Kosher Blog

Geek Cooking - Part 2

If you’ve been paying any attention to my ramblings on kosherblog, you might recall my obsession with BBQ thermometers - or more specifically, my interest in creating the ultimate BBQ thermometer. I’m happy to report that I have succeded, and created the worlds first BBQ thermometer with an embedded web-server for remote temperature monitoring. Take a look at this screen-grab:

That’s a live graph of the internal temperature of a beef brisket (PROBE2), and the temperature inside the smoker (PROBE1). (Click the image for the complete screen-grab.)

Here’s what the device looks like. A non-descript black box with wires sticking out of it. And a Linksys wireless-internet bridge connect it to my home network. The thermometer and the bridge both need to be plugged in, so the area around the smoker had extension cords everywhere - not a problem as long as it doesn’t rain, right? The meat probes that I was using came from a neat little Williams-Sonoma meat thermometer that I bought on sale for $9. Relax - I’m not going to go into detail on the internal workings. Unless you ask me to :)

I left the smoker on while I went to work, checking the temperature periodically from my Treo 600. While I was at the gym that evening, my brisket reached the target temperature and I headed home to take it out. Here’s a picture of what I saw on my Treo. When I got home, I was greeted by a perfectly done brisket, complete with a delicious smoky crust. You’ll notice from the images that it was after midnight, but that didn’t keep me from enjoying a piece or two while I was slicing it up. A little slice of carnivore-heaven.

So there you have it - my BBQ obsession meets my inner electronics-hobbyist and creates a tool for better BBQing. If that doesn’t interest you, don’t worry - I’m currently working on a review of “Dr. BBQ’s Big-Time Barbecue Cookbook“, by Ray Lampe. I hope to have that ready for you tomorrow - with a recipe of course.