Pork Loin, Served by Proxy

If anything could peg the Meter-o-Machismo and firmly cement myself in the top Alpha Geek ranks, this would be it...

I want to internet enable my bar-b-que.

The backstory, like all of my stories, is fairly long and complex so we'll suffice it to say that I have wanted to undertake a project such as this for quite some time. After my most recent technical project (the storage server, covered earlier in the blog), I find myself still "jonesing" to do some hybrid creative/technical work. And since my Traeger (best. food. ever.) needs torn apart to fix the auger, I figured it would be a good time to muck about in its electronic innards.

My initial requirements:

• After all modifications it must still function as a smoker/bbq.
• The BBQ will interface with my network via a wireless signal (802.11 b/g).
• The user should be able to set a temperature (in degrees Fahrenheit) via the control panel.
• The temperature control may also be set securely via the network.
• BBQ will monitor one or two temperature probes (one for BBQ temp, one for food temp) and attempt to maintain the set temperature.
• Statistics (temperature settings, temperature measurement history) will be available via the network (and potentially the internet)
• [Optional] Cooking "profiles" (ideal temperature curves over time) may be loaded and run.

Here are some of the components I'm looking at using (not necessarily any or all of them will make the final "cut"):
Processor:
Right now I'm torn between the Arduino or the Propeller. Both have their pros & cons.

Wireless Interface: the Matchport Pro b/g wireless embedded device server -- this thing is pretty cool. It's basically a secure web-server combined with a wireless radio chipset. I should be able to interface to this with whatever processor I choose.

I had been looking at just using a Gumstix system with a wi-fi add-on card, but putting together a system that would do what I wanted seemed to be a bit on the spendy side.

I obviously have a lot more thinking and planning to do, but if I do end up going ahead with this project I will of course let everyone know how it went.