Video monitor to watch smoker during long cook?


 

DB Jones

New member
I've retired to a gated, wooded community in the North Georgia Mountains where, for good reason, we have very strict "burn policies." Grills and smokers are allowed but have to be "attended." It's difficult/impossible to stay by your WSM all the time when you're slow smoking a couple of butts or briskets for hours. Anybody had good or bad experiences with a moderately priced video camera that I could aim at the smoker and then follow on a small monitor when I need or want to be inside? Or do you have a better idea?
 
I use D-Link DCS-5009L cameras around the house (and have a couple older ones without pan/tilt). We have an unfinished basement with a walkout patio and that's where I smoke. Here's a screenshot from my camera and I have apps where I can monitor the activity from my phone or my desktop computer. I appreciate this capability a great deal and have no complaints.

 
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Welcome to the forum DB!
Funny, I was thinking about something similar recently.
My son rigged up an old cell phone, and using an app can keep an eye on what their dog is doing when away.
It would need a water protected area of course, and charger cord plugged into an outlet.
 
I did the trick with an old cell phone to watch our dogs and I couldn't stop checking in on them. Turns out when we are gone they don't do much. Maybe just a cheap baby monitor? The cell phone thing involved downloading an app and doing to port forwarding on our router.
 
My dog freaked me out on this day... like he knew what the camera was and wanted to talk to me...

 
Check out the different options of Wyze cam on Amazon. The cameras are cheap (~$30) and work great. They are simple to setup too. I use it to spy on my dog when I’m at work.
 

 

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