jdbower Posted October 25, 2010 Report Posted October 25, 2010 Recently there was a discussion about ultra low temperatures and draft control systems, I can certainly attest to the Stoker's prowess in this regard. I've got a life-sized EZ-Bake Oven in my kitchen. Below my wall-mount double oven is a little cubby hole for a Stoker. Instead of a blower, I took a pigtail from a blower and connected it to a relay. This relay drives a 75W light inside the oven and I use a food probe as a pit probe (no need for the higher temperatures and there's a chance the food probe is more accurate at lower temps). I use this setup for proofing things like bread and yogurt where the oven's own proofing temperature is too high or erratic. How well does the Stoker handle this? The first few hours of the very first cook were a little "special" as the Stoker learned the ins and outs of the new "cooker" but since then it's been pretty good. I plug in the light, turn on the oven for about 30 seconds to prime it (takes a while to heat an oven at 75W) and then let the Stoker take over. Below is a graph of a "cook" at 107F: yogurt.png[/attachment:1292kgrm]
bryan Posted October 27, 2010 Report Posted October 27, 2010 Re: Stoker low temp stability Looks like it is Stoker time for me. Thanks for the post.
Firemonkey Posted November 1, 2010 Report Posted November 1, 2010 Re: Stoker low temp stability Anyone know what the lead time is on a stoker? I have heard that it can take a few weeks to actually get one. A stoker will be an impulse buy for me, and when the impulse strikes, im gonna want it NOW If I cant have it within a week, it would probably be an impulse killer.
jdbower Posted November 1, 2010 Author Report Posted November 1, 2010 Re: Stoker low temp stability A while ago Rock was having trouble keeping up with the orders but he's now got hired help and his turnaround time is much better. I couldn't tell you what the lead time is now, but the complaints about it have dropped to pretty much nil on TVWBB since they new guy came on board. What I love about it is that the management interface is now pretty easy with a JSON interface. I'm in the process of building a web-based system to replicate some of the StokerLog functionality - an early version of this is how I generated the graph above.
bryan Posted November 3, 2010 Report Posted November 3, 2010 Re: Stoker low temp stability I am ready to order the Stoker for KK super low cooks (145+-) but... I need to know if you have used the Stoker to control fire and temps successfully on a KK at and below 130f.
jdbower Posted November 3, 2010 Author Report Posted November 3, 2010 Re: Stoker low temp stability I haven't tried that low, but if I remember correctly I was stable to 140F. I've gone lower with a fire, but that was more of an "oh crap, the meat's done and I'm still at work so I should shut down the cooker" situation so I wouldn't say it was a long-term stable temperature. The Stoker seems to "learn" a bit; when I first got it I had a few issues with overshoots but after a few cooks at normal temperatures that doesn't seem to be an issue anymore. On the high side, I've found that by putting just the tip of a pit probe into the cooker I can use the Stoker to drive very high temperatures. The probe itself seems to handle things fine, but anything close to 500F will melt the jacket.
