Stoker on BWS Party

I have a Stoker.
I have a Party.

My Party is NOT Stoked

Stoker is a great unit, but the service is HORRIBLE. I have emailed countless times, and left several voice mails to Rocks, never have gotten a response. Glad I haven't had a problem with the unit, it would never get fixed.

I finally gave up asking. I was going to try and fab something myself, but the whole thing kinda put me off. I havent fired up the stoker in a long time. Plus, the Party has really been the only cooker Ive been using since I got it, and the Party runs great without it. But like you, Im a Geek and miss the pretty charts and graphs :sad:

I have read somewhere that Rocks has stated in the past that they will never produce an adapter for BWS. That puts me off even more. Might have something to do with the relationship between BWS and Guru. If you figure out something let me know please. Good luck.

PS, I thought you sold your party?

What ever happened to selling the Party?

Not to change brands on you.... but I have two friends using Gurus on their Party and Competitor and love it... Maybe go w/ a guru instead? I know, no wifi.... but hey...

Check out this site:
http://rocksbarbque.com/

In addition, if you have one you can look on the Virtual Webber Bulletin board at this link:
http://tvwbb.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/9270072103/m/9950027635/p/9

There is a guy on there in the Automatic Temperature Control forum that makes a nifty application for charting and logging your cook.

HoDeDo said:

Not to change brands on you.... but I have two friends using Gurus on their Party and Competitor and love it... Maybe go w/ a guru instead? I know, no wifi.... but hey...

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You could also go to the guru site and get their adapter for the BWS as i know several that have fans for it. The fans are very similar and I would think you could easily make a modification to mount the adapter to your fan.

You could probably get this from BBQ Guru : Backwoods Smoker Adaptor Door
http://secure.thebbqguru.com/ProductCart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=30&idproduct=150

And then this from Stoker: 1 3/8" Round Port Adapter
http://rocksbarbque.com/Adpaters.html

The link above will be all products from Stoker and perhaps on that same page a little further down may work. Specifically: 2" Slider Adapter.

JamesTX said:

Interesting. Doesn't that take all the fun out of smoking though - having a machine monitor the pit?

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I think it depends on your view. I think if you have one of the smokers that is really easy to set and forget (Spicewine, BWS, BGE, Stumps, UDS, WSM, etc.) what the monitoring is giving you is some insight into what is happening and when. Plus it is a great way to log your cooks so that you can have a better chance of repeating your cook.

I think the cooking is the fun part regardless of if you have technology or not. Actually for me I like the serving part better as I really get a kick out of people enjoying my product.

I think saying that technology takes the fun out of it is like saying the hunter that uses the match grade rifle with a high power scope is not having the same fun as the hunter from 2 hundred years ago did using the first black powder rifle.

Change and advancement is not always a bad thing. Change for the sake of change I will give you, but that is not necessarily the issue with all technology. Afterall, look at all the other technological advances we all swear by:
- The blue therma pen followed by all the other colors
- You can argue the WSM is in itself a technological advancement
- for that matter all modern smokers/cookers are just improvements over the traditional pit in the ground.

I'll get of my soap box now.

Que'inKC said:

I've heard several people say the guru works good, I just like the geekie aspects of the stoker....

Heck I saw it in action in Osage...Jeff's rig stayed at 227 from around 12:00 to 6:00am....

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You can do that with the Guru Pitminder. Yeah, it might go up to 229 and down to 225 here or there, but that's still pretty consistant.

The Backwoods website designer (Ray) is a Guru dealer and lives in Warrensburg. He can hook you up. Backwoods Bob sells them too.

I guess the question for you to decide is, would you rather have the Guru and money to buy another nice BBQ toy or just the stoker.

JamesTX said:

Interesting. Doesn't that take all the fun out of smoking though - having a machine monitor the pit?

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I can see where your coming from, trust me. Sometimes you just dont have time to watch the pit all day though. Plus, on a unit like a Backwoods, it practically runs itself anyways, very little tending needed. With the stocker, you can monitor the cook from your computer, cell phone, any internet enabled device. So if you need to leave the house, you have peace of mind that your smoker is running ok. Also, there are third party apps that will chart your smokes progress, something that puts a big smile on a geek like me.

The guru is not an option for me, it doesnt have the net capabilities. For me, the stoker is a high tech toy that combines my two passions, computers and bbq. Its not all about the temp control, that is just an added bonus.


Now all this talk about the stoker has renewed my interest in adapting it to the BWS. I will look into the guru adapter, thanks for that idea!

Wizards of 'Que said:

My experience with service has been very good. I have only had a couple of times that John hasn't answered the phone. Orders have been shipped quickly.

On the Fatboy the adaptor worked in the rear vent but not the front. The depth of the front vent inset is greater so the fan hits the side of the coooker before adapter reaches the vent door. Not sure if the Party vents are like the other BWS models. I had a Guru mount, so I've used it.

Cost was mentioned. In my case, I control the FE and the Fatboy with the Stoker. That would require two gurus if the Guru could control the FE. Who knows I may want to add a third cooker to the mix which the Stoker can handle it with ease. Also, if you want two meat probes in a cooker, no problem for the Stoker.

Have owned both and the Stoker is a superior product for me.

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Well if you have had good service from him how about a little insight? Did he fab an adapter for you? You mention an adapter, and that you've had a guru mount, kinda confused which one worked or not. What fan do you use?

I agree, the product is great. Service has been bad for me. I have never had him answer the phone, and have left voice mails when possible, the mailbox is usually full. I gave up after a couple of weeks of trying to contact them.

Que'inKC said:

OK so I just called Rock BBQ and got someone right off the bat...he said when you order the Stoker specify the "Flat Adapter (which is the first one on the website)" then in the notes section specify that you have a Backwoods party and he will cut it to fit for no extra charge...

This is AWESOME..I'm excited!!!

Jeff

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That is great info, exactly what I needed. I must of caught him at a bad time (the entire month of Feb.). Ordering now!