[Peter Rauch] has built this meat smoker that has a touch screen control interface. His system is capable of controlling the cooking by monitoring the internal temperature of the smoker as well as the temperature of the meat itself. His touch screen interface allows him to enter his desired parameters and it basically just takes over from that point and texts him when it is done. You’ll have to download the pdf to get to the juicy details of his build, but it is an interesting read.
It looks like he’s using a 4-loop Gefran GFX4 temp controller in conjunction with a Modbus remote terminul interface and a TS8010 HMI touchscreen for the bulk of the electronics. It even has protection limits he can set to keep his family from bumping it up to 1200 degrees.
[via Makezine]
Just need to automate the ability to empty pan and add wood chips every few hours and totally a set it and forget it.
Immediately after buying my smoker this week I have had a similiar thought on how I can automate the process. Though in my case it is charcoal and not electric to temperature control would be a little more interesting.
Though probably best to learn how to effectively hold a temperature manually before attempting to automate…
Ironically, the guy’s last name (Rauch) is German for “Smoke”.
I can tell when the meat is smoked because it just sits there and giggles.
Gardener:
What about using a blower? more air = more heat
You would still have to add charcoal at some point, perhaps an IR sensor measuring the temperature of the coals, if it falls to low it alarms?
hehe ‘meat smoker’
@grazz256, that is my thought at the moment shoot some air in when too cold, maybe adjust vents when too hot. Temperature should be easy enough to measure. The challenge is probably going to be make hardware heat/water proof :)
that’s something i can sink my teeth into ;)
That is COMPLETELY awesome.
(About to start learning modbus too)
The thing is, with respect…I wouldn’t mind an excuse to hang by the smoker, perhaps doing same and enjoying a beverage.
I find it a great counterpoise to being immersed in the tech world…man…fire…meat. (that kind of thing)
I understand the process can be quite protracted time-wise, that’s why I would also bring a chair.
I raise my Wifi-enabled, jet powered, monkey-navigated beer stein in wobbly salute, oh smoke hacker!
I hope everyone enjoys the weekend!!
This technology has been available for several years. Check out “https://www.rocksbarbque.com/”. Built in web server and Twitter client.
@Gardener: No need to change your wood chips as long as you have enough to last 3 hours. After that your meat won’t take any more smoke, so I’m told.
I’ve been wanting to build one of these for quite a while now: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHJlBLYGNcs
This control setup is exactly what I would want to make for it. You could fill it up with whatever you are smoking and walk away.
While the fan would work for some smokers its not a good option for this type of smoker while doing “low and slow” cooks. This type of smoker is capable of running too hot (way too hot) with natural (non fan forced) ventilation. The trick will be to control the vent(s) via some some sort of servo mechanism (which will be big, bulky and hard to mount). And yes, the first trick is to master heat control manually and get to know the characteristics of your smoker. I use a Big Green Egg and find that the bottom vent is the “macro” adjustment while the top vent is the “micro” adjustment. I have had a PIC based wireless temp monitoring solution up and running for years – the beauty (as you know) is that it frees you up to do other things besides babysit your smoker to make sure the temp does not run wild. My setup uses 430mhz wireless com modules but I have been thinking about porting it all to an Arduino/WiShield solution for WiFi enabled monitoring (thing 3G iPhone monitoring while I run to the local Safeway to pick up coleslaw materials to cap off the perfect smoked pork meal).
Nice work!
What about smoke signals ?
Check out the Stoker or BBQ Guru for cheaper options of controlling a charcoal bbq or smoker.
While the technology is nice, the most impressive thing is that it looks like he made an $800 Big Green Egg smoker from $30 worth of terracotta pots from Home Depot.