Smoking a turkey with Prometheus, Home Assistant, and Grafana(blockloop.io)
blockloop.io
Smoking a turkey with Prometheus, Home Assistant, and Grafana
https://www.blockloop.io/smoking-a-turkey-with-prometheus-home-assistant-and-grafana/
74 comments
I pretty much perfected my smokes over a decade of practice so I could sleep and leave it alone all night, but some part of my subconscious kept me awake all night, thinking something is wrong. I would wake up and check the remote every 2h or so and, despite the fact that everything was fine, I never got over it. Once I hooked up the Guru I slept like a baby. It's likely because of my experience with my cheap smokers back when I started in 2010 that required constant attention. Either way, the most benefit I gained from this setup is recording smokes for future reference. It'll help me plan a lot better.
Gathering data is a joy in itself, as is hacking. It’s a fun project :)
why? …because it’s there
why? …because it’s there
Spatchcock your chicken and it will cook more evenly. We spatchcock our turkey's too. Can't stuff it that way but I make an oyster stuffing outside of the bird.
We have a similar setup in our house, but with bluetooth, mqtt(homie) and influx feeding into grafana ( cloudbbq-homie, with mijia-homie and homie-influx for the non-meat-related bits ).
I will have to tell my housemate about your setup - we have a bunch of 433mhz light switches hooked up to our system, but they're currently connected via an esp32 in a slightly ugly way. That usb dongle sounds like a much better solution to that problem.
As an aside, we are also currently using OpenHAB to make the bridge to Google Assistant when we want to trigger actions. My housemate is currently in the process of ripping it out, and replacing it with something that he's working on in rust, using axum. I would give you a link, but I can't remember what is called, and GitHub is down.
I will have to tell my housemate about your setup - we have a bunch of 433mhz light switches hooked up to our system, but they're currently connected via an esp32 in a slightly ugly way. That usb dongle sounds like a much better solution to that problem.
As an aside, we are also currently using OpenHAB to make the bridge to Google Assistant when we want to trigger actions. My housemate is currently in the process of ripping it out, and replacing it with something that he's working on in rust, using axum. I would give you a link, but I can't remember what is called, and GitHub is down.
Not directly related, but we did the SPATCHCOCK method this year with a 33lb bird following this video [1] and it was INCREDIBLE. Brined for a day of course. If you have access to a Traeger, I highly recommend it.
[1] https://www.instagram.com/reel/CWi3zc1jG-d/
[1] https://www.instagram.com/reel/CWi3zc1jG-d/
coworker at twitch uses a similar setup for factorio optimization: https://github.com/afex/graftorio
Reading about this home-assistant thing -- why do you need an OS dedicated to the "home automation" use case? Isn't home automation simply an application level use case? Hard for me to see why we'd want a new OS/kernel for this.
They provide a number of installation options; you don't need to use the dedicated OS.
https://www.home-assistant.io/installation/
https://www.home-assistant.io/installation/
It's a linux distro that's been setup to simplify managing the updates, backups, and configuring the application. It's running all the bits inside docker containers.
It's not an OS, it's software. I run it in a container. You can run their prefab OS if you want, but I do not.
I'm running the virtual image because for some reason the addon repository doesn't support containers.
For what should just be a simple Python script and a Zigbee stick+driver, is for some reason this eldritch monstrosity (albeit with a nice interface).
For what should just be a simple Python script and a Zigbee stick+driver, is for some reason this eldritch monstrosity (albeit with a nice interface).
You can set up the various addons as just separate containers; this is what I do for esphome, deconz, etc.
I use the OS variant because to me it it's an appliance. I run it on a separate piece of hardware and it does one thing: control my home automation stuff.
I don't want to explain to my SO why the lights aren't turning on because I'm messing with a "apt upgrade" gone wrong.
I don't want to explain to my SO why the lights aren't turning on because I'm messing with a "apt upgrade" gone wrong.
You don't need it, but it has a lot of little things that you wouldn't implement but since you have them you use.
Much like using a RTOS in the embedded space. It's an option with a lot of overhead, but on the other side of that overhead, you get a large number of features for free that you don't quite need but might as well use.
This is really cool. I never even thought of using Prometheus and Grafana for other applications despite pretty much looking after the stack full time.
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This is one of the best arguments for having a home automation platform that I've seen. I'm always worried about maintaining temps. Great stuff!
Would love to see more posts about OPs IoT setup
I just watch Malcolm Reed and get a bird the same size as his.
At first I thought it was a parody about overdesign and CV-driven development.
This kind of feedback loop can be done in hardware without even an IC. Or an 8266 microcontroller (2 euros on aliexpress) if you really need WiFi.
This kind of feedback loop can be done in hardware without even an IC. Or an 8266 microcontroller (2 euros on aliexpress) if you really need WiFi.
What he did "cost me about $25 for the USB Dongle and roughly 30 minutes of time". How long would you estimate it would take a person unfamiliar with hardware to build the setup you had in mind?
I wanted a medication reminder with a blinking light for my partner so that it would come on at the right time and turn off when she took the meds. Could I have done it in pure hardware? Sure. But I bought a Raspberry Pi and we wrote the code together in Ruby because that was faster an easier. It in some sense was an egregious waste of computational capacity, and the parts cost could have been way lower. But it was also 50 bucks and it was using stuff we already knew. Even if I valued my time at minimum wage, "overdesign" was the optimal choice. And I definitely charge clients more than minimum wage.
I wanted a medication reminder with a blinking light for my partner so that it would come on at the right time and turn off when she took the meds. Could I have done it in pure hardware? Sure. But I bought a Raspberry Pi and we wrote the code together in Ruby because that was faster an easier. It in some sense was an egregious waste of computational capacity, and the parts cost could have been way lower. But it was also 50 bucks and it was using stuff we already knew. Even if I valued my time at minimum wage, "overdesign" was the optimal choice. And I definitely charge clients more than minimum wage.
> How long would you estimate it would take a person unfamiliar with hardware to build the setup you had in mind?
10 minutes if you start from a code example.
10 minutes if you start from a code example.
Your serious claim is that a hardware novice can go from ordering parts on aliexpress to a finished, working system 10 minutes after opening the box? That seems implausible. I expect a novice would spend way more than that just trying to work out which pin is which and what they were for. That's what happened when we built the medication reminder box, and I have at least a little rusty electronics experience.
But fine, if you're going to claim that, please lay out the exact steps they'd take in that 10 minutes and how long each one will take.
But fine, if you're going to claim that, please lay out the exact steps they'd take in that 10 minutes and how long each one will take.
I don't think OP's goal was to get this done in the most efficient way possible, but rather to solve a problem using the tools that they were already familiar with and have access to.
At first I thought it was a parody about overdesign and CV-driven development.
You can make a turkey edible by just salting the whole thing. Or you could bury it under a pile of hot rocks (2 euros on aliexpress) if you really need to get heat involved.
You can make a turkey edible by just salting the whole thing. Or you could bury it under a pile of hot rocks (2 euros on aliexpress) if you really need to get heat involved.
very cool write up. i’ve become obsessed with smoking since the pandemic. i’d love to hear about your other automations you mention!
I'm writing another post about my home lab. Currently it sounds complex and over-engineered, but I think that's because of how I'm describing it. I'm working through some of the details so that it - on paper - it sounds as simple as it is. I'll post back to HN when it's finished. Stay tuned.
Looking forward to it! Have you looked at node-red at all? It would slide right into your setup and might give you some new capability beyond what home assistant provides. I use it to run a distillation process that would look pretty similar to your smoker setup. You could add humidity controls, fresh air induction/mixing, load cells to monitor weight and strap those together in PID loops to drive to your targets.
All that and no picture of the bird.
That TP20 looks like it was inspired by the LaCie hard drives. Same color silicon padding and everything.
(off-topic): Could the link be fixed to point to: https://www.blockloop.io/smoking-a-turkey-with-prometheus-ho...
Fixed. Thanks!
The submitted URL was correct but, as detaro points out, the canonical URL wasn't, and our software now uses canonical URLs when it finds one.
The submitted URL was correct but, as detaro points out, the canonical URL wasn't, and our software now uses canonical URLs when it finds one.
I have no idea why it has the root URL. I pasted the direct URL but it looks like HN didn't like it. I can't modify the URL unfortunately. If a moderator could update it that would be great.
You can fix your website: the post has a <link rel="canonical" href="https://www.blockloop.io/" /> in it, which tells the HN software that the main URL for your post is your homepage.
> Smoking a turkey with node.js, Electron, and Hello World
Run your 4673-dependency "webscale" Electron app for a few seconds until your computer overheats, and then use it to cook your turkey.
Run your 4673-dependency "webscale" Electron app for a few seconds until your computer overheats, and then use it to cook your turkey.
But all that heat is client-side, and I hear turkey is a dish best served cold.
That sounds dangerous. Rewrite it in Rust to make it memory safe, blazing fast, configurable, and minimal with only 1092 dependencies.
https://github.com/mTvare6/hello-world.rs
https://github.com/mTvare6/hello-world.rs
Galatians 4:16
Do we really need to genocide turkeys every year to celebrate a pockmarked holiday?
I'd say a thankful person would be eating something a bit more sustainable than a turkey that's been growth-pumped like a lab animal to epic proportions. Where's the thanks in needless slaughter of sentient beings?
Are we so daft that we express our thanks for our fortunate circumstances by causing suffering of others?
I'd say a thankful person would be eating something a bit more sustainable than a turkey that's been growth-pumped like a lab animal to epic proportions. Where's the thanks in needless slaughter of sentient beings?
Are we so daft that we express our thanks for our fortunate circumstances by causing suffering of others?
A turkey is merely a substitute good for other foodstuffs. It's not like people wouldn't eat on Thanksgiving if they didn't have a turkey. It's not like they'd go hungry for the next week without all the turkey leftovers...
Do we really need to apply the term genocide to groups that aren't even human? Or is that an emotional appeal?
Have you ever met a turkey in real life? Not the wild ones, the domestic breeds. They are so stupid that they will drown in their own water feeder if you don't keep an eye on them.
Have you ever met a turkey in real life? Not the wild ones, the domestic breeds. They are so stupid that they will drown in their own water feeder if you don't keep an eye on them.
> Have you ever met a turkey in real life? Not the wild ones, the domestic breeds. They are so stupid that they will drown in their own water feeder if you don't keep an eye on them.
Another reason to not support the meat industry.
Another reason to not support the meat industry.
>Do we really need to apply the term genocide to groups that aren't even human?
No.
No.
Then you do not know what a genocide is.
If genocide to you only means "mass killing", then I can understand where you are coming from. There's no turkey culture being eradicated, no turkey books burned; only food being produced.
Every definition of genocide I can find online specially includes the term "people".
The word genocide literally means racial killing from the latin geno (race) + cide (kill.) It has nothing to do with people except in how it's commonly used. Dictionaries aren't a ground truth or some ultimate reference, they are merely assistive.
> It has nothing to do with people except in how it's commonly used
I have no idea where you got this idea, but I have never read it anywhere.
I think you're trying to use a literal translation of parts of a neoclassical compound. Etymology is scarcely _literal_, because words from classical languages like Greek and Latin (and even modern languages such as German) do not always _directly_ translate to English (look up the literal translation of the German word 'brustwarzen' for example). The literal translation from Spanish "de nada" to English is "of nothing" but that is not how language works. Instead, the meaning is translated to "you are welcome." Regardless, 'genocide' is not a Greek word. It is a neoclassical compound that uses with the Greek prefix genos- (race or tribe), and the Latin suffix -caedo (to kill). The word was coined in 1944 by Raphael Lemkin in his book Axis Rule in Occupied Europe where he says it is "a new term and new conception for destruction of nations" (https://www.un.org/en/genocideprevention/genocide.shtml). Neoclassical compounds do not necessarily carry the full context of the sum of their parts and are generally created to have a single meaning. Similarly, Joost Meerlo coined the neologism "menticide" (mind-kill) to which he admitted that he followed the etymology used by the UN to form the legal definition of genocide (see https://www.un.org/ar/preventgenocide/adviser/pdf/osapg_anal...).
I have no idea where you got this idea, but I have never read it anywhere.
I think you're trying to use a literal translation of parts of a neoclassical compound. Etymology is scarcely _literal_, because words from classical languages like Greek and Latin (and even modern languages such as German) do not always _directly_ translate to English (look up the literal translation of the German word 'brustwarzen' for example). The literal translation from Spanish "de nada" to English is "of nothing" but that is not how language works. Instead, the meaning is translated to "you are welcome." Regardless, 'genocide' is not a Greek word. It is a neoclassical compound that uses with the Greek prefix genos- (race or tribe), and the Latin suffix -caedo (to kill). The word was coined in 1944 by Raphael Lemkin in his book Axis Rule in Occupied Europe where he says it is "a new term and new conception for destruction of nations" (https://www.un.org/en/genocideprevention/genocide.shtml). Neoclassical compounds do not necessarily carry the full context of the sum of their parts and are generally created to have a single meaning. Similarly, Joost Meerlo coined the neologism "menticide" (mind-kill) to which he admitted that he followed the etymology used by the UN to form the legal definition of genocide (see https://www.un.org/ar/preventgenocide/adviser/pdf/osapg_anal...).
"of nothing" -> "It's nothing"
I needn't say more.
I needn't say more.
>Do we really need to genocide turkeys
>genocide
>Turkey
Ask me how I know you're not Armenian.
>genocide
>Turkey
Ask me how I know you're not Armenian.
This is an interesting place to bring up the ethics of Thanksgiving given the demographic. However, given my primary avocation is philosophy, I'm interested in how you arrived at the ethical ideology that turkeys are indeed sentient and that they deserve a life devoid of human consumption. I am not a moral relativist and I prefer justified beliefs so I'll give you some context that you missed in your original comment.
My wife and I purchase local, farm-raised, organic (free of hormones), free-range poultry and we eat turkey _once per year_. It could be argued that our abstinence of industrial turkey consumption is the ethical way to justify the one I eat on Thanksgiving.
The standard treatment of animals is _arguably_ immoral in a lot of cases (certainly not all), but it depends on your view of animal consciousness, the role they play in the advancement of human life, and whether or not we have a moral and ethical duty to protect them. I'm not opposed to having ethical debates, but this seems hardly the place for it if you're interested in _authentic_ and _educated_ dialogue. Your appeal to emotion using (incorrect) words like "genocide" and "needless slaughter" suggest a strong ideology and lack of objectivity, which suggests a disinterest in philosophical pursuit of knowledge.
Genocide implies the targeted extinction of a human demographic. Thanksgiving turkeys are raised _to be food_ from the beginning. I don't believe large amounts of people are hunting around for wild turkeys a few days before Thanksgiving. Also, given their role in the US economy, I think that extermination would be bad for capitalism. Bioethics considers the immorality of raising animals for food, but I have not heard of it referred to as genocide by any reputable author. One could argue that since carnivores are not unique to humans it is "natural" and therefore not unethical. Remember, just because you consider something "icky" [doesn't make it immoral](https://www.philosophyetc.net/2004/09/moral-emotions-yuk-fac...). The opposite argument here is that humans are aware of their actions and therefore held to a higher standard. There is nothing objective about this claim since we have no access to the [qualia](https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/qualia/) and consciousness of animals.
My wife and I purchase local, farm-raised, organic (free of hormones), free-range poultry and we eat turkey _once per year_. It could be argued that our abstinence of industrial turkey consumption is the ethical way to justify the one I eat on Thanksgiving.
The standard treatment of animals is _arguably_ immoral in a lot of cases (certainly not all), but it depends on your view of animal consciousness, the role they play in the advancement of human life, and whether or not we have a moral and ethical duty to protect them. I'm not opposed to having ethical debates, but this seems hardly the place for it if you're interested in _authentic_ and _educated_ dialogue. Your appeal to emotion using (incorrect) words like "genocide" and "needless slaughter" suggest a strong ideology and lack of objectivity, which suggests a disinterest in philosophical pursuit of knowledge.
Genocide implies the targeted extinction of a human demographic. Thanksgiving turkeys are raised _to be food_ from the beginning. I don't believe large amounts of people are hunting around for wild turkeys a few days before Thanksgiving. Also, given their role in the US economy, I think that extermination would be bad for capitalism. Bioethics considers the immorality of raising animals for food, but I have not heard of it referred to as genocide by any reputable author. One could argue that since carnivores are not unique to humans it is "natural" and therefore not unethical. Remember, just because you consider something "icky" [doesn't make it immoral](https://www.philosophyetc.net/2004/09/moral-emotions-yuk-fac...). The opposite argument here is that humans are aware of their actions and therefore held to a higher standard. There is nothing objective about this claim since we have no access to the [qualia](https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/qualia/) and consciousness of animals.
Let's suppose that in a country far, far away, there is a holiday called Givingthanks where instead of turkeys, dogs are eaten. Your alter ego in that country could then write the exact same comment than you did, replacing 'turkey' with 'dog'. We would read things like: 'It could be argued that our abstinence of industrial dog consumption is the ethical way to justify the one I eat on Givingthanks' or 'Givingthanks dogs are raised _to be food_ from the beginning'. You don't see anything problematic with that?
The argument was directly related to the original claim of "genocide" and had nothing to do with the consumption of animals in general. I was saying that by consuming one turkey per year I am hardly contributing to the extinction of an animal.
Dogs are consumed in other countries such as Nigeria and the practice is only taboo in primarily western cultures. This has historical and cultural implications. Like I said, just because you consider something "icky" doesn't make it immoral (see https://www.philosophyetc.net/2004/09/moral-emotions-yuk-fac...).
If you are truly interested in philosophical conversations I would avoid phrases like "you don't see what's wrong with this?", because appealing to the stone (argumentum ad lapidem) is not an actual argument. It's a shell for lack of reasoning and evidence (also known as a logical fallacy). If you see some breakdown of logic then please, point it out using reasoning. You may think it is immoral to consume dogs. Other countries do not. There is no "obviously immoral" conclusion to what you said. Or perhaps I missed it.
Dogs are consumed in other countries such as Nigeria and the practice is only taboo in primarily western cultures. This has historical and cultural implications. Like I said, just because you consider something "icky" doesn't make it immoral (see https://www.philosophyetc.net/2004/09/moral-emotions-yuk-fac...).
If you are truly interested in philosophical conversations I would avoid phrases like "you don't see what's wrong with this?", because appealing to the stone (argumentum ad lapidem) is not an actual argument. It's a shell for lack of reasoning and evidence (also known as a logical fallacy). If you see some breakdown of logic then please, point it out using reasoning. You may think it is immoral to consume dogs. Other countries do not. There is no "obviously immoral" conclusion to what you said. Or perhaps I missed it.
Fair enough, my question was hinting at the fact that most people don't seem to be morally consistent between turkeys and (for example) dogs.
As for the breakdown in logic, you said this in your first comment:
'Your appeal to emotion using (incorrect) words like "genocide" and "needless slaughter" suggest a strong ideology and lack of objectivity [...]'.
Unless I'm reading that wrongly, you're saying that "needless slaughter" is 'incorrect', and I'm curious to know why that is, as to me this is a completely correct statement.
As for the breakdown in logic, you said this in your first comment:
'Your appeal to emotion using (incorrect) words like "genocide" and "needless slaughter" suggest a strong ideology and lack of objectivity [...]'.
Unless I'm reading that wrongly, you're saying that "needless slaughter" is 'incorrect', and I'm curious to know why that is, as to me this is a completely correct statement.
You misunderstand me. I am using genocide to mean racial killing, its latin roots. I do not think that mass killings of Turkeys for Thanksgiving leads to extinction, that is obviously a foolish notion.
My argument is that it is against the spirit of thankfulness to buy factory-farmed Turkey for Thanksgiving. You clearly do not do that, you buy humanely raised turkey and do not represent the demographic HN or this country (unfortunately.)
My argument is that it is against the spirit of thankfulness to buy factory-farmed Turkey for Thanksgiving. You clearly do not do that, you buy humanely raised turkey and do not represent the demographic HN or this country (unfortunately.)
Cows are basically giant dogs and we eat them every day. What’s the difference? Are they treated humanely while they are alive?
Well, precisely, to me there's no ethical difference between a turkey and a dog (and a cow), that was my point.
Dogs are a common pet and turkeys are not. Sure, objectively they are animals with edible meat. One is raised with the intention of being eaten and one is not. In the hypothetical far away country (from a few parent comments up), if it was common to eat dogs instead of turkey and dogs were not raised, and treated as "man's best friend" then it would make a lot more sense for them to be consumed.
Not only that, many dogs are raised as hunting dogs specifically to help us kill other animals and survive.
With a kamado, always fill the firebox up with lots of fuel and get the whole thing hot before use. This is the key to a long, controlled burn.
Control system integration is much more useful if you have a cheap steel drum with crappy sealing and a sub optimally designed firebox. You cheap out on the grill and compensate for it with active control systems.
Kind of like a trebuchet vs a sniper rifle. Upgrade your throwing rocks with ESP32 terminal guidance and you’ll be able to knock a guy off his horse just as good as the latter. Or something.