Welcome to the Slow Burn Data Platform Development Blog! This is a new free and open source project that I am building to help users track data about their low and slow cooks. I am designing it to run on Raspberry Pi hardware. (To keep costs down for everyone, I would like for all required software to run on a single Zero-2 W or 3 Model B+ but we’ll see if that is possible as the project goes along.)

The Slow Burn Data Platform is designed to work with a variety of sensors to track and store data about the cook and environmental factors. To accomplish this, I have designed a data model in MariaDB that will be used to track temperature data about the cook, environmental conditions, and details about the meat, rub, and fuel source. This will allow users to analyze and compare cooks to determine the methods and conditions that provide the perfect results.

My plan is for users to be able to select which data elements they want to track and to provide detailed instructions on how to set up the required sensors. I want to make this as easy to use as possible, but I anticipate it will still require some technical skill (approximately at the level of running raspi-config, modifying some Python, and attaching sensors to pins). Backyard barbecuer who just want to track the temperature of the grill and meat may be happier just getting a store-bought thermometer – but those few who love grilling, tinkering with electronics, and geeking out over data will really enjoy this platform.

The project was inspired by Pi-tmaster by JayTongue and the Raspberry Pi Weather Station lesson, but has different overall goals. I’m at the early stage of designing the platform (currently working on the data model and acquiring and testing every sensor I can think of) and will be using this site to track progress, things I’m trying, and lessons learned along the way. Thanks for stopping by and happy grilling!