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BBQ Guru, Controllers, Etc ...

johnraz
johnraz Posts: 6
edited July 2012 in EggHead Forum
I did a brisket (actually still on after 14 hrs). Started last night, monitored the temp until 11:30PM @ 270. Checked it at 5AM and it was ~ 170.

So, I'm thinking maybe for those long slow cooks one of them fancy temp controllers might be worth the bucks.

What do people think about the BBQ Guru? There's a new DIGI-Something now. How about the PartyQ?

Thanks this forum rocks!

John

Comments

  • If you are doing a long burn a Digi q is a must. It's a thermostat for your egg. Just set cooking and desired meat temps and a alarm will go off whe meat is at temp set or if cooking temp drops for any reason. They even have one now that you can monitor from your smart phone. Enjoy
  • michigan_jason
    michigan_jason Posts: 1,346
    Also with ramp mode, your guru will lower the temp of the pit as the meat approaches its done temp so it will not over cook.



    "Entrepreneurs are simply those who understand that there is little difference between obstacle and opportunity, and are able to turn both to their advantage."

  • MrCookingNurse
    MrCookingNurse Posts: 4,665
    It's all personal pref. there's a place for pit controllers. But I really enjoying controlling my egg/grill/smoker. Being with it and adjusting and tending the meat is a big hobby and fun to me.

    Now I do have a controller on my wish list for all nighters so I can sleep. Or if it was a busy day. I'll get one one day and it'll be a BBQ guru.


    Ha not really much help, I'm bored at work waiting on the clock. Someone with personal experience will chime in shortly


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    XLBGE 
  • lousubcap
    lousubcap Posts: 32,168

    I'm not in the electronic controller camp but here's a link at The Naked Whiz site that may help you out-BTW his site is a great resource-good place to start for any queries:

    http://www.nakedwhiz.com/productreviews.htm and welcome-the BGE is quite the versatile cooker.  Low&Slows are the best, even in the manual mode.

    Louisville; Rolling smoke in the neighbourhood. # 38 for the win.  Life is too short for light/lite beer!  Seems I'm livin in a transitional period.
  • michigan_jason
    michigan_jason Posts: 1,346
    As other will tell you, it is a luxury to own a $300 controller. Some will tell you they dont NEED them, I dont NEED one either. However, if I feel like putting a butt on at 5am and taking the boat out to lake st clair to fish all day and come home 12 hours later, I cannot do it without worrying if I do not have a controller. PERIOD.



    "Entrepreneurs are simply those who understand that there is little difference between obstacle and opportunity, and are able to turn both to their advantage."

  • nolaegghead
    nolaegghead Posts: 42,102
    I have the BBQ Guru DigiQ DX2 and I love it.  Turns your BGE into a digitally controlled oven (when you want it to). 

    I know many people like to fiddle with the vents, but it drives me nuts.  The temperature you cook at is perhaps the most important variable in roasting.  It gives you reproducibility and lets you time your cooking so you don't end up cranking the temp at the 11th hour with a bunch of hungry friends banging their knives and forks on the table....
    ______________________________________________
    I love lamp..
  • JayHawkEye
    JayHawkEye Posts: 196
    I like to fiddle with the vents and then sit back and watch the Egg do it's thing. I also like to plug in my Party Q and go golf.
    They (temp controllers) have their place and I'm glad to have one. I don't use it all that often, but it's great peace of mind when I do.
    Someday I may have one that controls two pits (waiting on the wife!), or one that ramps down. The only drawback to having one that ramps down is if you're cooking more than one chunk of neat. I don't have experience with anything else, but I highly recommend my Party Q. Just my 2¢.
    "Take yourself lightly, but what you do seriously." - M. Martin XL BGE - Johnston, IA
  • Eggucated
    Eggucated Posts: 213
    Love the PartyQ for simplicity and cost factors.  I don't need the ramp down functionality, or meat temp probe since I already have a separate thermometer.  Plus I really like the battery option vs the electrical requirement.  (Rode out a few hurricanes living in Florida without power for a week).
    Thanks, Mike "Live in such a way that if anyone should speak badly of you, no one will believe it."
  • tgkleman
    tgkleman Posts: 216
    auber instruments has a very basic model that just controls the pit temperature that is much less expensive than others on the market.  You may want to check it out.
  • The Naked Whiz
    The Naked Whiz Posts: 7,777
    edited July 2012
    auber instruments has a very basic model that just controls the pit temperature that is much less expensive than others on the market.  You may want to check it out.
    The PartyQ is $139 and the Auber is $144 last time I looked.  My review of the PartyQ contains a comparison table between the PartyQ, NanoQ, iQue 100 and Auber, FWIW: Inexpensive Controller Comparison
    The Naked Whiz
  • MrCookingNurse
    MrCookingNurse Posts: 4,665
    auber instruments has a very basic model that just controls the pit temperature that is much less expensive than others on the market.  You may want to check it out.

    I keep seeing ppl post Auber is the cheaper alternative. I haven't found that to be true unless I'm looking wrong it's the same or more than partyQ


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    XLBGE 
  • nolaegghead
    nolaegghead Posts: 42,102
    The controller is just part of the cost.  The stoker fan, thermocouples, ceramic adapter, etc. will add another $125 or so dollars.
    ______________________________________________
    I love lamp..
  • nolaegghead
    nolaegghead Posts: 42,102
    I think I paid just under $300 for the DigiQ DXII with everything.  manomanoman is it worth it.

    ______________________________________________
    I love lamp..
  • dlk7
    dlk7 Posts: 1,053
    I use my digiq DX2 at least once per week.  When I first started using it for overnight cooks, I still got up a couple of times at night to make sure everything was ok.  Now, I get my XL close to temperature, turn on the digiq, let it stabilize and and clear the smoke for 1 hour, put on the meat, and I don't look at it again for at least 12 hours and that is to check the food temp, not the pit temp.  I love it.

    Two XL BGEs - So Happy!!!!

    Waunakee, WI

  • nolaegghead
    nolaegghead Posts: 42,102
    Hear hear! 

    By the way, I'll take those two XL BGEs for $330, you can keep the Weber.
    ______________________________________________
    I love lamp..
  • Duganboy
    Duganboy Posts: 1,118
    edited July 2012
    I've owned a BGE for 15 years and I only joined this board about a month ago to get opinions on the DigiQ2.

    I posted a question, got several replies and wound up buying one direct from the manufacturer.

    No Buyer's Remorse from me.  As someone stated above, set it and go play golf or go to the office without any thought about checking on it.

    Put a brisket on at midnight Tuesday @225, got up at 8 am and BGE was 225.  I'm not a bells and whistle guy and if I had known about the Auber instruments, I may have gone with that.
  • nolaegghead
    nolaegghead Posts: 42,102
    Partyq user here
    It cist 140 which included everything needed for a bge(also that price is with shipping)
    I stand corrected...it does come with everything.  So about half the price of the DX2.  Not bad, me likey.  I do like the meat temp/dual thermocouple of the DX2, and you can split the stoker fan from the controller, and I have my controller on a cool gooseneck on the table, but functionally, does the same thing.
    ______________________________________________
    I love lamp..
  • JWBurns
    JWBurns Posts: 344
    My DigiQ WiFi will be here Tuesday.

    Will be nice having the peace of mind, and being able to control and monitor from afar.
  • nolaegghead
    nolaegghead Posts: 42,102
    The egg is a means to an end....a delicious end.

    One of my hobbies is making furniture.  I like to make purdy stuff for the house.  I could make it like PBS's The Woodwright's Shop (with Roy Underhill)....sweating with a hand saw, hand planes and old sewing-machine-like pedal lathes. I'd probably be in better shape.  But I care more about the final product - give. me. power. tools. 

    This is the analogy I make with stokers versus babysitting the temperature.  I prefer to put my energy into the design rather than the execution.  I don't have any problem with anyone that prefers to fiddle with the dampers, but unless you're a robot, you're can't cook better and with more reproducibility than a perfectly controlled temperature oven.  If it makes you happy to fiddle, then by all means.  If you can afford a controller, buy one and focus on the composition of the dish, the seasoning, etc.

    Imagine 'lectricity was new fangled, and our first 'lectric ovens had a switch that we threw to turn on.  Maybe also a big potentiometer to control the current.  Then the PID controller was invented.  Do we really need to learn how to control the potentiometer and switch before we just buy and install the PID?  Maybe that was the predominant thought back in 1908, but it isn't now.

    Just stokin' the fire!
    ______________________________________________
    I love lamp..
  • Duganboy
    Duganboy Posts: 1,118
    My analogy was learning to drive a stick shift car.  If you know how, you can always go back and drive a car that you have to shift the gears.
    I have plenty of experience adjusting BGE temps for long low and slow cooks.  Now I choose to drive the automatic model.



    :D:D
  • nolaegghead
    nolaegghead Posts: 42,102
    My analogy was learning to drive a stick shift car.  If you know how, you can always go back and drive a car that you have to shift the gears.
    I have plenty of experience adjusting BGE temps for long low and slow cooks.  Now I choose to drive the automatic model.



    :D:D
    I can't agree more.  It's like when I was in college, I learned how to do all this stuff (chemistry degree) that I figured computers do for everyone 99.9% of the time.  You need to understand the process to understand the nuances.  Is the Egg in an adiabatic or isothermal mode?  If you know how somefin' works, you're gonna understand it better, so I agree, we gotta pay our dues and learn the theory behind...well, combustion in this case.

    I just like to stir the gumbo now and then...
    ______________________________________________
    I love lamp..
  • nolaegghead
    nolaegghead Posts: 42,102
    If it's anything like my DX2, there's a weather seal on the chassis and keypad.  I leave the cover off from time to tome and it gets soaked in the rain, but (knock on sweet hickory lump), never had a problem thus far..
    ______________________________________________
    I love lamp..
  • lakewade
    lakewade Posts: 385
    The egg is a means to an end....a delicious end.

    This is the analogy I make with stokers versus babysitting the temperature.  I prefer to put my energy into the design rather than the execution.  I don't have any problem with anyone that prefers to fiddle with the dampers, but unless you're a robot, you're can't cook better and with more reproducibility than a perfectly controlled temperature oven.  If it makes you happy to fiddle, then by all means.  If you can afford a controller, buy one and focus on the composition of the dish, the seasoning, etc.

    Just stokin' the fire!
    I like your logic here.  This is why I am interested in one of these.  Still researching, but I imagine I will have to have one soon!

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    I feel a whole lot more like I do now than I did when I got here.
  • johnraz
    johnraz Posts: 6
    Thanks so much for all your comments. Very informative and will help me in making my decision.

    I am again very impressed by the quality of information on this forum.

    My brisket came out like shoe leather yesterday ;-(, my bad for taking my brother and kids out on a beautiful Gloucester Massachusetts boat ride and not having the BGE/Low/Slow experience. I think with the "controller" I'll be able to enjoy my time away from my BGW as much as I do with it ;-)

    John

  • nolaegghead
    nolaegghead Posts: 42,102
    I think you'll be extremely satisfied with a stoker purchase.  I am.

    Keep in mind the dome and grate temperatures are different beasts.  Following recipes and setting your grate temp to someone's dome temp may change the cook times.  That said, the grate temp is the same as oven temp, so the majority of baking recipes will be reproducible with the stoker.
    ______________________________________________
    I love lamp..
  • lakewade
    lakewade Posts: 385
    I am interested in the CyberQ Wifi.  I have not seen a recent review or comment on this site about it.  Anyone have an opinion?  I sas The Naked Whiz's recent review (good) @ http://www.nakedwhiz.com/productreviews/cyberqwifi/cqwf3.htm



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    I feel a whole lot more like I do now than I did when I got here.