OK, really, why am I asking you guys??? Especially since I am this guy when you people ask about stuff like this:
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Fireboard vs XR-50
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Club Member
- Sep 2015
- 4653
- Tennessee
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22" Weber Kettle w/SNS, 18" WSM, Bronco, Grilla Chimp, Traeger Tailgater, UDS, Camp Chef Tahoe Stove.
Fireboard vs XR-50
So, what are the advantages of one over the other? I know the Fireboard has graphing capabilities, and the integrated fan drive on the Fireboard 2. Right now I am rolling with an XR-50 and a Cyber Q fan. But I just got a service award in the form of a Amazon gift card, and it is burning a hole in my digital pocket. So, I am wondering if the upgrade is really worth it.
OK, really, why am I asking you guys??? Especially since I am this guy when you people ask about stuff like this:
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Club Member
- Dec 2015
- 928
- Phoenix, AZ
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Weber Genesis S330 with GrillGrates
Weber Summit Kamado E6
Weber Performer with SnS, DnG and Pit Viper mod
Weber 26" kettle with SnS, DnG and Pit Viper mod
PBC
Blackstone 36" SS griddle
PKGO
Fireboard (2)
Thermoworks Smoke
Thermoworks MK4 (2)
Themoworks Thermapen ONE
Accessories ranging from a Vortex to bear claws.
Can't speak to the XR-50, but I'm sure it doesn't save your cooks to a cloud that you can access anywhere, add photos and notes to the cooks as well as control your pit from anywhere.
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Administrator
- May 2014
- 17875
- Clare, Michigan area
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Follow me on Instagram, huskeesbarbecue
Smokers / Grills- Yoder loaded Wichita offset smoker
- PBC
- Grilla Silverbac pellet grill
- Slow 'N Sear Deluxe Kamado (SnSK)
- Masterbuilt Gravity 560
- Masterbuilt Digital Charcoal Cabinet
- Weber 22" Original Kettle Premium (copper)
- Weber 26" Original Kettle Premium (light blue)
- Weber Jumbo Joe Gold (18.5")
- Weber Smokey Joe Silver (14.5")
- Brinkmann cabinet charcoal smoker (repurposed)
Thermometers- SnS 500 4-probe wireless
- (3) Maverick XR-50 4-probe Wireless Thermometers
- A few straggler Maverick ET-732s
- Maverick ET-735 Bluetooth (in box)
- Smoke X4 by ThermoWorks
- Thermapen MkII, orange & purple
- ThermoPop, yellow, plus a few more in a drawer for gifts
- ThermoWorks ChefAlarm (wife's)
- Morpilot 6-probe wireless
- ThermoWorks Infrared IRK2
- ThermoWorks fridge & freezer therms as well
Accessories- Instant Pot 6qt
- Anova Bluetooth SV
- Kitchen Aide mixer & meat grinder attachment
- Kindling Cracker King (XL)
- a couple BBQ Dragons
- Weber full & half chimneys, Char-Broil Half Time chimney
- Weber grill topper
- Slow 'N Sear Original, XL, and SnS Charcoal Basket (for Jumbo Joe)
- Drip 'N Griddle Pans, 22' Easy Spin Grate, and Elevated Cooking grate, by SnSGrills
- Pittsburgh Digital Moisture Meter
Beverages- Favorite summer beers: Leinenkugels Summer & Grapefruit Shandy, Hamm's, Michelob Ultra Pure Gold
- Fav other beers: Zombie Dust (an IPA by 3 Floyd's Brewing), Austin Bros IPA, DAB, Sam Adams regular, Third Shift amber or Coors Batch 19, Stella Artois
- Fav cheap beers: Pabst, High Life, Hamm's & Stroh's
- Most favorite beer: The one in your fridge
- Wine: Red- big, bold, tannic & peppery- Petite Sirah, Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauv, Sangiovese, Syrah, etc
- Whiskey: Buffalo Trace, E.H. Taylor, Blanton's, Old Forester 1870, Elijah Craig Toasted, Basil Hayden's. Neat please.
- Scotch: Current favorite- The Arran (anything by them), Glenmorangie 12yr Lasanta, sherry cask finished. The Balvenie Double Wood, also like Oban 18yr, and The Glenlivet Nadurra (Oloroso sherry cask finished) among others. Neat please.
About me
Real name: Aaron
Location: Farwell, Michigan- near Clare. (dead center of lower peninsula)
Occupation:- Healthcare- Licensed & Registered Respiratory Therapist (RRT) at MyMichigan Health, a University of Michigan Health System.
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Club Member
- Nov 2017
- 4251
- Virginia
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Grilla Silverbac
Grilla Primate
Weber Summit S-670
Camp Chef Escape
Old Hickory Knives
More Cast Iron than I care to admit
I have a feeling you will get an overwhelming response for the Fireboard. I like the XR-50. Simple, I never loose a connection, waterproof and reliable.
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Club Member
- Mar 2020
- 2889
- Near Chicago, IL
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Current Portfolio:
Joule
Akorn (Bandit)
PK300
Old (sold) Loves:
PBC
Weber 22" Premium
Masterbuilt Gravity 560
Thermometers:
Inkbird
Thermoworks POP
Combustion Inc (on the way!)
Preferred Charcoal:
Masterbuilt Lump
Favorite Rubs:
Homemade (mainly MMD/Just Like Katz rub)
Other Accessories:
Mercer brisket slicing knife
Rapala brisket trimming knife
SS BBQ trays
NoCry Cut Resistant Gloves
LEM # 8 Meat Grinder
Lodge 5-Quart Dutch Oven + Skillet
Meat Claws
Grill Rescue Brush
Meat Fridge for dry aging
Favorite Whiskey/Beer:
Anything Peaty or anything from New Holland brewery
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Club Member
- Jul 2017
- 1384
- Southeast Illinois
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Cookers I have:
Weber S-335 gas grill
Weber 26†kettle
Weber 22†kettle
Camp Chef XL Smoke Vault
Camp Chef 3 Burner cook top
Camp Chef Woodwind 36 Pellet grill with sidekick burner
PBC
Accessories:
SnS XL
SnS standard
Vortex
Weber Rotisserie for 22†Kettle
1st gen FireBoard
2nd gen FireBoard
Griddle for Camp Chef cooktop
Several Thermoworks items
Set of Grill Grates
The XR-50 is a solid unit but if you are looking to step into a drive control unit and would like to save your cooks then you really can’t go wrong with the FireBoard IMO.
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Club Member
- May 2019
- 1012
- San Clemente, CA
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Sam
MAK 2 Star
Napoleon 500 Pro gasser grill
Pit Boss Ultimate 2-burner griddle
Instant Pot Duo Crisper 8 qt
Cuisinart food processor
Kitchenaid Stand Mixer
Breville Smart toaster oven
Anova Sous vide
Cabella 15” Vacuum Sealer
Fireboard v2
Fireboard Spark
Thermoworks IR gun
Thermoworks MK4
Thermoworks Zero
Thermoworks Signals
TempSpike
Grill Rescue brush
Grillmaster electric steam brush
7 Shun knives (paring to 12" slicer)
Misen Chef's knife
8-9 other knives (enough to get an eye roll from wife!)
2 Mandolins, 1 veggie spiralizer
Work Sharp E5 sharpener
Chef's Choice sharpener
And, cigars, wine and some good spirits!
XR-50 - 4 ports. FB - 6 ports. XR-50 - uses RF (a bit better than Bluetooth for range). FB - Bluetooth and Wifi (access anywhere there is an internet connection). FB - cloud-based storage of ALL sessions, accessible from anywhere with internet, ability to add Notes & Pics to sessions. XR-50 - not. FB - can be used for driving fan and control pit temps. XR-50 - nope.
XR-50 is reliable, decent range, good support, definitely lower price point. FB is reliable, good support with an abundance of features that those that document and keep records of sessions and variables associated with those sessions, plus pit temp control support for various pits with optional fan drive and WiFi capability for access and control.
Your call based on how you want the tool to help you manage your cooks. Enjoy!
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Club Member
- Jul 2019
- 2007
- Central IA
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MAK 2 Star General
KBQ C-60
Weber Summit Charcoal Grillw/ Big Joetisserie, SnS LP, and VortexWeber Genesis II - S-345
Weber Traveler
Fireboard 2 Drive
Anova Precision Sous Vide
All the (pellet) grills I’ve loved before:
Traeger Junior Elite^
GMG DB
Traeger Texas Elite
Memphis Pro§
Traeger Pro 575
CampChef SmokePro STX (ugly grills need love too)
Weber SmokeFire EX4§
Traeger Select
CampChef Woodwind WiFi w/SearBox^
Weber SmokeFire EX4§
^ = Favorites
§ = Love/Hate Relationships
On the FB: Alerts and full fan control. You can setup push alerts and/or text alerts. Each channel fully customizable for high low, delivery mechanism, repeat time, etc. So, for an overnight cook, you can have it text you every 5 mins if pit temp drops below 200. Want to stoke a fire for reverse sear, set to manual fan 100%.
Plus full cloud logging like others mentioned, basically a digital log book.
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Club Member
- Jul 2016
- 8610
- Virginia
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3 Weber Performers
2classic kettles
1 26" kettle
1 Smoky Joe
PBC
Thermoworks POPs
Dot and Chef Alarm
4 Slo n Sears
1 Smokenator
2 Vortex
Cold beer
Wait a minute. You have some extra cash. You have a reliable unit. You need to get yourself to Ace and buy that PBC!
PBC, PBJ, PBC!
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Charter Member
- Jul 2014
- 6401
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My toys:
Weber Summit Charcoal Grilling Center (WSCGC) aka Mr. Fancypants
Pit Barrel Cooker (which rocks), named Pretty Baby
Weber Summit S650 Gas Grill, named Hot 'n Fast (used mostly for searing and griddling)
Weber Kettle Premium 22" named Kettle Kid, eager to horn in with more cooks in the future
Camp Chef Somerset IV 4-burner outdoor gas range named AfterBurner due to its 30kBTU burners
Adrenaline BBQ Company Gear:SnS, DnG, andLarge Charcoal Basket, for WSCGC
SnS for 22" Kettle
Elevated SS Rack for WSCGC
SS Rack for DnG
Cast Iron GriddleGrill Grate for SnSGrill Grates: five 17.375 sections (retired to storage)
Grill Grates: six 19.25 panels for exact fit for Summit S650
gasser
Grill Grates for 22" Kettle
2 Grill Grate Griddles
Steelmade Griddle for Summit gas grill
Fireboard Gear:Extreme BBQ Thermometer PackagePit Viper Fan (to pair with Fireboard Fan Driver Cable)
Additional control unit
Additional probes: Competition Probes 1" (3) and 4" (1), 3 additional Ambient Probes. 1 additional Food Probe
2 Driver Cables
Pit Viper Fan new design (to pair with Fireboard Fan Driver Cable)
Thermoworks Gear:Thermapen MK4 (pink)Maverick ET 73 a little workhorse with limited range
Thermapen Classic (pink too)
Thermoworks MK4 orange
Temp Test 2 Smart Thermometer
Extra Big and Loud Timer
Timestick Trio
Maverick ET 733
Maverick (Ivation) ET 732
Grill Pinz
Vortex (two of them)
18" drip pan for WSCGC
Ceramic Spacers for WSCGC in Kamado Mode: 2 sets each 1/2", 1", 2". The 2" spacers work best with the 18" drip pan. The 1+1/2 inch spacers work best with the 14 inch cake pan.
Two Joule Sous Vide devices
3 Lipavi Sous Vide Tubs with Lids: 12, 18 and 26 quarts
Avid Armor Ultra Pro V32 Chamber Sealer
Instant Pot 6 Quart Electric Pressure Cooker
Instant Pot 10 Quart Electric Pressure Cooker
Charcoal Companion TurboQue
A-Maze-N tube 12 inch tube smoker accessory for use with pellets
BBQ Dragon and Dragon Chimney
Shun Classic Series:8" Chef Knife
6" Chef's Knife
Gokujo Boning and Fillet Knife
3 1/2 inch Paring Knife
With the cloud logging feature of Fireboard, you have no need to keep a separate cooking log, if in fact you do so. You can search the log for types of cooks, going back to the first one you used it for. It's so nice. Of course you need to add info if you want more than the graph of the cook. I usually add pertinent notes (weight of meat, type of fuel, etc. ) on my computer during the cook instead of on the iPhone or iPad. Either platform works great with it, though. Plus adding photos to the cook log is easy peasy and a lot of fun.
You will find documenting your cooks to be invaluable--especially (for me) in preventing a repeat of previous goof-ups.
KathrynLast edited by fzxdoc; June 30, 2021, 06:52 AM.
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It can be a pain to document a cook, klflowers, but it proves so valuable in the long run. At least documenting the cook through Fireboard's Dashboard is pretty easy, especially on a computer with a full size keyboard. Plus I like having the photos there as well, and the ability to make a note at any point in the cook and have the Note's dot appear on the temperature graph itself so you know the exact time and temp at that point during the cook.
K.
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Club Member
- Jun 2018
- 173
- Poway, CA
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Cookers
Weber Genesis II (4-burner) with GrillGrates
Pit Barrel Cooker
Weber 22" Original Kettle Premium with SnS and Drip N' Griddle
Grilla OG
Thermometers
FireBoard Drive
Thermapen MK4
Thermopop
Random, but accurate, pit and leave-in meat thermometers
Other toys
Pit Viper fan
BBQ Vortex
My XR-50 actually had problems. It would cause weird beeping/connection loss of I tried to use the alarms, and then remote display died.
That convinced me to go Fireboard when I replaced it.
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