John Noble
TVWBB Member
Hello all. Some ideas for general discussion from someone thinking of buying a Stoker.
Here's the only real weakness in the Stoker, that I see.
While it receives probes for cooker temp and meat temp, it makes no decisions based on meat temp.
it displays meat temp for the user's observation, and can alarm when meat is "done". but that's all.
but it controls the fan based solely on cooker temp.
and that does make sense for the first several hours.
say you want a cooker at 220F and your brisket to reach 190F. you put in meat at room temp of 75F. If the meat probe ran things, the fan would blow full on for four hours, while the meat slowly climbed up. Sure it would alarm a doneness at 190, but teh cooker would hvae been blazing hot at 400F and would bring up the meat temp too fast. also would really risk overshooting.
So in the Stoker, the cooker probe runs things. It holds a temp and the meat slowly climbs up toward it.
The stoker works like your house oven works. oven temperature control only.
But really, it should be both. You want a cooker at say 200F. The meat would slowly climb up to 190F.
Then when the meat is at 190F, the cooker would drop down to 190F. Each cut of meat is different and would take a variable time to reach goal internal temp.
So when meat hits 190F, cooker temp drops to 190F. Or maybe a bit lower, and hold it there for sinew breakdown over say ten hours. Then alarm and the fan closes and the burn pile is extinguished.
I am curious about using automatic controls to set cooker temp at goal meat temp, identical. I think the usual numbers of 225 to 250 come from the old days, when cookers simply sat at that temp, when uncontrolled. tight vent closures and water pans will keep stable at around there, and usually at 235 or so.
But if the meat goal is 190F or 188F I would like to see a cooker set at that and see how that goes. It may be that the higher temps of 225 are needed to create that crispy "bark" on the outside, but maybe not.
And even more, I wonder if a well controlled cooker could do away with the need for the foiling and wrapping and holding in a cooler afterward.
Well, I think all that's happening is that after a time at 190F, they are continuing the breakdown process, but at 160F. An automated cooker could do that. It could drop down to 160F and hold there for four hours.
There must be a perfect temp run for a standard size brisket. Let's use 188F. Over the first four hours the brisket slowly rise until it meets the 188F. And of course it then stays at the 188F. It would actually act as a thermal stabilizer for the cooker. It stays that way for ten hours. Then the cooker drops to 160F. For the next four hours, the meat drops temp until it catches up to the new 160F temp.
Lots of experimenting to do. There may be biochemical reasons for the complex temps and higher temps.
But automation could control all of that. If 225 is needed to create a crunchy crust, then the cooker probe is the boss at first. The cooker probe runs the cooker at 225. The meat probe is just being observed. But when the meat hits 190, then the meat probe becomes the boss. It makes the cooker drop to 190. And from then on, the clock is the boss. The clock counts ten hours while holding the cooker at 190.
And then when the clock has counted ten hours, the cooker drops to 160. and then the clock counts four hours and then closes down the cooker and signals the last alarm.
and with the ability to store a profile, well that's great, because when you make something that is fantastic, you can repeat it just by saving it and replaying that routine next time. You may find that at the end, you have to drop teh cooker down to 140F to get that brisket down to 160F. So yhou record that. And you evolve profiles that are different for ribs and so forth.
You have a temperature recipe, to go along with your dry rub and sauce recipe. They all fit together. You pick one from your list of fifty temperature recipes, and you just hit play and stand back.
Have a great weekend, everyone.
Baloo
Here's the only real weakness in the Stoker, that I see.
While it receives probes for cooker temp and meat temp, it makes no decisions based on meat temp.
it displays meat temp for the user's observation, and can alarm when meat is "done". but that's all.
but it controls the fan based solely on cooker temp.
and that does make sense for the first several hours.
say you want a cooker at 220F and your brisket to reach 190F. you put in meat at room temp of 75F. If the meat probe ran things, the fan would blow full on for four hours, while the meat slowly climbed up. Sure it would alarm a doneness at 190, but teh cooker would hvae been blazing hot at 400F and would bring up the meat temp too fast. also would really risk overshooting.
So in the Stoker, the cooker probe runs things. It holds a temp and the meat slowly climbs up toward it.
The stoker works like your house oven works. oven temperature control only.
But really, it should be both. You want a cooker at say 200F. The meat would slowly climb up to 190F.
Then when the meat is at 190F, the cooker would drop down to 190F. Each cut of meat is different and would take a variable time to reach goal internal temp.
So when meat hits 190F, cooker temp drops to 190F. Or maybe a bit lower, and hold it there for sinew breakdown over say ten hours. Then alarm and the fan closes and the burn pile is extinguished.
I am curious about using automatic controls to set cooker temp at goal meat temp, identical. I think the usual numbers of 225 to 250 come from the old days, when cookers simply sat at that temp, when uncontrolled. tight vent closures and water pans will keep stable at around there, and usually at 235 or so.
But if the meat goal is 190F or 188F I would like to see a cooker set at that and see how that goes. It may be that the higher temps of 225 are needed to create that crispy "bark" on the outside, but maybe not.
And even more, I wonder if a well controlled cooker could do away with the need for the foiling and wrapping and holding in a cooler afterward.
Well, I think all that's happening is that after a time at 190F, they are continuing the breakdown process, but at 160F. An automated cooker could do that. It could drop down to 160F and hold there for four hours.
There must be a perfect temp run for a standard size brisket. Let's use 188F. Over the first four hours the brisket slowly rise until it meets the 188F. And of course it then stays at the 188F. It would actually act as a thermal stabilizer for the cooker. It stays that way for ten hours. Then the cooker drops to 160F. For the next four hours, the meat drops temp until it catches up to the new 160F temp.
Lots of experimenting to do. There may be biochemical reasons for the complex temps and higher temps.
But automation could control all of that. If 225 is needed to create a crunchy crust, then the cooker probe is the boss at first. The cooker probe runs the cooker at 225. The meat probe is just being observed. But when the meat hits 190, then the meat probe becomes the boss. It makes the cooker drop to 190. And from then on, the clock is the boss. The clock counts ten hours while holding the cooker at 190.
And then when the clock has counted ten hours, the cooker drops to 160. and then the clock counts four hours and then closes down the cooker and signals the last alarm.
and with the ability to store a profile, well that's great, because when you make something that is fantastic, you can repeat it just by saving it and replaying that routine next time. You may find that at the end, you have to drop teh cooker down to 140F to get that brisket down to 160F. So yhou record that. And you evolve profiles that are different for ribs and so forth.
You have a temperature recipe, to go along with your dry rub and sauce recipe. They all fit together. You pick one from your list of fifty temperature recipes, and you just hit play and stand back.
Have a great weekend, everyone.
Baloo
