Stoking the fire

MrAdam

New member
I'm going to try and convince the wife to let me purchase a stoker for my drum, and I have my eye on the BBQ Guru. Unfortunately they currently don't have a simple plug and play solution to the BPS EDS, but I've contacted them and they say to expect an adapter soon. (Soon is not a very definitive answer).

BP since your customer service is so great, I'd really like to order it from you if/when it's available if at all possible.

If there are any other solutions for a stoker when using the drum kit I'd love to hear about them!
 

MrAdam

New member
I was hoping for a solution that fits the sliding vent doors on big poppa's kit. The Weber attachment would work, but it wouldn't be as pretty.
 

scooter

Moderator
Staff member
Just to clarify, there are two pit control device manufacturers out there right now (that I know of). One is the Stoker and the other is BBQ Guru. In your first post I wasn't sure if you understood the difference when you said you were going to buy a Stoker and you have your eye on the Guru.
When I purchased my Stoker a couple years ago, there were two important things (and one not so important) that separated the Stoker from the Guru. 1) The Stoker allowed me to control an unlimited amount of cookers, 2) The Stoker was WiFi connectable allowing me to control all my cookers from anywhere on the planet with a cell signal using my smart phone. 3) The Stoker can be programmed to send out tweets to your Twitter account on cook status.
There is also freeware for the Stoker so you can chart your cooks and see the all the dips and spikes in temps that occurred during the cook.
Also, in the years since my purchase, the Stoker WiFi unit is now enclosed in the controller itself removing the need for a separate pass through router or a wired connection to the Stoker.
I'm not sure if the Guru has caught up with the Stoker in the years since my purchase.
 
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MrAdam

New member
I was talking about the BBQ Guru, as it is, at heart, a stoker. I was not aware of Rock's Stoker. After looking into it, I think I'm sold. Now I just need to find out about an adapter for my beloved drum!
 

Big Poppa

Administrator
check the dimensions of the green egg adaptor that may work...

So here comes the Ford chevy...We have had ALL of them....OUr stoker was a total pain. My favorite one is the most basic Guru....we are using the wifi one now but it eats batteries in the ipad we couldnt finish a cook in comp
 

MrAdam

New member
That one needs an extra hole drilled in the drum, which I'm not super keen on doing. I think the adapter for the small BGE might work. I'll have to email rock and find out the exact dimensions of it. I just need to measure the vent cover on my drum (unless you have those handy BP, otherwise I'll go measure).
 

jimsbarbecue

Moderator
Staff member
I have both the guru and the stoker. Monitor the fire and one food temp. BBQ guru! Need to monitor a bunch of food temps, then the Stoker is your choice. On a drum your going to use a 10cfm fan. On the stoker DO NOT use a extension cable on the blower motor. Temp probes is ok but the blower motor may start working and midway through a cook wig out and stay on all the time sending your temps out of control.
 

scooter

Moderator
Staff member
Jim, I got around the ext issue by using separate extension cables for each cooker. Kept the cable length under 30' and used 16AWG wire. Have never had an issue with the blowers even running two blowers on separate cookers at the same time with multiple probes. Never had a glitch using separate ext cables. One single cable running two cookers caused issues.
 

Big Poppa

Administrator
in california you should be shot as a smoker running a stoker on a drum...man up and manage your fire! hahahahahahahaha
 

MrAdam

New member
Come visit me in January and cook without a stoker BP :p

I'm having a tough time managing my fire and it's a balmy 40F right now. In a couple months the temperature will be at a daily average of about -30F (That's the high btw).
 

jimsbarbecue

Moderator
Staff member
in california you should be shot as a smoker running a stoker on a drum...man up and manage your fire! hahahahahahahaha
This is the land of Silicon Valley .we want everything on a computer . I will say if I want to run at 215 all I have to do is remover the fan and it will keep that temp. I wouldn't recommend someone in the west buy a stoker or guru for their drum. I had both so I used them and the whole computer thing.
 

scooter

Moderator
Staff member
ditto.gif
What Jim said although I've used my Stoker to monitor temps on the drum, I've not felt I needed it yet to control it. They hold temps so well.
 
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