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Using Old Linksys Routers to Control BBQ Smokers
mache writes "It's scary when you find two completely unrelated areas that you are passionate about merged. It happened to me with BBQ and hacking home network infrastructure. People have taken old Linksys WRT54G (and their derivatives) routers and made them into automatic temperature controllers for BBQ smokers. They support Wi-Fi and even have a web browser to monitor progress."
I like the cut of your gib.
Do these routers support Quality of Smoke? Pulled Pork Tunneling Protocol?
Slashdot's first reaction to VMware
I use to use my Linksys Wireless router as a paper weight but it couldn't even manage that, the paper magically gained the ability to defy gravity and rose to the roof. I pretty much had the same level of experience when I used it as a wireless router, if that's what you even call a device which drops connections and freezes every other minute.
I tried this years ago with RFC 1149. I had to abandon my project, the smell of delicious smoked meat attracted hawks, which kept catching all the pigeons.
That's just Brilliance of Green (recycling)!!!
Bravo!
I just bought one brand new about two weeks ago. Don't have any laptops that support Wireless-N, it works really well with dd-wrt, and it was on sale. The way the article is talking about them makes them sound like they're ancient and outdated tech.
It seems to me that automating the operation of the BBQ is a Bad Thing as it eliminates the excuse that one needs to be out back drinking because the fire must be tended.
"Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past." -- George Orwell
Tomato is the only firmware that wont clash with the flavor of BBQ.
DD-WRT, though more feature rich, tastes like shit.
Not only can Anonymous cause multimillion dollar embarrassment to fortune 500 companies, but now they can ruin a perfectly good batch of jerky.
Why don't they just ban tobacco altogether?
I don't know what's more beautiful, the finished product or the documentation they put together on that forum.
1 (short ton / firkin) = 89.1432354 slugs / keg
Why on earth is this under idle? Isn't this the type of thing that everyone on here cries about not being on Slashdot?
For some reason exotic BBQ seems to attract geeks. It seems that a lot of the people who hang out on the Komodo Kamado forum are IT/math/... types. So of course there is discussion of homebrew controllers.
http://komodokamado.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=4126
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"You are not remembered for doing what is expected of you." - Atul Chitnis
Not that this isn't a sort of cool hack, but don't wireless food thermometer/probes already exist for this exact purpose? Is using your old router to accomplish the same thing really any better? I know we are nerds, but not having to install packages with dependencies and such to accomplish a simple task seems real appealing to me at times...
"But this one goes to 11!"
so now hackers can burn the BBQ down
A mismash of old and possibly current information split up over 20 posts on a dozen pages with disclaimers of "This is old, dont use it, but here it is anyways" interspersed with links to other posts that may or may not work anymore.
Your hair look like poop, Bob! - Wanker.
If it crashes, does it turn your barbecue into a literal firewall?
"Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
The WRT54G started going downhill when they started reducing the amount of flash and switched to VxWorks. On the other hand, my WRT54Gv2 (flashed with DD-WRT) has been rock solid. I recently tried replacing it with a Buffalo WZR-HP-G300NH (flashed with the Buffalo-branded DD-WRT), but wound up going back to the old Linksys, as the new router kept dropping the wireless connection for no apparent reason As it turns out, that's a known problem with the WZR.
Oh, no! You have walked into the slavering fangs of a lurking grue!
Don't you mean Web server?
Awesome!
I smoke stuff about once a month and this will really save me some time and effort.
Especially when doing a big cut like a brisket or a whole turkey.
"Murderer? Well, that's a harsh word. I prefer to think of myself as a Mortality Technician."
"It's scary when you find two completely unrelated areas that you are passionate about merged."
But also mind-expanding
Rock's BBQ has been making the Linux-based Stoker for years.
I'm still using my WRT54G to in my home network. What am I missing? I don't do much intra-network data transfer, and my bottleneck is my cable connection rather than the router itself... it is worth upgrading?
This is a DIY version of the Stoker from Rock's Barbeque (https://www.rocksbarbque.com/). It costs $340 to get the basics, pit thermometer, food thermometer, and fan. So add up the DIY costs and you could see some savings if your time is of no value or you just love doing things like this. I purchased the Stoker before its WiFi version was announced. I found a cheap WiFi adapter and hooked it up the the Stoker's Ethernet port. Once connected you can monitor your pit and food temperatures and control the pit temperature using any web browser and/or a program called StokerLog. If you really wanted to you can access it via telnet and do the same things. My Stoker keeps my large Big Green Egg to with +/- 3 degrees of my pit probe target over what is usually a 16 hour cook. Using my iPhone I'm able to check the food probe temperature and if needed change the target pit temperature, all from anywhere I have data access. With StokerLog running on my laptop it will create a graph of your cook showing the temp probe temperatures and fan power cycles over time. It also has open lid detection where it will pause the temperature control until you close the lid and the smoker stabilizes, not that you should be opening the lid during the cook. The main point of the ATCs is to give a steady pit temperature and allow you to get some sleep during the overnight cooks.
This thing was smokin' when I bought it.
Heat is important to control, no question, but just as important is the smoke! How can I control / detect smoke density automatically?
There is a similar project using these and other routers for remote monitoring of the Homebrewing process. Can't find the damn link...
Am I the only one who still has his WRT54G v2 in full service?
Its no longer a router, just an wireless access point and it runs dd-wrt.
Nevertheless, it is probably the only 9 year old device still in active duty without any problems.
Load New Commander (Y/N)?
I made my Heatermeter, Because I wanted a cheaper controller that I could monitor from the internet. My primary reason was for SAFETY and to learn something new. I learned to solder better, learned how to program(some), learned Eagle Cad to be able to make my own PCB's. I learned a few other things along the way and I also burned a few routers along the way, lol. I had fun. At first I was not happy about the change to OpenWRT, but now I can see why, as it is so much easier for someone like me to be able to build something like this and not have to worry about configuring everything yourself and I dont need to add the SD card atm. The thread needs somethings removed(DD-wrt) but, its not hard to follow, even someone with very little knowledge like myself was able to follow it and build a working router BBQ controller
I have something, that I had not had before, and thats the satisfaction of building something that does something better then what I could have bought for 500 dollars of the internet.
And the damn fire kept going out, then it would come back for a minute, then it would go out...
This sig is not paradoxical or ironic.
n/t
...I may see how this can be applied to brewing beer. Been looking for a cheap temp control for a while.
Geeks like to think that they can ignore politics, you can leave politics alone, but politics won't leave you alone.-rms
I am fairly certain Apple has the patent on this.....