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Another Guru / Stoker question

Dirtsailormc
Dirtsailormc Posts: 1
edited October 2012 in EggHead Forum
Trying to decide if I am going to spring for a cyber unit or not. I would like to control from android, iPad, or pc at times. I purchased egg last spring and have no issues with multiple briskets, butts, etc until the last one. Planned for an 18 hr smoke at 230 and ended up taking it off at 12hrs and 190*. The question is how does either unit keep temps from rising? Doesn't some air flow even when fan isn't running? I have seen temps rise based on how much sun is hitting egg. What happens if temps go above target? Auto dampers? Not sure I really need a gadget like this but it would be nice to have if working on the farm or at work and if I'm going to drop 75+ on a maverick thinking I might just save a few more bucks and add to that and get either stoker or guru.

Comments

  • R2Egg2Q
    R2Egg2Q Posts: 2,136
    The Stoker fan has a flap that opens from the air flow when the fan is active and that flap drops closed when the fan is not blowing. Not sure about any unit other than a Stoker. If temps somehow rise without the blower being active the unit has no way of bringing temps down. I don't recall ever experiencing that in a Stoker controlled cook.
    XL, Large, Small, Mini Eggs, Shirley Fabrication 24x36 Patio, Humphrey's Weekender, Karubecue C-60, MAK 1-Star General, Hasty Bake Gourmet, Santa Maria Grill, Webers: 14" WSM, 22.5" OTG, 22.5" Kettle Premium, WGA Charcoal, Summit S-620 NG

    Bay Area, CA
  • Little Steven
    Little Steven Posts: 28,817
    The digi has a damper on the barrel

    Steve 

    Caledon, ON

     

  • nolaegghead
    nolaegghead Posts: 42,102
    edited October 2012
    Yep.  I have the DigiQ and the damper on the adapter barrel is used to basically set the air flow to the egg so the stable temp is below your set point.  Say you want to cook at 250 grate.  Adjust the damper so it's stable at 220 or so.  Then turn it on.  The fan bumps up the air flow to keep the grate stable at your set point. If it's too hot with the fan off, you close the damper more, just like you'd normally do.

    In practice, about 1/3 open works for any grate temps 225 - 300 for me.  Open it more if your fan is running constantly so it doesn't need to do as much work.
    ______________________________________________
    I love lamp..
  • Little Steven
    Little Steven Posts: 28,817
    I haven't used one in years. Too much bother IMO

    Steve 

    Caledon, ON

     

  • EggerinLA
    EggerinLA Posts: 186
    edited October 2012
    Love the Stoker. Looked at both, but the Stoker gives you more for the money like the ability the control multiple Eggs/pits with 1 Stoker. Great customer service. For the money, quality, ease of operation, great software/Wifi, etc. the Stoker was the best IMO.
  • CGW1
    CGW1 Posts: 332
    I have the CyberQ WIFI, works great when you have it set to infrastructure mode.  You can control it from any PC, MAC iPhone, iPad etc.  But......for those of your running iPads & iPhones with the newest iOS6, there is an issue when using safari, the walk around is to download the google chrome app, use that browser and it'll work fine.

    With the CyberQ WIFI being new to the wifi market this product has no where to go but up.  Just my 2 cents worth.  I'm sure the stoker is a fine product also, a friend of mine has one and likes it a lot.

    Good Luck
    Franco Ceramic Grillworks www.ceramicgrillworks.com
  • I agree with EggerinLA.....the Stoker is great, I just set it and forget it I use an app called BBQ Monitor for my iPhone and I love it.....I can change the pit temp and monitor all my meats remotely
  • bigguy136
    bigguy136 Posts: 1,362
    edited October 2012

    I have the Stoker. I adjust the daisy wheel so the fan run about 50% of the time. Here is a screen capture of two pork shoulders I put on last night. The blue vertical lines at the bottom show when the fan is running and the top center, you will see fuel usage at 47%. That is how often my fan is running. I can get to my Stoker from any computer and also from the browser on my blackberry. Love it.

    image

    Big Lake, Minnesota

    2X Large BGE, 1 Mini Max, Stokers, Adjustable Rig

  • Badong
    Badong Posts: 126
    @bigguy136

    What version of Stokerlog are you using?  I've tried a couple and all them crash regularly.
  • With the BBQ Monitor you can also get the info the same as the Stoker Log
  • bigguy136
    bigguy136 Posts: 1,362
    Badong said:
    @bigguy136

    What version of Stokerlog are you using?  I've tried a couple and all them crash regularly.

    I'm using V6.7. I run it on my laptop and desktop (both are Windows 7 64x). I've never had a crash and I run the Stokerlog 2-3 times a week for the last 10 months.

    Big Lake, Minnesota

    2X Large BGE, 1 Mini Max, Stokers, Adjustable Rig

  • Sgt93
    Sgt93 Posts: 728
    I wanted a WiFi version and after reading about issues etc (especially CyberQ with Apple iOS), I said screw it and bought a DigiQ DX 2 Egg edition after finding a nice deal. The egg is so solid with temp that this just makes for a nice piece of mind. I am a techie and would love the WiFi but screw it, a deal is hard to pass up. :)
    XL BGE - Small BGE - A few Komodo Kamado Serious Big Bad 42s
    Follow me on Instagram: @SSgt93
  • CGW1
    CGW1 Posts: 332
    @Sgt93, you can't go wrong with the digi, it's a very solid unit...simple and to the point as far as the unit goes.

    It's a great purchase.
    Franco Ceramic Grillworks www.ceramicgrillworks.com
  • tjv
    tjv Posts: 3,830
    I'm old school using two guru competitors, the two dial version.  Had both so long, I wore out the push pads (on/off and temp) on both, see pic below.   When I first got these, I thought how cool would it be to check on the cook from anywhere.  What I find now, after doing countless cooks, is your experience takes over and you just kinda know what's going on.  Not to say, there isn't the occasional problem but I'm generally around at the beginning of most cooks to get the egg stable and rolling on the cook.  

    I wonder if guru even has replacement covers......they are both still working fine....even after all the abuse......how about that for quality......

    image

      t
    www.ceramicgrillstore.com ACGP, Inc.
  • Hatch
    Hatch Posts: 149
    We do have replacement covers and will gladly fix them up like new for you.