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In Reply to: Caldera posted by Bill Maes on January 08, 2008 at 14:47:49:
Our team is in the market for a new smoker and drafter unit this year so I've done extensive research as to what suit's our needs. First off let me say that our current setup is a CharGriller Offset and a bullet smoker. The CharGriller has a BBQ Guru on it and it works nice.
After much consideration, we've decided upon the Caldera Tall Boy because of:
-It's weight, one person can set it up
-It uses standard size restraunt pans
-It's thick [insulation]
-It can fit in the back of a Neon even though I have a Tundra
-The price point is better than BWS and it's a better unit
I was torn between a BWS and this unit but what really made the decision was the portability of the unit. The aluminum Tall Boy simply beats BWS handsdown in terms of weight and the fact that it breaks down into 2 pieces.
For the power drafter I considered the Digi II because I own a Guru but I like the Stoker unit better because:
-It can control multiple pits at once and we have 2
-It has an ethernet connection and can be programmed via it's own web server.
-Will soon have an API that will allow custom programs to modify the configuration [I'm a programmer and a gadget freak]
It's a little harder to setup than the Guru but in the end is way more customizable. With the API comming soon you could actually write an application querying the various outputs at any given time and produce alerts at certain parameters on any wired device. You could also setup a wireless network and connect the unit to any other wireless units such as a laptop or blackberry that could monitor the temp and settings. Granted, the software to do this would need to be written but it's really not a big task. This makes the whole wireless option of the Pro Comp mute and Pro is still limited to one smoker.
anyway, that's my take on it. If you're in the Northeast this year come by Green Mountain Smokeshack if you see us on the list.
-rob