I began doing up a schematic so hopefully by Christmas I might be able to order a prototype pcb.

I have recieved more sample parts and hope to try out a setup for the AC control. Still working on the final ideas for temperature sensing. Now, if only my new microcontroller chips come in!

You may be asking what this is all about…  Well, my name is Ryan and this year I bought a Traeger Pellet Grill.  Without going into all the details all I can say is I absolutely love it.  I have always love BBQ, but cooking on a simple grill was just not cutting and forget trying to do a slow smoke on you standard grill.  After a couple cooks on this Pellet Grill, I was hooked!  The food tastes great and you can cook on natural wood.  More about the grill in a later post.

Since getting my Traeger I have been involved in some of the BBQ forums including PelletHeads which is a great resource for pellet cookers.  They guys on there are great.  A constant topic that comes up is temperature control.  The current grills generally come with a 3-speed “standard” controller, or a “digital” control that maintains temperature of the grill by reading the temperature inside the grill.  The main problem is the standard controllers do not have enough options. The temperature setpoints are fixed, and there is not much else you can do with them… I aim to change this.

I am beginning to work on designing a line of smart controllers for pellet cookers.  These controllers are going to have a lot of features that I will post more about but the basics will include better and tunable temperature control, alarming functions, unlimited range of setpoints, and input from multiple meat probes!  There is even something in the works for internet control and monitoring!

This site is going to be the gateway to all the development, production, and sales.  The best part is I want your input.  I want to make this controller for you, not what I feel might be right.  Your the one using it, you should have a say in the design! That being said please make an account on this blog and forum (logins are the same for both) and contribute.  Please post you ideas in the forums.  I will try to incorporate as much as I can into the design and keep you updated on the progress.