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Ideas for tech startup

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    Ideas for tech startup

    A friend and I are computer programmers by trade. We are so tired of the bureaucracy and politics of large firms. We want to do something on the side.... and coincidentally, we both love BBQ!

    We would be looking at doing something techy... think along the lines of digital WiFi thermometers or temperature regulators, instead of non-digital manufactured cutting boards or spoons. But, everything is on the table. Watches, apps, even a digital tong if that was a thing!

    If there was a product that could be improved that you currently use, what would that be? If there was a product you could use, but haven't seen it in the market, what would that be? I know this is super general ask, but you all are the audience we would cater too. I respect this group's opinion more than anyone else's. Anyway, have an amazing day and thanks for the read!

    John R.


    #2
    Wireless probes that actually work well.

    Comment


    • Coconut Monkey
      Coconut Monkey commented
      Editing a comment
      Are you referring to the 'Meater' or 'Meatstick' products?

    • Rod
      Rod commented
      Editing a comment
      Coconut Monkey Precisely.

    • aladdin4d
      aladdin4d commented
      Editing a comment
      I've been thinking about this some - DANGER! - and I *think* the real fix is to place an antenna in the cooker. It could be passively coupled to an external antenna via HT cable of some type or mechanical connector mounted to the wall of the cooker. There would be coupling losses but they would have to be less than the attenuation you get now. Or the antenna could be actively coupled to the receiver essentially the same as running one wired probe to make several wireless probes work.

    #3
    Longer range devises
    we have the Weber iGrill my range is probably 30 feet from the unit
    or do I just have crappy wifi

    Comment


      #4
      I don't understand why I can't have a thermostat on my gas grill. I have one on my indoor oven and when it died I replaced it for less than $50. I know it is problematic with multiple burners. It would be really cool if it was an aftermarket product that could be adapted to fit any grill. But I want to set it and forget it. We have thermostat controllers for pellets and chargoal, why not gas? After all, cooking is all about temp control.

      Comment


      • Polarbear777
        Polarbear777 commented
        Editing a comment
        Yes, the masterbuilt thermotemp (propane), the masterbuilt gravity series (charcoal) and countless pellet smokers... so we have pellets, gas and charcoal control, plus all the aftermarket vent/fan controllers for charcoal rigs. Not having gas grill control does seem strange...especially since the thermotemp figured out how to do this at low temps, which is harder I would think.

      • Polarbear777
        Polarbear777 commented
        Editing a comment
        Seems like a very small burner (flame, even) that was controlled and could be aftermarket added to a gas grill would work.

        Maybe the market for such a thing is really just for geeks around here and not enough of the general population to justify?

      • ItsAllGoneToTheDogs
        ItsAllGoneToTheDogs commented
        Editing a comment
        this is what I would have posted, but to further that, there's no reason you can't covert the energy from the gas burning to power a computer and whatever servos to control the temp. If it was a universal controller it would have to regulate the flow from the tank/hose instead of tapping into individual burners.
        Last edited by ItsAllGoneToTheDogs; July 8, 2020, 03:08 PM.

      #5
      now i miss the old PCGamer...

      Comment


      • Coconut Monkey
        Coconut Monkey commented
        Editing a comment
        If I could like this twice I would. "And if I could, I would hug you, but I have no hands."

      • ItsAllGoneToTheDogs
        ItsAllGoneToTheDogs commented
        Editing a comment
        I had a few comments published on PCG when I was younger and the demo floppies and CDs had worthwhile games. Shame it's kinda fallen by the wayside. I would go to the book store in the airport everytime I flew and buy the latest PCG even if it would have got delivered to my house

      #6
      so here's a thought i had this morning.

      i was thinking of having a remote thermometer with 1 probe but it is rather long (like 10 inches), and in that probe are several, like 5, temp probe points along it's length.

      why? when you probe a brisket and an pork butt you aren't particularly accurate about getting the biggest part with just the tip (just for a minute, just to see what it feels like), but if you had 5 temp points you could get a better picture of the whole roast and you wouldn't have to be particularly accurate about it because there's a good chance one out of your 5 probes will hit the lowest (in temp) point. in addition if you don't want to stick in all the way and let the last-in-the-line probe points stick far enough away from the meat you could use it as a bbq thermometer as well, removing the need for an entire extra probe AND you are guaranteed that it will be at the same height as your meat since it is literally sticking out of your meat.

      obviously you would need to indicate on the needle where each probe point is and you would likely have to go digital with the reporting of the data like I2C in order to keep the contacts in the connector down (otherwise you are going to need a lot of contacts -like 6, 5 analog lines and 1 shared ground if you can get away with that- on your cable connection).

      it would also simplify the way graphing is done since you don't need a lot of custom labels for each probe point since they are all on the same probe

      i don't know how you would separate the probe points from each other thermally, but if you found a unique way maybe you could make it modular and attach how many points you need on your needle (only need 3? 2? need all 5? attach and detach) but that might be over-complicating it since things that come off also break easier and most people would never really use it that way

      just an idea

      Comment


      #7
      How about some sort of heat tolerant web cam (I guess it would need a light, too) so you can keep an eye on visual aspects of a cook without opening the lid? Maybe it could also have thermal imaging, too, to monitor meat progress and whethr there are hot spots in the cook area. It would be great to be able to monitor things like pull back of meat on ribs, bark formation and even, if doable at really high temps, how a pizza crust and toppings are browning. Would have a market in home ovens, too, since very few oven windows allow a good view of what's happening.

      Comment


      • Meathead
        Meathead commented
        Editing a comment
        Boy could I use that!

      #8
      You know how some bathrooms in public places and office buildings have air fresheners that automatically spray every few minutes? What if instead of air freshener, you could fill with a liquid of your choice, attach a small heatproof hose with a nozzle that could fit through a rubber grommet and be pointed at your meat to spritz it at whatever interval you'd like? No more lifting the lid and letting heat out/oxygen in to spray and you could free up your time to do other things and not have to be around the cooker to do it.

      If not that, perhaps something similar that can inject some steam into a cooker if an attached grate level moisture meter is getting a low reading and make it more like a steam oven. Programming could also come into play if you want moisture early during a cook to get smoke flavor to stick to the meat, cut off the steam in the middle to allow bark to form and dry, and then add again towards the end to prevent the meat from drying out.

      Comment


      • Meathead
        Meathead commented
        Editing a comment
        Why not an air freshener that emits the scent of pork roasting?

      • jumbo7676
        jumbo7676 commented
        Editing a comment
        Meathead It would be great at first, but if I smelled pork roasting without actually getting to eat some at some point, I might get very angry.

      #9
      Was going to say what Meathead said. If you could make a nice high quality gas grill (or smoker) that had tried & true thermostatic reliability, you could retire early.

      Comment


        #10
        How about an app that would wipe my ass for me? I mean, the phone does just about everything else now, and that would be very convenient. Especially when the world goes mad and buys all available TP. And when it did come back in stock, what they had was so horrid that I might as well use my bare hand. Thankfully Costco is back in stock, so all is right again, except that Mrs. CN insists we finish using the useless TP first.

        Comment


        • ItsAllGoneToTheDogs
          ItsAllGoneToTheDogs commented
          Editing a comment
          so that actually exists and thanks to the TP shortage it made millions, just an app operated bide that hooks to your toilet.

        • Meathead
          Meathead commented
          Editing a comment
          Try a bidet!

        #11
        Great comments everyone!

        Comment


          #12
          A wireless thermometer similar to the Meater with WiFi like range and an app that lets us analyze our cooks via graphs etc similar to Fireboard over time. But emphasize the analysis and maybe even make the probe learn over time with input to notify the owner etc. about how to improve cooks. Add a social component so it can collect data from all of the Pit Folks and help determine best practices.
          Last edited by STEbbq; July 9, 2020, 08:13 PM.

          Comment


          • Meathead
            Meathead commented
            Editing a comment
            I would settle for a wireless FireBoard! Love that tool!

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