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Advice for first stoker run

Roll Tide
Roll Tide Posts: 505
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
Tomorrow night will be my first experience running my stoker. I picked up some fresh pork butts and ribs that were processed on the farm last week for the maiden voyage and man do they look great! I understand that I need to barely have the daisy open at all, in fact, I have seen some that don't even open the daisy if their gasket is worn bad enough. I greatly appreciate any advice you may have for getting the ball rolling on this. Thanks in advance!

Comments

  • Roll Tide,

    I don't have a stoker but I do use the Guru often. Either way, I think it is much the same, I leave about a toothpick width open on the daisy wheel, nothing more. The fan and unit will do the rest. I don't know if the stoker fan has a baffle but the guru does and I throttle that to 1/4 open. It has kept the egg at a steady 225 grate temp for 18 hours straight that way for me on butts. Based in what I have read on TNW' s website, this will be pretty much an easy set up for you and a restful night!

    Smokin'Stogies in Exton, Pa with my wife and our four dogs; Sully and Boo the Newfoundlands, Murphy the Irish Setter and Alli the Beagle/Lab mix. 

    Eggers Prayer-

    Our egg, which art in sizes, hallowed be thy smoke, thy will be grilled, at home as it is at eggfest. Give us this clay our daily brisket and forgive us our rubs, as we forgive those who gas grill against us, and lead us not to flashback but deliver us from overnighters. For thine is the grill, the smoke, the egg. Let's eat!

  • I have only used mine once and I kept the daisy wheel closed all the way (my gasket is fine and only a few months old). It will draw air anyway. Are you going to hook it up to your computer or wireless? I would suggest a dry run with that before you actually want to start your food. I had to call and get some help with setting the IP address of the stoker unit but it all worked out in the end. Good Luck!!
  • Chappy
    Chappy Posts: 198
    I keep mine open a quarter of an inch with petals open, sometimes just petals open. Check it after it stabilizes once after about an hour and it should be good. Then wake up and it will be right where you set it.

    I'll confess, the first overnighter I did wake up in the middle of the night to make sure it was working. But that was the last time.

    Good luck. I love my stoker.
  • FlaPoolman
    FlaPoolman Posts: 11,676
    Chappy,,, you competing in Grant this weekend? Winner gets into the drawing for the Jack
  • I have the Stoker and I open the daisy wheel petals about a quarter of an inch nothing more. I have gone 23 hours (last weekend) on 2 butts at 225 and the Stoker performed like a champ. I checked it only twice because I was bored. Tell it what you want it to set at and it does the rest. No need to check it until your ready to get the meat off.
  •  
    Take a minute and read through your instructions.

    No matter which mode you run it in set it up and give it a run. I just set mine up on the table and changed the pit probe settings at current ambient temperature, blower turned off. Then I adjusted the pit probe to below ambient temperature, blower turned on. All was working fine so I went to the cook.

    This should already be set up, but the blower should be assigned to the pit probe. You know you can assign the blower to any probe you have though.

    On the DFMT I open the petals about the width of a flat toothpick (both the stoker and q2).

    Your blower had a gravity fed 'damper' the blower needs to put up side up when connecting the assembly to the egg.

    You don't need to be concerned about the slider as mentioned above the stoker doesn't have one.

    Other than that it all is a walk in the park.

    GG