Just Ordered a Rock's BBQ Stoker For My Lang 60

[smokeon]

Really looking forward to getting it. Should be here in about 2 weeks. Last few smokes I've done have lead me to believe that the stoker system could help out a lot.

The person at Rock's was very courteous and helpful. A good impression working with them so far.

I'll give an update when I get it.

 

[kanadan]

let me know if you like it im building my own reverse flow and am thinking of installing one on it.

 

[bmudd14474]

Sweet. I cant wait to see a review on it from you.

 

[smokeon]

Me too.

Still waiting on delivery. I contacted them 2 weeks ago and was told that the last unit they had was designated to be mine, but when they put it through the self test it had a bad board and they don't have a replacement now. I work in the high tech industry and I fully understand these types of situations coming up. I just wish they had given me an update to let me know of the delay. Yes, I've got warning flags going up in my head right now, but I still have a wait and see attitude to find out how they follow through.

I plan on checking with them again today.

 

[tom37]

Wow, what a bad deal.

I would be like the kid on x mas waiting for present time, but Worse....

Good Luck and I hope it makes it soon.

 

[smokeon]

Ok, next update.

I called them yesterday. The guy I spoke to was very polite. He told me that a new shipment of boards had just arrived and that my order was being shipped out that day. Later I got an email with the tracking information from the shipper. I discussed with him that I was fine with the delay but that I really wished they had kept me in the loop. I understand the problems with low volume production and lead times from vendors. Had they kept me informed of this, I wouldn't have been upset about it. As it was, they had over $500 of my money and I had no product and no idea if I'm going to get it. Makes me a little nervous.

Even now, I'm still not upset with them. I do appreciate the fact that they test the systems before they send them out and that they did not just send out a bad system in order to fill a quota.

Here's the current tracking information:

"Your item was processed through and left our OAKLAND, CA 94615 facility on May 12, 2010. The item is currently in transit to the destination. Information, if available, is updated periodically throughout the day. Please check again later. "

I should have it in hand by Saturday.

 

[indyadmin1974]

Hey Smokeon check out this site:

http://boxoh.com

It will give you a Google Maps view of your package's journey.

Looking forward to your review. I'm buying another WSM today (up to 2) and would like to get a stoker system for them if / when I do comps.

 

[hernando]

I would have had them bump the shipping at no cost to same day. Ah well. At least it's onit's way . and, you are right at least they didn't send you out a crap prod. then you would have had to wait longer. the fisrt shipment. the return and reshipment...

 

[kanadan]

hopefully you can get a test run in this weekend and let us know how it works. congrats hope you like it

 

[smokeon]

Latest update:

Your item is out for delivery or available at a PO Box at 8:52 AM on May 14, 2010


WOOT!! It's in my town now.

 

[Dutch]

Smokeon-I'm looking to setup my Lang with a Stoker. What items did you order and how are you going to attach it to you Lang?

Thanks~

 

[smokeon]

I ordered the basic system +3 food probes, + 25cfm blower upgrade + 2 inch wheel adapter. Wasn't cheap, but I know me. If I don't bite the bullet and get everything at once, I'll try to cobble something together and get by, while all the time wishing I had just bought it all to begin with.

I consulted with the folks at Rock's and those were their recommendations. It's going onto a Lang model 60 (not the delux with warmer).

 

[smokeon]

BTW, the wife just texted me and told me it's been delivered. Going to have to bail from work soon and get a brisket from Sam's.

 

[Dutch]

Sweeeet. Can't wait to see your set up!!

 

[smokeon]

Ok. Everything arrived and works. I have pics but I'll have to post later.

Had some problems installing the adapter. The bolt that holds the wheel air flow door on the side of the Lang firebox was either rusted or welded in place. The bolt broke off so I drilled it out. There was also a nut welded to the inside of the firebox for that bolt. It interfered with the new wheel adapter so I used a dremel to cut it off. No big deal if I want to go back to stock. I'll just use a bolt and nut to reattach the wheel.

Setup was a breeze. There is no configuration as far as how to connect things up. Just pick an empty socket from one of five and plug stuff in. The stoker auto-recognizes what is plugged in where. Configuring the stoker with the temperature setpoints and alarms is straightforward with the onboard menus.

It did have difficulty running at first. This was due to how I configured the air adapter and completely my fault. I had the adapter blowing into the back wheel air door in the back slot (the wedge closest to the fire door). This location had the stoker blowing air across the back of the firebox where there was no wood to burn. After fooling around with air door settings I finally cut up a large coffee can and made a baffle to go in the firebox that would redirect the air toward the fire. The fan was on, the fire heated up and the smoker temp came up. I had the control temp set at 245, the high alarm at 250 and the low alarm at 240. Once the air was blowing on the fire, the heat came up to 245 and then the fan started cycling on and off. Currently the stoker is puffing away and the chamber cook temp is 245 +/- 1 degree. (actually, it's a little tighter than that 244.3 - 245.3)

I tried to hook it up to my laptop but I'm having problems configuring the network. It's probably my own ignorance and I'll work through it. I think I need to get a wireless bridge to get it to log into my DSL router.

So far, I am happy with it. Things I would do differently at this point:
1. Locate the fan on the front air wheel instead of the back one.
2. If I had it to do over, I probably wouldn't spend $110 on the sheet metal adapter and instead just go buy a steel pipe that was threaded and posssibly an elbow to be able to direct the air flow toward the fire and drill another hole in the firebox for the pipe.
3. Set up the network connections ahead of time so that it doesn't interfere with the smoke.


One other thing I've found while looking on the internet for help configuring the I/N settings, I'm not the only one who was dissapointed with communication with Rock's BBQ. Seems they have a habit of not returning emails or phone calls. The unit itself seems veryh well built. But I'd feeel more comfortable if their customer service was more responsive.

 

[Dutch]

To bad that there isn't a Stoker Users Forum where you can get help. Looking forward to seeing pics of your set up.

 

[indyadmin1974]

Dutch, the guys who wrote the software that interacts with the Stoker on on the Virtual Weber Bullet forum quite a bit:
http://tvwbb.com/eve/forums/a/frm/f/9270072103

I have e-mailed them several times and though it took several hours to get back to me, they've always been responsive. I hope that when I'm ready to buy I don't have the same issue.

I still think this is a better setup than the BBQ Guru though but who knows.

 

[smokeon]

Sorry guys,  been busy enjoying using the stoker.  It's da BOMB!!!!  Got pics up finally.

Here's the kit I ordered:

Users manual:

 

Back of Controller:

Front of controller:

Another view of the kit:

Chosen location for adapter, the right side wheel:

Adapter installed:

Inside firebox adapter installation:

Hooked up:

Running:

Test Subject:

Sorry, no after pics.  I was too hungry.  But it was delicious.

Native User Interface:

Aftermarket (Free downloadable) User Interface:

After the first run, I found I didn't like the idea behind the Rock's adapter wheel.  I decided to do something different.  So I bought two 12 inch long, 1.5 inch diameter black iron pipe stubs, 1 Tee fitting, 1 pipe plug and rigged up my own adapter.  I drilled two, 2 inch holes in the top of the firebox.  Put the pipe stubs through the holes and threaded the Tee fitting in the middle.  I put the pipe cap on one end and clamped the silicone hose on the other.  Now the fan blows into the top center of the firebox, straight down onto the fire and it doesn't interfere with loading or cleaning out the firebox.  You can see the fan in the upper left corner of this picture.  It works like a dream.  If I rotate the fan, I can point the Tee fitting where I want it in the firebox.

Here it is in action with the new fan adapter.  Note the fan is now at the top of the firebox:

An observer for my second smoke with the stoker:

This smoke was 24 pork shoulders, 14- half trays of Dutch's beans and 14 trays of cole slaw for a Boy Scout fundraiser.  The food was great, the turn out sucked.

I would definitely recommend getting one of these.  I'll post the screen shots of the stoker controller in action.

 

[smokeon]

One other thing I've noticed is that my fuel usage is way down with the Stoker.  I don't have measurements but what used to take 2 or more wheelbarrow fulls now can be done with less than one.

Here is the data from the last smoke of 24 butts.  This is cooking the meat. Started at around 9:00am and finished about 1:00am.  The red trace is the chamber temp.  The dips are when I opened the chamber.  The blue trace is the fan on/off.

This is from the next day at the event.  There are 3 more traces to track the food temps (didn't figure out how to do those the day of the smoke.)  Ran the temp up high to heat the food, then ran it back down to keep it warm.

 

[txbbqman]

Couple of quick questions for you Smokeon,

First do you mind sharing what you paid for that? I may have missed it if you said it

second, in the last Pic with all the Butts, did you drill a hole beside your door to run your probes threw ? if so how did that effect chamber temp and smoke?

Thanks