120
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
Hope everyones overnight cooks went well. Mine is humming along just fine.

I was very excited to use my new Stoker, I went out and bought a wireless gaming adapter, configured my home network so I can use my Droid to monitor and control the Stoker and did my first test. Worked great.....
Unfortunately my blower motor quit working during the first test.
****So I have read time and time agian how the service and response of the guys over at Rock's BBQ is terrible, I DISAGREE.... I called them several time to discuss the issue and they gave me several alternatives I could try, (even let me tear it apart). They also put a new one in the mail for me that day. Last night at 11:30pm I got an email from Kenny updating me w/ tracking info and appologizing for the problem. Excellent service if you ask me, Oh did I mention I received my Stoker in three days after ordering, I work in the world of custome electronic manufaturing as well, sometimes parts fail, not a big deal, it is how you stand behind your product and cutomer service that truely matters....

Anyway, I was still able to take advantage of the temp monitors as well as the 3rd party App. StokerLog by Amir. Lots of fun.....
Now I am not going to say I was not happy to open my eyes at 0630 and see that things were progressing along nicely but I will admitt, I was kind of hoping to hear the funky alarm music at least once during the night......

If you are a gadget geek like myself this thing is the ticket....
buttcook.jpg

Comments

  • John -

    Thanks for your post. I have been eyeing the stoker all summer, and just haven't pulled the trigger for several reasons. Due to your post, I will put my order in today.
  • johnrezz
    johnrezz Posts: 120
    I am off for my weekly Brick, Bike/run..... And I can do this because I can monitor and control my Egg from my droid......

    :)

    J
  • Buster Dog BBQ
    Buster Dog BBQ Posts: 1,366
    Two things the stoker needs

    1) A colored LED light to easily view the temp
    2) waterproof

    The Guru has those options and they are handy. It's a pain to have to wrap your temp control device in a plastic bag and the display on the stoker is pretty week to view if you don't have connected to a computer to get a read out.
  • ResQue
    ResQue Posts: 1,045
    At least you got the stoker log to work. I hardwired my stoker yesterday to my router and also configured to monitor and control with my Droid X. But for the life of me, I can't get the stoker log to work.
  • If I had a stoker - I would be in my boat drinking a bloody mary as my brisket cooks - instead tied to the house. :angry:
  • thailandjohn
    thailandjohn Posts: 952
    Without question the "Stoker"is awesome

    I do long slow cooks often and would not be doing them if I did not have have the XL Egg and my Stoker

    Tomorrow I will be cooking 4 pork butts and on Tuesday I will be cooking a whole pork shoulder, about 20lbs

    Once the lid is closed, I never open until my meat hits the desired temp, and beIng able to monitor my temps with the ability to change the pit temp from any place I can get Internet access makes it so I do not have to baby sit the cooking process

    I use the Stoker Status more than the Stoker Log but it is great having both
  • Grandpas Grub
    Grandpas Grub Posts: 14,226
     
    I have never had problems with the Stoker folks. At times things have taken longer than I have liked but service, keeping their word and keeping warranty commitments have been have always been great.

    It is refreshing to see they are getting better with communication.

    GG
  • Grandpas Grub
    Grandpas Grub Posts: 14,226
     
    You should have no problems running the Log program from your home network. I am not sure about it running on the droid. When running the Log program on my notebook if the computer goes into sleep mode the logging will stop.

    Make sure you download the latest version of Amir's program. Don't run both the Amir's program while having the Stoker screen open at the same time - run one or the other as I recall.

    I am sure you know, when you have Amir's program running running make sure you enter in the stoker IP address.

    GG
  • ResQue
    ResQue Posts: 1,045
    I was trying to run the log while the status screen was open. That may have been my problem. When I get home I will have to check again. Thanks again!
  • Grandpas Grub
    Grandpas Grub Posts: 14,226
     
    Unless there has been a change, the guru is water resistant not water proof. It too needs to, or should, be protected during cooks that encounter moisture. No moisture protection for the plugs in either unit.

    The brilliant red LED's on the DigiQ series are fantastic as long as one has visible access to the controller. The best accessory I have for the DigiQ is a Maverick ET-73.

    I do love the other options the Stoker offers. Since I have both the Stoker and DigiQ I haven't bothered to purchase a second blower for the Stoker but I do have multiple probes.

    At times I connect the Stoker to one egg and the DigiQ to a second egg and then run the small egg without a blower.

    Using the Stoker I assign food and pit alarms on all three eggs. Of course the egg with the DigiQ will control itself. If I like, I can record the temperatures, pit and food, on all three eggs. I monitor all three eggs without having to go out and down the stairs to get to the eggs.

    Both the DigiQ & Stoker are great products.

    GG
  • johnrezz
    johnrezz Posts: 120
    So the LCD screen on the Stoker is very bright, matter of fact I can see it glowing out side on the table. As far as water proofing goes they both have open ports on them, therefore need to be protected. I have a pelican case that I put everything in and simply shut the lid, problem solved. This is also nice since I do not know of many weather proof wireless network bridges :)

    As far as the stoker on the Droid. I am using the stoker web interface not Amir's stoker log. I can do both at the same time. I use the stokerlog on the PC to monitor set alarms etc....

    I have herad many great things about the other pit tenders but I went with this one based on being a gadget geek....

    setting up the stoker was not terribly difficult. I bought a gaming bridge at staples and configured that to my wireless network. I reserved IP's for both the stoker and the bridge on my router (the router did not find the stoker so I had to configure it manually for a reservation, simply ping the stoker and than check the ARP table (arp -a) for the correct MAC address. Once I had the reservations I simply set up port forwarding on my router for TCP 80 to go to the stoker. as long as you know your external IP (mine is static) You are good to go, type "http://yourIP and the stoker should show up on the phone or any internet capable device...

    J

    Great Bike ride by the way, even stopped to check out my cooks half way :)
  • Grandpas Grub
    Grandpas Grub Posts: 14,226
     
    The DigiQ's display is bright red, easy to read in the daylight. The Stoker is the LCD and has a backlight button so the display can be seen in the dark. As for the display the DigiQ is much better than the Stoker.

    GG
  • Hi John,

    I fully agree, John at Rocks has always been a great help to me. My stoker Rocks!