"Mike Avery" > wrote in message
news:mailman.13.1164998082.45514.alt.food.barbecue @mail.otherwhen.com...
> Kevin S.Wilson wrote:
>> "Stoker BBQ Controller. It comes with the usual probes you’d use to
>> when cooking a gigantic animal, but also features a completely
>> programmable computer controller that can be programmed to sustain a
>> particular temperature inside your dome piece."
> Their web site is at http://www.rocksbarbque.com and then there's the Pit
> Minder BBQ guru at http://www.pitminder.com
>
> And that brings is to the musical question... has anyone here used either,
> or both, of these devices?
>
> As someone who has trouble keeping their fire under control, it sure
> sounds attractive to be able to put a bunch of lump or wood into the fire
> pit, set the controller and go to bed knowing the pit will stay at the
> desired temperature.
>
> But... how does the reality compare?
>
> The Pit Minder is supposed to be able to go into a holding mode when the
> meat reaches it's done temperature.. the fire is banked, the heat is WAY
> low.
>
> Now then... we put a wifi adapter on the Stoker, and set a PC to monitor
> that, and send alerts to my beeper, cell phone or Palm...... it sounds
> cool....
Looked at them both awhile back--bought the guru--great tool--when I hook it
to one of the Backwoods Smokers easy to get steady temps with absolutely no
touching for 10+hrs!!
Think if you are more of a 'geek' type the stoker offers alot of interfaces
and the ability to control more than 1 cooker---for me I just drink so the
guru works fine<bfg>

Buzz