Research: BBQ Guru or Stoker

Beind a gadget guy I have a Guru Competitor and am very happy with this model which I bought about 3 years ago. I mainly use it for low and slow (4 hours+) but at times I also use it for a 2 hour cook just to make sure the temp is okay and to keep an eye out on the the meat temperature.

Since I bought my Guru a new model has been released (DigiQ II) and I have always had my eye on the Procom 4 (wireless Guru) and a completely different manufacturer has come out with the Stoker. I’m currently pondering which model to choose (as an addition to my gadget arsenal as you can NEVER have enough gadgets).

I have a number of things I’m looking for in a newer model:
1. Need to support higher monitoring of pit temps my Competitor is rated up to 400F but I frequently cook chooks and am trying to get really really crispy skin which requires these high temps.
2. Would like to have wireless since I’m frequently to lazy to walk back to the BBQ (and I do like to keep an eye on how things are going).
3. Better protection for the probes as there have been stories of the probes being damaged because they were exposed to too much heat (which is easy to do) and mine look pretty ragged.
4. To a degree price is an issue as these babies range between 250 and about 600 dollars so I’ld like to get bang for my bucks.

I started my research by going to various sites and looking at the specs on these controllers.
First I started at the Stoker site at (Rock’s Bar-B-Que) followed by the BBQ Guru site BBQ Guru Online Store to determine what the costs of the various packages I needed:
BBQ Guru DiGiQ II was about US$ 223 (includes a 10CFM blower)
Procom 4 is still around US$ 628 (again I included a 10CFM blower)
Stoker and is around US$ 310; price difference caused by a door that I already own for the Guru but need for a Stoker and I included to a 10CFM blower (same as the guru).

The stoker has a pit probe that is rated up to 1000F however I’m not sure whether this is the temp it can withstand or the temp it can monitor (big difference!) for an additional US$ 45.

This initial round likely kicked out the Procom 4 as the price difference is a bit too rich for my blood.
So I’m now looking at either the DiGiQ II or the Stoker…

Next step it was of to TheNakedWhiz’s site, this is a treasure trove of information and he has done a comprehensive review of both models (well the competitor and the Stoker as a comparison review and the DiGiQ II in a separate review) but the start is there Guru vs Stoker review.

My own little comparison concludes the following:

Now I’m currently leaning towards the Stoker (a bit more geeky) than the DiGiQ II as it has all sorts of cool ways to connect to my laptop, the Internet and has additional play value via the Stoker Log software. The Guru’s have ramp mode (which I use infrequently…) but I would always have my competitor as a back-up. Also by buying the DiGiQ II I’ld have some spare parts (blower and I’ld order some “plugs” for my adaptor.
I’ll keep pondering my decision over the next few weeks however gut feel is that I’m ordering a Stoker this year…