Automate your WSM?


 
Using all wireless components seems to be the big innovation here. Long term success depends on rock-solid wireless connections and build quality of the units. There are a few comments from existing owners describing connection problems, short battery life, a port that won't charge Apple devices, etc.

I've dabbled in it and ended up feeling like I'm just trading one type of hassle (manual temp monitoring and adjustment) for another type of hassle (wires, WiFi connections, configuration, software glitches, etc.). But it's interesting to see from the comments just how many people want to automate their smokers.
 
I love gadgets as much as the next person, but I’m too hands on for my own good to break out my Billows. I think I’ve used it exactly twice while I was building my deck a few summers ago. The lovely thing about the WSM, is once she’s dialled in, there’s not much left to do once you’ve adjusted your vents, except sit back with a beverage of your choosing and wait.
 
People love to accessorize;-) Look at all the add-ons for almost every grill. The fact that you can pick up used WSMs cheap and add something like these for convenience and I think some more folks will be inclined to this route.
 
Bradley Mack said:
I love gadgets as much as the next person, but I’m too hands on for my own good to break out my Billows. I think I’ve used it exactly twice while I was building my deck a few summers ago. The lovely thing about the WSM, is once she’s dialled in, there’s not much left to do once you’ve adjusted your vents, except sit back with a beverage of your choosing and wait.
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My sentiments exactly.....
 
The best WSM accessory of all time (in my opinion) is the old bbq guru party que. Which i think is still discontinued. 15 years ago, it cost around $100 , ran on 3 or 4 double A batteries, and had one wire to monitor pit temp, an on/off switch, and 2 buttons for raising/lowering the temp setting. With no other modifications, when you built a minion-method fire, in normal outdoor conditions, the Party Q could hold my 22" WSM at 225F for 10 or 12 hours easily. & I could go mow the grass or play with my kids or do whatever without concern over what the pit was doing. Just like the Pontiac Trans Am, the party que was just too cool to keep on the market, so it was discontinued. In hindsight, the Party Q was really a crutch... but I needed it at the time because it gave me the ability to not-tend the smoker for long periods of time. Now that I'm an empty-nester, I can watch the pit a lot closer without missing out on other things...

I still own a Thermo-Works Billows, and like Bradley Mack, i've only ever used it a couple of times to control temp... I'm going all natural most of the time these days so I'm not messing around with all those wires and such.. If I were to mod my 22" WSM, I'd look for a way to it run hotter. I bought an aftermarket door and gasket kit, so it's really "tight" and it really won't run over 275F or so unless there's a grease fire or its a really hot day outside... There are times when I'd like to run hotter for chicken or hot & fast pulled pork or brisket. Maybe I'll bust out the billows if the weather here in STL ever warms up and see if I can use that thing to get to a hot and fast temp...
 
I am a longtime subscriber to the KISS method!
And to tell the truth,the method serves me well. I don’t need to buy more “stuff”, just ordered some of the best smoke material from Fruitawood! Money well spent, sez I!
 
I ran a water smoker long time without an automatic temperature controller (ATC), but after trying both a Thermoworks Smoke X & Billows (with a damper) as well as a Pitmaster IQ-110, I prefer using the Pitmaster IQ. I use lump charcoal, which due to its variability can be more difficult to control temperatures of than charcoal briquettes. While the product mentioned above seems to be a good ATC, I believe there are less expensive alternatives if one does want to have automatic temperature control. Of course having an ATC does take away some of the technique and effort of running a WSM, perhaps on a level similar driving a vehicle with an automatic versus a manual transmission; to each, their own.
 
Today I cursed my grilleye wlan/cloud thermometer.

I broke my old phone. To pair my new phone, I would need to unpair my old phone from the thermometer. But I can't, it's broken.

I looked for their support page. Grilleye went out of business. Their free cloud feature will become a subscription.

I don't want to automate my WSM. Its a philosophical thing.
 
Jonas-Switzerland said:
Today I cursed my grilleye wlan/cloud thermometer.

I broke my old phone. To pair my new phone, I would need to unpair my old phone from the thermometer. But I can't, it's broken.

I looked for their support page. Grilleye went out of business. Their free cloud feature will become a subscription.

I don't want to automate my WSM. Its a philosophical thing.
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I understand, as I stated above, "to each their own". To automate a WSM or not is a personal choice. Though I will add that your experience with GrillEye is precisely why I shy away from devices that rely on "The Cloud" for their basic operation. Cloud-based services are a wonderful concept, but not, in my opinion, something that can always be relied upon. Many of these companies are well intentioned and have great ideas, but don't always survive.
 
I have been using one of the original Stoker temperature controllers since they first came out. The Stoker, and the stokerlog software I use to control it, are both discontinued relics, but they still work, and let me monitor and control the cook without having to go outside and walk the fifty feet to where my smoker sits. The setup is not necessary but at 74 I appreciate the convenience, especially in bad weather. But sometimes when cooking ribs (where I don't need to monitor the temperature of the meat) I just set up an old Maverick wireless thermometer to watch the cooking temperature. Polish_20240708_153647596.jpg
 
Larry D. said:
I have been using one of the original Stoker temperature controllers since they first came out. The Stoker, and the stokerlog software I use to control it, are both discontinued relics, but they still work, and let me monitor and control the cook without having to go outside and walk the fifty feet to where my smoker sits. The setup is not necessary but at 74 I appreciate the convenience, especially in bad weather. But sometimes when cooking ribs (where I don't need to monitor the temperature of the meat) I just set up an old Maverick wireless thermometer to watch the cooking temperature. View attachment 107952
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Having said that, I recently got a chance to evaluate a new and much different smoker controller. I haven't cooked with it yet, but I picked up a pork butt today on sale which I plan to cook on Sunday. It has wifi built in, the controller and fan are in a single unit, and the much smaller adapter that connects the fan to the WSM means that I won't have to remove the adapter to fit the cover back on the smoker after every cook. The app that controls the new unit is not as elegant as Stokerlog (which was written and developed by a gentleman named Amir and was/is the best piece of freeware I have ever used), but looks like it will do the job. I'm going to run the Stoker alongside the new controller just to monitor and chart the cooking and meat temperatures for comparison. I will post a review on amazon.com, as requested by the manufacturer, and if anyone is interested (and it's okay with Chris) I'll post a condensed version here. A review, not an ad. The Stoker, in my view, has set the bar pretty high and I'll be interested to see if the new horse can run with Secretariat.
 
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Larry D. said:
Having said that, I recently got a chance to evaluate a new and much different smoker controller. I haven't cooked with it yet, but I picked up a pork butt today on sale which I plan to cook on Sunday. It has wifi built in, the controller and fan are in a single unit, and the much smaller adapter that connects the fan to the WSM means that I won't have to remove the adapter to fit the cover back on the smoker after every cook. The app that controls the new unit is not as elegant as Stokerlog (which was written and developed by a gentleman named Amir and was/is the best piece of freeware I have ever used), but looks like it will do the job. I'm going to run the Stoker alongside the new controller just to monitor and chart the cooking and meat temperatures for comparison. I will post a review on amazon.com, as requested by the manufacturer, and if anyone is interested (and it's okay with Chris) I'll post a condensed version here. A review, not an ad. The Stoker, in my view, has set the bar pretty high and I'll be interested to see if the new horse can run with Secretariat.
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What is the name of the unit and please post your review here as I for one would want to read it.
 
Nothing new here, this forum has been around for years. I use a heater meter with a blower and a damper.... And it does several things:

In conjunction with my expanded charcoal ring, it runs hands off for 24 hours.+
.... I do not need to add charcoal, or knock down Ash...ever
Without the controller as needed to be knocked down after 6 hours or so with the standard charcoal ring and about nine with my extended ring. With the controller...never.

All you got to do is spread the lit coals out on top , and the controller does the rest
....... No minion BS or other stuff.

Works great for high temperature for chicken.... As well as very low temperature for slow smoking of bacon.

Can set it to automatically ramp down to a hold temperature, when Target is reached.... Just in case you're busy... Or oversleep.

Can program alarms.... Text messages and push notifications to your phone, etc.

All in all it makes it super easy. No going in and out and tracking mud into the house on cold rainy nights. Monitor the cook make adjustments if needed from bed.
 
Smoke X Billows user here.

As said above, WSM runs pretty stable normally aspirated.

For me, the high value use case is on an overnight cook. I sleep WAAAAYYYY better when the blower is hooked up.

I still wake up and check the handheld on the nightstand a couple of times. But the temp is always in the zone. [Anywhere above 200 and below 300 is fine with me tbh.]

So I just roll over and go back to sleep. Totally worth it.
 
MartinB said:
All you got to do is spread the lit coals out on top , and the controller does the rest
....... No minion BS or other stuff.
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I believe that IS what Jim Minion's method entails... vs lit coals on the bottom. Or at least it was. Didn't know things changed. Or did they ?
 
Bob Bass said:
I believe that IS what Jim Minion's method entails... vs lit coals on the bottom. Or at least it was. Didn't know things changed. Or did they ?
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The wsm temperature in natural ventillation operation depends on vent opening
....and how many coals are lit... Because that powers the draft. If you don't light enough it won't reach your temperature , if you light too much it will overshoot.... Requiring manual damper adjustments to get it to come down to where you want it. People count charcoal briquettes that they light for this reason to ensure a consistent starting amount which matches up with the vent openings they use.

I light 1/2-2/3 chimney, dump it out on top of the unlike coals.... And let the controller do the rest.
 
John K BBQ said:
The best WSM accessory of all time (in my opinion) is the old bbq guru party que. Which i think is still discontinued. 15 years ago, it cost around $100 , ran on 3 or 4 double A batteries, and had one wire to monitor pit temp, an on/off switch, and 2 buttons for raising/lowering the temp setting. With no other modifications, when you built a minion-method fire, in normal outdoor conditions, the Party Q could hold my 22" WSM at 225F for 10 or 12 hours easily. & I could go mow the grass or play with my kids or do whatever without concern over what the pit was doing.
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The company is still around, and I have one of their older DigiQ controllers. They are up to a DX3 model now--it looks about the same as what I own now. There's now an UltraQ but that's for the fancy folks--it has all the fancy WiFi stuff that I don't really need. Lazy life pro tip--I have a pan/tilt security camera on the garage, with audio, and I can listen for any beeping from the DigiQ, or read the digits (and watch the "pulsing") on the controller. Still pricey though. (The replacement Pit Bull fan is $75; it looks like nothing more than a computer fan inside an aluminum enclosure, so if the time comes, I should be able to replace it easily.)

Smoker and BBQ Temperature Control

Cutting edge technology from BBQ Guru’s controls makes great outdoor cooking easier than ever before with controlled air flow for precise temperature.
www.bbqguru.com www.bbqguru.com

I agree--it's one of the best things I ever invested in for my 18" WSM. At the time, I think I paid nearly as much for the DigiQ as I did the smoker (which I bought very lightly used). I usually start the briquettes and wood chunks by making a pit in the middle of a full ring (with the wood chunks lining part of it), dumping in maybe 18-20 lit briqs, let it stabilize for 30-45 minutes (with the lid on), then put the meat on with the probes. So usually by 10-10:30pm, the meat is on. I can go about 11-12 hours without having to knock down the ash, and it can hold a temperature on the original load of briqs until about 2pm, often longer. That gets the pork shoulder up to 203° in about 16 hours, and...

Jim C in Denver said:
For me, the high value use case is on an overnight cook. I sleep WAAAAYYYY better when the blower is hooked up.
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This. I used to have to monitor the WSM overnight, taking catnaps, and having a crappy tired day afterwards. This DigiQ has been so stable that if I set it to my desired temperature (235°F seems to do the best) with the bottom vents close and the top open maybe only a third, it stays within a couple degrees either way with the fan cycling just the right amount. I had to use it maybe four or five times in a row to learn I could trust it. Now I can repeat the same process every time and it locks right in.

The only sad part is that since we've cut way back on pork and nearly eliminated red meat, and I'm not over fond of turkey, the WSM isn't used much anymore. But I still won't part with it.
 
I use the digiQ and bellows system.
It’s probably the simplest one out there.
It works fine but it’s not the best.
I’m not a fan of its wire mess and the Bluetooth.
I do like the set it and forget it cooking so I can do other things too like sleep at night.

I think an $8 Walmart temp stick is all you really need if you wanted to go minimalistic.
Heck I didn’t even have that when I started.
We just squeezed the steaks or whatever we were cooking and how it reacted told us how done it was.
When I worked at a Steak house in the 1970’s (Mr. Steak in Lafayette California 👍) this is what we did.
We never used a thermometer and very seldom had a steak returned.

I think most here could consistently cook a pork butt just fine without a thermometer or any fancy gadgets if they so desired or just plain had to.
Everything else is more or less just a stack of toys really.
 
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