Excellent review of the Guru.
One thing you did, but didn't talk much about was combining a basic Guru with a Maverick remote read. It's simpler and far less expensive than any of the wi-fi systems out there. Of course you can't adjust temps from your lap top, but for that I'll get out of the chair without too much whining.
Running to the pit every 20 mintues to check temps feels uncomfortably obsessive; but not knowing for sure makes me so damn antsy. With a remote read you can indulge your obsessions from the comfort of your beer. I mean chair.
Are there any remote read pit/meat thermometer which can compete with the Maverick 732?
At any rate Maverick + Guru is a very good way to go. Your choices seem dead on, and I've a similar combination, DigiQ II with a 10cfm fan, plus a 732 on my pit as well.
If the 10cfm fan is overkill for either or both of us -- and it probably is -- it's not hurting anything. So why not?
You might want to try running your vents and the Guru's choke wide open until you're about 10* from cooking temp, than closing the vents entirely and choking down the Guru to whatever works for you -- 25% open, I believe you said, to hold 225F. If you haven't looked closely, there's a little picture of a circle on the Guru's damper with notches marked at 25%, 50% and 75%. As much of the circle shows, is as open as it's set.
Life is full of pain. The downside is that the Guru makes 'Q positively boring. I was cooking a chicken yesterday evening, watching the Maverick from the hot tub. A rock steady 245 through the entire pruning process is reassuring but not interesting.
More pain. There's too much chlorine in the tub, and the after effects of poaching in it were not as nice as they should have been. The next morning -- after tons of moisturizer last night -- my hands are still painfully dry. And I've still got pit clean up (with Easy Off) to look forward to. Oh well. That's what gloves are for.
Fortunately, the chicken was okay. I prepped it by putting some thinly sliced orange slices beneath the skin over the breasts; brining in salt, sugar, a cut up onion, orange and lime wedges, overnight; thoroughly drying; rolling the chicken in finely chopped garlic along with finely chopped fresh oregano and a couple of kinds of thyme (herbs from our garden); and pushing some of the herbs under the skin as well.
The bird smoked at 245 on the Mav, and 250 on the Guru over mesquite charcoal and an oak split. I must have placed the Mav's meat probe badly because the chicken wasn't anywhere near cooked at 155 as measured at the thigh. It was perfectly cooked at 169 though, and was rested for about 45 minutes wrapped in the semi-commercial cling wrap you can get at Smart and Final.
My wife doesn't like eating meat off the bone, but does like pulled or chopped barbecue chicken. So I skinned and chopped ours and served it with a pilaf of fragrant Thai rice, cooked in saffron, garnished with mint (again from the garden) and peas (from the freezer).
Our "basic" barbecue sauce is very good; but masked some of the nuances of the chicken. Linda liked hers with and without, but I preferred mine without.
Even the Russian judge was enthusiastic. 10 out of 10. Sorry, no leftovers.
Maybe some sugar and orange wedges in the tub?
Great review.
BDL
