That didn't go as planned!

Jeepster47

My sister and her husband came to visit for a long weekend.  I've been trying to talk them into buying an egg, so this was my chance to produce some outstanding food ... and how easy it was!  Last night boneless rib eye steaks were on the menu. 

Out came the SmoBot to show them the advantage of electronics ... oops ... the temp went right through 230 degrees.  Luckily, so I though at the time, the glitch was caught early.  Manually shut the top vent and started to trouble shoot ... nothing works ... grabbed a spare servo from the RC box, but still nothing worked.  Darn will have to switch units.

Out comes the Flameboss to take over the cooking ... took some extra time installing it 'cuz I was explaining the functionality of the two units to my brother-in-law.  After installing the FB, the pit temp was perfect so on the steaks went ... already behind the time curve, but no worries.  Went upstairs to the computer to monitor and relax out of the heat ... oh yes, it was hotter that the devils home outside.  Hmmm, the IT temp probe isn't working.  Some futzing with the probe and it starts working ... great.  Damn, then I noticed that the temp wasn't recovering from the meat installation.  Yep, turns out that I started to throttle the temp down before the fire was well established and the fire had gone out during all of the futzing.

Took the steaks out and all of the grilling equipment ... restarted the fire with the weed burner ... installed the steaks and shook my head.  Looks like yesterday was my day to be the idiot.

Since I usually post nice clean FB traces, here's the other end of my spectrum ... and, it's not the electronics fault ... it's all mine.  I can see Michael shaking his head if he looks at this graph.



The SmoBot problem looks to be in a non-production electrical plug.  The FB temp probe must not have been making good contact in the socket.  And, most important, the steaks were great.

Public Service Reminder ... learn to run your egg manually before investing in electronics.  During the entire fiasco, I was comfortable that the cook could have quickly reverted to manual control.

Mattman3969

Big shout out to learning the manual. Sorry this happened to you while trying to show the egg off.   This should be a sticky for the new guys and gals that think electronics are the cure all.  

@jeepster47 - said it people - learn to control your egg.  

blind99

these are the reminders that the egg works GREAT sans electronics!

my FB meat probe flaked out last weekend.  giving it a week to see if it comes back to life, if not will have to inquire about warranty

Mickey

Man for your sake do what I did. GO WIRELESS....No ELE anywhere on the EGG..

Ozzie_Isaac

Why was I not invited?

Jeepster47

Eric and Curtis provided me with a beta SmoBot to help them gather real world data.  Since it arrived it's been used about every other day.  It's controlled pit temps from 230 degrees to 550 degrees.  Yes, that's not a typo ... 550 degrees direct.  Since it's a beta version, it doesn't have all the bells and whistles of my Flameboss ... which I greatly miss.

I'm helping the two guys out, but more importantly I'm learning a lot about controllers.  Use an electronic controller that much and it will become your friend.

Here's a quick and dirty on my process:  Use a weed burner to get the fire going ... immediately install the grill hardware, pit temp probe and close the lid.  Then I walk away to go prep the protein.  Periodically I'll look at the computer to see where the temp is at ... used to do the same thing by looking out the window to read the dome gauge.  The egg warms up more rapidly than when I control it manually.  In fact, with Rockwood, the smoke clears about the same time the egg is at temp.  I've renamed my SmoBot unit "The Butler" 'cuz that's about how well it functions.

Oh yes, I've started using an external battery pack to power the controllers, which has greatly reduced the hassle.  Carry out my "rain box" with the battery pack, install the pit temp probe, and install either the modified ugly daisy or the blower.  Tell the unit what temp to maintain and I'm good to go.

Once the protein is on the grill, it maintains a "no sweat" constant temp so that I can work on other things ... drinking comes to mind. 

As you guys have mentioned, electronics are not a cure all.  However, use one as much as you normally cook manually and you will fall in love ... they are fantastic ... dare I say they'll "Light Your Fire."

My Flameboss will also do all of the above - except, with a safety margin on the pit probe limits, 375 degrees indirect is where I hear Michael whispering over my shoulder - so don't count it out.   If you use a fixed orifice disk with the Flameboss it's also a start and walkaway unit.

So yes, do learn to control your temps manually, but don't paint the electronic controllers as evil.

Jeepster47

Ozzie_Isaac said:

Why was I not invited?

@Ozzie_Isaac ... 'cuz you're hot, sweaty, and focused on other things right now.  Not to mention that you took your left over Rockwood on the truck ... even the opened bag.  That's low.

Mattman3969

Thanks for the electronic insite @jeepster47

AD18

Another vote on getting rid of electronics.  A little confused why electronics were needed for steak.  More time tearing out, setting up, monitoring, than normal times to cook steak.  Can see for long cook with low and slow techniques.  Too each their own though:)

SmokingPiney

I love my FB for long low and slows.........great peace of mind not running back to the Egg a lot worrying about temperature.

For shorter cooks, I'm always a manual set guy. 

4Runner

Are you speaking English?   Lost me....Stokers rule!  

Jeepster47

blind99 said:

... my FB meat probe flaked out last weekend.  giving it a week to see if it comes back to life, if not will have to inquire about warranty

You guys north of I-80 are strange.  Do you have your temp probe on life support?  Oxygen?  In an electronic hospital room? 

What do you do to resuscitate a dead probe?

Jeepster47

4Runner said:

Are you speaking English?   Lost me....Stokers rule!  

Stokers do have some advantages.  They can be used for high temp cooks with no fear of burning up the pit probe.  And, they can handle multiple eggs while reading a multitude of IT probes.  But, with that complexity comes the possibility for lots of headaches for the non-technical folks if problems arise ... especially in the internet connectivity area.

The beauty of the Flameboss (and the SmoBot if/when it goes into production) is that wifi connectivity is painless. 

Wouldn't it be great if one could cherry pick the features of all the controllers on the market?  Then you could truly beat your chest and say my controller rules!!

Ozzie_Isaac

AD18 said:

Another vote on getting rid of electronics.  A little confused why electronics were needed for steak.  More time tearing out, setting up, monitoring, than normal times to cook steak.  Can see for long cook with low and slow techniques.  Too each their own though:)

Reverse sear.  Was the point.  You could sit outside in 95 deg weather and 90% humidity, or slap a few probes on and monitor with a cold beer in the AC.

Plus, some folks love gadgets.  Toys are fun.

berndcrisp

The egg didn't fail, the electronic stuff did or some other force intervened. I hope you didn't try to also sell him on the need for such a contraption. Cavemen didn't need or have such gizmos. No temp controller here. The only temp probes I use are a Thermopen and a Maverick for low and slows. Trying to make cooking something as simple as a steak into rocket science is sure to be a flop.

Electronic gadgets have taken over our busy and complicated lives, some for the better others not. Egging for me is a way to relax and enjoy my Neanderthal roots.

Ozzie_Isaac

Eggs where a neanderthal way for me at the start.  I love meat and I love fire.

Now though, I have expanded into controllers, sous vide, vacuum chambers, and all sorts of other non-neanderthal methods.  Eggs have just become another tool in my tool box.  I've even used that huge timer in the kitchen for certain cooks!

Love my eggs and still run them naked about 80% of the time, but for that 20% (rain, blizzards, heat, lazy) they sure are nice.

Jeepster47

berndcrisp said:

... Cavemen didn't need or have such gizmos. ...

@berndcrisp ... no, but they didn't have eggs back then either.  I can just hear a group of them discussing the newest tech thing that looked like an egg.  "Real men don't cook in a container ... they cook over an open flame like our ancestors did.  Damn top is always out of alignment or it's always cracking and you can't find replacements.  Damn heretics are ruining our world."

The push back from you guys is interesting.  I have no skin in the game, so it's not discouraging if you don't agree.  Until last month I was firmly in the "controllers are for low-n-slow" camp.  Eric promised to replace anything I broke, so I treated his beta controller like a redheaded stepchild.  That got me trying it on every cook ... where I found the results to be interesting/enlightening.

I have a battery pack and my controller in a "rain box" with the wires left attached to the controller.  It takes one minute to set up either the SmoBot or the Flameboss with that arrangement.  Having become familiar with the characteristics of both units, it's really easier to use them then to not use them.

tarheelmatt

Ozzie_Isaac said:

Why was I not invited?

He's likely throwing a party knowing his freezer thief is leaving.  

yljkt

Thought I wanted a controller of some type at some point....and not so much. I'll trust my egg and gut instincts. 

sctdg

All I can say is get a Tip Top controller ,used in conjunction with a smokeware cap and Maverick ET733 low and slows are a total no brainer.

YukonRon

Taste the food, cooked however, is better than most will ever have.

SkySaw

I sold my Stoker v.1 when I stopped cooking meat, but it made my Egging more practical and satisfying. At the time I had two young children, so I had almost no time to sit around or to prioritize my Egg cooking. The Stoker made it so that I could Egg and manage the kids. I regularly would put on some chicken (even drums), set up the Stoker, and then take the kids to the park or some other activity. Watching the Stoker from my phone at the park, I could time it so that we would get back home in perfect time to pull the chicken and eat. I would also use the Stoker to hurry the food up or slow it down as needed, so the food was always timed perfectly, even if we took longer running errands, etc.

Electronics provide the same benefits when managing a bunch of things while entertaining, or for those of us who have to put on snow-boots and a coat to check the Egg during the winter. 

Mikee

Using a fancy gadget to control the temperature for a steak was a big mistake. Just cook it! How tough could that be.

dougcrann

Yup....learning how to use the Egg minus electronics is very important. Once or twice a month I go "old school"....just as a refresher

theyolksonyou

I like steak 

Ozzie_Isaac

Uuumm.  Steak.

DoubleEgger

Ozzie_Isaac said:

Uuumm.  Steak.