Stoker or DigiQ II
- Thread starter Mikey NY
- Start date
Lots of threads to help you out here. Just look around
.
For now, here is a two cent summary. If all you want is to set a temprature and have it hold, they both do the job but the Guru is probably easier to configure and use by a bit.
If on the other hand, you want to see how your cook is doing from anywhere, using a PC, your phone, work computer, etc. then stoker is the only game in town. You can do cool things like having your PC play some music if the fire goes out in the middle of the night for example, or the food becomes ready sooner than you thought.
You can also completely control your smoker from inside of your house. In winter time when it is wet or cold here, I sit inside, monitor the cook and am able to for example increase the temp if it is taking too long for the food to become ready. Or see if the temp is oscilating telling me the fire may be close to going out.
Using the graphing capability of stokerlog (program I wrote to control the stoker) you have a full log of how your 16 hour smoking session has gone. It tells you a lot about how your unit and smoker are working. You can show it to people and ask what they think of it. Save temprature settings for future cooks, etc.
The stoker probes are also very nicely designed in that you can extend them easily without impacting accuracy.
Since a lot of the intelligence in the system comes from the program I wrote, the system can keep getting better over time, wehereas a box like Guru will have the same features it does now, a few years from now.
The only thing you have to be prepared with stoker is that the company is not always responsive to your inquiries. If you send email, no one will probably answer. If you leave voicemail, same will be true. But if you talk and get a hold of John, the owner, all is well. The company is highly ethical but you can think otherwise, if you send email and it seems there is no one there.
Finally, there is a strong network of poeple who can help you with stoker here. We can walk you through just about anything and I have a good link into John and his software developer.
So all in all, once you get through buying a unit and having it, stoker goes miles beyond Guru. But if you want a simpler, buying and using experience, go with Guru.
Someone may chime in with a less biased view regarding stoker than me
. But all in all, I consider the stokre a huge bargain. It should be priced at 2X of what it is now and with it, the extra profits used to set up proper customer service. But it isn't. We get a bargain with some hassle buying it sometimes.
Hope this helps.
For now, here is a two cent summary. If all you want is to set a temprature and have it hold, they both do the job but the Guru is probably easier to configure and use by a bit.
If on the other hand, you want to see how your cook is doing from anywhere, using a PC, your phone, work computer, etc. then stoker is the only game in town. You can do cool things like having your PC play some music if the fire goes out in the middle of the night for example, or the food becomes ready sooner than you thought.
You can also completely control your smoker from inside of your house. In winter time when it is wet or cold here, I sit inside, monitor the cook and am able to for example increase the temp if it is taking too long for the food to become ready. Or see if the temp is oscilating telling me the fire may be close to going out.
Using the graphing capability of stokerlog (program I wrote to control the stoker) you have a full log of how your 16 hour smoking session has gone. It tells you a lot about how your unit and smoker are working. You can show it to people and ask what they think of it. Save temprature settings for future cooks, etc.
The stoker probes are also very nicely designed in that you can extend them easily without impacting accuracy.
Since a lot of the intelligence in the system comes from the program I wrote, the system can keep getting better over time, wehereas a box like Guru will have the same features it does now, a few years from now.
The only thing you have to be prepared with stoker is that the company is not always responsive to your inquiries. If you send email, no one will probably answer. If you leave voicemail, same will be true. But if you talk and get a hold of John, the owner, all is well. The company is highly ethical but you can think otherwise, if you send email and it seems there is no one there.
Finally, there is a strong network of poeple who can help you with stoker here. We can walk you through just about anything and I have a good link into John and his software developer.
So all in all, once you get through buying a unit and having it, stoker goes miles beyond Guru. But if you want a simpler, buying and using experience, go with Guru.
Someone may chime in with a less biased view regarding stoker than me
Hope this helps.
LarryR
TVWBB Diamond Member
The only other item I would add is if you think you may ever want/need to run more than one cooker at once only the Stoker will support this. I didn't think this was important to me until just recently when I added another cooker to my arsenal. Would have been stuck if I didn't own the Stoker.
I have the 5 CFM fan for my WSM and it works great.
I have the 5 CFM fan for my WSM and it works great.
Russell Y
TVWBB All-Star
I have one smoker and the Competitor(Guru) with the 10cfm fan. It serves me well. For most of my cooks, I choke the fan. The 10cfm is handy for bringing the smoker up to temperature quick but I don't do that too often. For $11 you might as well get the 10cfm.
My suggestion is to wait and get a few smokes under your belt. You can then better decide if the bells and whistles of the Stoker is what you might be looking for.
My suggestion is to wait and get a few smokes under your belt. You can then better decide if the bells and whistles of the Stoker is what you might be looking for.
I have a DigiQII and love it. Note, I do smoke on a WSM! (gasp) lol.
I chose the DigiQII even though I am techie. I didn't want to hassle with all the other stuff, though I hear Amir's program is great. Troubleshooting issues would seem to be way easier with a DigiQ since it doesn't have all the PC access. Sometimes, too much is too much, lol. I had already figured that if I ever got another smoker, I would just get another unit, so each would have their own. Different strokes for different folks.
PS I have the 10cfm fan, just do it!
I chose the DigiQII even though I am techie. I didn't want to hassle with all the other stuff, though I hear Amir's program is great. Troubleshooting issues would seem to be way easier with a DigiQ since it doesn't have all the PC access. Sometimes, too much is too much, lol. I had already figured that if I ever got another smoker, I would just get another unit, so each would have their own. Different strokes for different folks.
PS I have the 10cfm fan, just do it!
Paul Balzotti
TVWBB Fan
I also have the DigiQII with the 10cfm fan. I absolutely love it. It keeps my temps right where I want them for as long as I want them. When you read their site they say the device will learn your cooker. I believe my DigiQ learned my cooker very quickly.
I am also a techie but wanted to separate my work from pleasure so I wanted easy.
I am also a techie but wanted to separate my work from pleasure so I wanted easy.
Tom Burrus
TVWBB Fan
OK, gotta weigh in here. Both devices hold temps steady as a rock. Stoker with StokerLog tracks temps on a computer so you don't have to go out to the cooker to see what is going on in the middle of the night. Stoker tracks the meat temps (as many probes and meats as you like) so you don't need a remote thermometer to monitor the meat temps. StokerLog produces a nice graph of the cook (with your notes) that can be saved, printed, etc. Stoker software (StokerLog and Stoker Timers) can send you email or text messages on your phone every several minutes that tell you the pit temp and the meat temp(s). It is not that hard to configure Stoker to work with your computer but it isn't as easy as hooking a DigiQ II up and cooking something.
I like the ability to have the temps displayed on the computer and to see and track meat temps and get occasional messages on my phone telling me the status of my cook. My Stoker works flawlessly with StokerLog and Stoker Timers (both of which are free software available on TVWBB). I sleep well knowing that I will hear the alarm on my computer if there is a problem (never had it go off before.) It is a choice of how you would like to cook using the technology more than anything else. Both work well. Stoker offers more options. DigiQ II is simpler.
Just my $0.02 (or $0.005 after taxes)
(Edit: I know I didn't say much that Amir didn't already say... just wanted to share my experiences... Amir's program, StokerLog is simply fantastic!)
I like the ability to have the temps displayed on the computer and to see and track meat temps and get occasional messages on my phone telling me the status of my cook. My Stoker works flawlessly with StokerLog and Stoker Timers (both of which are free software available on TVWBB). I sleep well knowing that I will hear the alarm on my computer if there is a problem (never had it go off before.) It is a choice of how you would like to cook using the technology more than anything else. Both work well. Stoker offers more options. DigiQ II is simpler.
Just my $0.02 (or $0.005 after taxes)
(Edit: I know I didn't say much that Amir didn't already say... just wanted to share my experiences... Amir's program, StokerLog is simply fantastic!)
Richard Garcia
TVWBB All-Star
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Russell Y:
I have one smoker and the Competitor(Guru) with the 10cfm fan. It serves me well. For most of my cooks, I choke the fan. The 10cfm is handy for bringing the smoker up to temperature quick but I don't do that too often. For $11 you might as well get the 10cfm.
My suggestion is to wait and get a few smokes under your belt. You can then better decide if the bells and whistles of the Stoker is what you might be looking for. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
On Christmas Eve I smoked a turkey for the first time on the "old" model of the WSM. This was the also the first time I used a WSM and all went well on the six(6) hour cook. I was able to maintain a temperature between 245F-265 but I must say that I felt like a yo-yo for the six or so hours(sitting down-Standing-Up) in order to adjust the four(4) damper vents on my WSM to maintain this temperature. Of what I have read about the ATC on this Website, I am interested in purchasing one in order to make the BBQ experience a little easier. Next month I will be 66 years young. I will do a few more cooks and then decide.
Richard
WSM, OTG 22 1/2" with Smokenator
I have one smoker and the Competitor(Guru) with the 10cfm fan. It serves me well. For most of my cooks, I choke the fan. The 10cfm is handy for bringing the smoker up to temperature quick but I don't do that too often. For $11 you might as well get the 10cfm.
My suggestion is to wait and get a few smokes under your belt. You can then better decide if the bells and whistles of the Stoker is what you might be looking for. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
On Christmas Eve I smoked a turkey for the first time on the "old" model of the WSM. This was the also the first time I used a WSM and all went well on the six(6) hour cook. I was able to maintain a temperature between 245F-265 but I must say that I felt like a yo-yo for the six or so hours(sitting down-Standing-Up) in order to adjust the four(4) damper vents on my WSM to maintain this temperature. Of what I have read about the ATC on this Website, I am interested in purchasing one in order to make the BBQ experience a little easier. Next month I will be 66 years young. I will do a few more cooks and then decide.
Richard
WSM, OTG 22 1/2" with Smokenator
Ed Cardoza
TVWBB Pro
Richard,
I think you will find that when using a ATC you will be able to be able to set it and forget it. I have had mine now for almost a year and absolutely love it. It is a god send when you're doing an over night cook and you set the temp for 225* and go to bed, then the next morning it's going to be right at 225* exactly wher you left it when you went to bed. Lots of people will argue that with the WSM you really don't need one, but as you have already experienced, it will sure save on the babysitting aspect that does occur without the use of an ATC. I am tempted to buy another unit so that when I give my brother my old WSM (it's only two years old)I can give that to him as well. Good luck with yours Richard and Happy New Year.
I think you will find that when using a ATC you will be able to be able to set it and forget it. I have had mine now for almost a year and absolutely love it. It is a god send when you're doing an over night cook and you set the temp for 225* and go to bed, then the next morning it's going to be right at 225* exactly wher you left it when you went to bed. Lots of people will argue that with the WSM you really don't need one, but as you have already experienced, it will sure save on the babysitting aspect that does occur without the use of an ATC. I am tempted to buy another unit so that when I give my brother my old WSM (it's only two years old)I can give that to him as well. Good luck with yours Richard and Happy New Year.
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Mikey:
My question is do I go with the stoker or the DigiQ II and is a 5 cfm fan enough? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
If you want all the bells and whistles get the Stoker. If you just want a plug and play, walk away device get the DigiQ II. I have the Competitor, which was replaced by the DigiQII. Get the 10 cfm fan. You can always move the dampner to close off some of the flow if you find it's blowing too much air, but you can't make that little 5 cfm blow more air if you need it for a high heat cook, or a WSM that's packed full of meat.
Then there's the Big 22" that just came out. 10 cfm all the way.
My question is do I go with the stoker or the DigiQ II and is a 5 cfm fan enough? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
If you want all the bells and whistles get the Stoker. If you just want a plug and play, walk away device get the DigiQ II. I have the Competitor, which was replaced by the DigiQII. Get the 10 cfm fan. You can always move the dampner to close off some of the flow if you find it's blowing too much air, but you can't make that little 5 cfm blow more air if you need it for a high heat cook, or a WSM that's packed full of meat.
Donny Anderson
TVWBB Super Fan
Brian, I ran with your logic and picked up the DigiQII with the 10 cfm fan on Monday. I cook 6 butts on the WSM once or twice a year. I like the damper concept. I think that for building up heat and maintaining high heat cooks, 10 cfm is the way to go. I hope to find out soon anyway!
Tom Raveret
TVWBB Pro
We are lucky to have two good products in this area. I''m happy with my DigiQ II with the 10cfm fan as it has worked fantastic for me for the year I've had it.
Lots have been very happy with the Stoker as you can see here. I have three WSM's so I could have benefited from the multi smoker features of the Stoker but cost of equipment to run multiple units dissuaded me. Also when I was buying I had a hard time getting ahold of the stoker people but had no problem getting ahold of the Guru people.
It came down to that I wanted to simplify making good BBQ and the Stoker and stoker log and all the associated technology just seemed like more than I needed
I've been very happy with the support for the BBQ Guru DigiQ II.
Donny the 10cfm fan is a great decision. It was coaching from the customer service people at BBQ Guru that helped me make that decision.
Lots have been very happy with the Stoker as you can see here. I have three WSM's so I could have benefited from the multi smoker features of the Stoker but cost of equipment to run multiple units dissuaded me. Also when I was buying I had a hard time getting ahold of the stoker people but had no problem getting ahold of the Guru people.
It came down to that I wanted to simplify making good BBQ and the Stoker and stoker log and all the associated technology just seemed like more than I needed
I've been very happy with the support for the BBQ Guru DigiQ II.
Donny the 10cfm fan is a great decision. It was coaching from the customer service people at BBQ Guru that helped me make that decision.