Stoker vs Guru

QueNivorous

QueNivorous

Knows what a fatty is.
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Anyone out there have experience using both a Stoker and a Guru (preferably the CyberQ) If so can you tell me which you prefer and why.
 
i love my stoker, but having just finished our first comp I see why the guru is so popular. The wireless remotes alone are a great addition, and from what guru teams were saying it learns better during a cook. (Eg on a uds, the stoker sawtooths across 40+ degrees for the whole cook, but one guru team using it said it dials in a lot faster and ends up really steady.) I was a little handicapped on my stoker setup - bought it a wired-to-wireless adapter so I could use my laptop, but I wasn't able to make it work.

I'm probably going to get a guru during next year's comps, or build a system just for the uds.

In backyard (or if you have are technically geeky) the stoker rocks the guru (no pun intended) but - at least for us - it was just yet another thing to fight with during our first comp.

Sent from my HTC Vision using Tapatalk
 
I use a cyber q 11 and I like it but I think that the stoker is better. If I could do it all over again, I would go with the stoker. Buuuut, before you buy anything, wait for a couple of months. I emailed guru to ask if they had any software for Macs. The response I received was that Guru is releasing a new product the "everyone will love" in the fall. I'm excited to see what it is.
 
Stoker users are an interesting breed. They'll all tell you how great it is, and how it never fails them. Then, in the next breath, they'll let it slip that it doesn't work.

Watch Donnies videos. It would be comical if he hadn't spent so much money on their stuff.

My NanoQ worked right out of the box, and has never failed me. I used it again today to cook a packer: perfection.

If you have a good temperature gauge, all you need is a NanoQ.
 
I am a Stoker user and it has never failed me! I run two WSM on one Stoker unit. I recently purchased a third WSM and will be ordering a new fan and pit probe to run with the other two on the same controller. Temp control is excellent all night long. I have never tried a Guru and cannot help you there.

Benny
 
I run The Stoker and love it. It does everything I want it to do. I put my pork and brisket on at 0200 for a comp and don't get up to check on it (anymore:) until 0600. I have never had any trouble with the units.

Customer service is exceptional when I need to order replacment parts from my own neglect.

I am not bashing the guru because I know absolutly nothing about it, but what I do know is I will not be changing from The Stoker! Good luck in your decision...
 
Stoker users are an interesting breed? Ummm, OK.

I have used my Stoker over 100 times in the last 2 years and it has never failed me. Now my next breath. The Stoker is awesome. It is rock solid.

When I needed a little help setting it up for use with my Mac, customer service was nothing short than great.

I can easily recommend the Stoker.
 
Well, I'd love to recommend a stoker but in the 10 months I've had it, I've gone through 2 probes and just this weekend lost another 2. The tips got stuck inside the stoker, first time it happened. I'm not rough on it by any means BTW. The best feature is the remote connectivity and twitter thing. In fact I could be swayed into selling it if somebody PMs me.
 
I just ordered the cyberq ll tonight. I went back and forth on what unit to buy. But in the end I'm not a very technical guy and the cyberq had a few more options for my liking. BUT, has anyone had any luck finding a wireless system that works on the cyberq? I've heard it can be difficult to setup.
 
I used gotomypc.com. I setup my laptob at home with the mini USB and then I login to gotomypc with my Ipad and am able to control it from any where. Im telling you though, if you can handle waiting, it might be worth seeing what they are coming out with in the next couple of months.
 
Guess I should clarify. (And stop posting from my phone before coffee..) The stoker didn't "not work" - a cheap miniature acer wireless adapter I bought for it didn't work. (One of those printer/gamer to wifi adapters, for putting wifi on wired-only equipment.)

The stoker worked great on my hard-to-manage cheap offset (worked until the offset burned up during our practices) and it works great on my WSM, on my cheap box cool-smoker, etc. It just doesn't handle the UDS, and I heard from an all-UDS team at Tracy's Landing this weekend that the guru does.

I also haven't tried it with the 5cfm fan yet - no spare fan, and leading up to comp I couldn't give the WSM one up during a cook. I'll know for sure next time we light them up, hopefully this coming weekend.

When I looked to buy a drafter, the guru couldn't manage 4 cookers at once. (Oh, and if its pc only, that might do it - we only have macs and linux.) If the stoker is plugged into a network it has a built-in webpage that works fine on everything from PCs to phones. No need for a remote if you have a working network hookup. (It also does twitter and such, but..) And of course the front panel controls.

There are at least 3 mac apps for trending the stoker, plus a hacked together web app someone made and a couple of excellent pc apps. (The mac apps are catching up, but not there yet - more because stokerlog is awesome than because they are terrible.)

The miniature guru remotes a few teams had looked handy, but saving a few steps across the camp isn't as important (to me at least) as the overall trend of the fire, and for that you need the apps. (If I decide to get a guru, it'll be for the ability to manage a UDS - the remotes would just be icing. More likely, I'll just build one for $50 out of a cheap industrial PID controller and a fan..)
 
Disconnect said:
Guess I should clarify. (And stop posting from my phone before coffee..) The stoker didn't "not work" - a cheap miniature acer wireless adapter I bought for it didn't work. (One of those printer/gamer to wifi adapters, for putting wifi on wired-only equipment.)

The stoker worked great on my hard-to-manage cheap offset (worked until the offset burned up during our practices) and it works great on my WSM, on my cheap box cool-smoker, etc. It just doesn't handle the UDS, and I heard from an all-UDS team at Tracy's Landing this weekend that the guru does.

I also haven't tried it with the 5cfm fan yet - no spare fan, and leading up to comp I couldn't give the WSM one up during a cook. I'll know for sure next time we light them up, hopefully this coming weekend.

When I looked to buy a drafter, the guru couldn't manage 4 cookers at once. (Oh, and if its pc only, that might do it - we only have macs and linux.) If the stoker is plugged into a network it has a built-in webpage that works fine on everything from PCs to phones. No need for a remote if you have a working network hookup. (It also does twitter and such, but..) And of course the front panel controls.

There are at least 3 mac apps for trending the stoker, plus a hacked together web app someone made and a couple of excellent pc apps. (The mac apps are catching up, but not there yet - more because stokerlog is awesome than because they are terrible.)

The miniature guru remotes a few teams had looked handy, but saving a few steps across the camp isn't as important (to me at least) as the overall trend of the fire, and for that you need the apps. (If I decide to get a guru, it'll be for the ability to manage a UDS - the remotes would just be icing. More likely, I'll just build one for $50 out of a cheap industrial PID controller and a fan..)
Click to expand...

The last thread on this subject was a good example. One brother ended up going to another brother's house and "fixing" a problem for him. I think it turned out to be a bad temp probe. And again, we're told what a great, reliable unit it is.

But skip down to the end of that thread, and the brother who helped is now angry at the other brother for not returning his phone call. And why did he call? He needed to borrow parts for a cook, because his quit working.

To me, if I lay out a few hundred dollars, I expect to get a year or 2 out of it before I'm forced to buy expensive temp probes and fans for it.
 
I've had my Stoker since 2007. The controller, fan, 3 meat temp probes are all still working flawlessly. The original pit probe was damaged by me when I cut the wire using it without a grommet. I've added additional equipment since then including grommets from both Rockes Barbeque and Guru to solve that problem.

Benny
 
So far (about a year) the only thing we have to replace is a grate probe we melted this weekend. Someone dropped the cord literally onto the coals while foiling ribs, where it sat until we shut down 2 or 3 hours later. Probe still works, insulation is completely melted off about 8" of the cord..

Clearly YMMV but we've had zero failures. (And wireless is built into the new ones, so no need for that adapter I was having issues with.)

Sent from my HTC Vision using Tapatalk
 
stoker 4 me.... "but i ONLY hook up the temp probes " my wsms run where i set the vents.......a good boy scout don't need a fan to cook with fire..... lol
 
5+ years with stoker. Original. Fans and all. Never a problem other than misplacing this summer for a few weeks
 
When researching for a unit, I sent stoker and guru an email and the guru folks were the only ones that bothered to respond.

Now I have a guru and have never had a problem with it. I mainly bought it for more sleep at comps. I usually set it at midnight and go to bed without a worry.

I am sure either one will be fine.
 
Rich Parker said:
When researching for a unit, I sent stoker and guru an email and the guru folks were the only ones that bothered to respond.
Click to expand...

That is definitely an issue. If you look around the web, thats 90% of the complaints about the stoker - he never responds to emails, etc. (When I first ordered, I was a couple days away from calling the card company and opening a chargeback before I finally heard from him, after probably 6-8 emails over 3 or so weeks.)

Sometimes he's on top of it, usually not.
 
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