Fireboard Drive first time experience

[RustyHaines]

Mild MCS got me and I ordered a Fireboard Drive with blower and adapter for my already pre-drilled Performer kettle. Admittedly I am hard to impress with the need for new products and consider myslelf dangerously adept with technology. But I'm here to tell you for me, this is the holy grail of game changers.

The setup of the base application and the fan controller took 5 minutes tops (including the time to read the instructions; and, yes this is a man confessing to reading the instructions !). My first cook was Malcolm Reed's recipe/technique for whole Picanha and was only a 1 hour cook at 275. I loaded the charcoal in my SnS with a starter cube and gave it 15 minutes to ash over. Closed the lower vents completely, put the lid on with top vent about pencil thick open, plugged in the kettle temp probe and opened the app. Temp climbed to 275 with a little help from the fan and I then put the meat and a chunk of apple wood on and sat in my living room playing with my grandson, and enjoyed an evening bourbon. Monitored the cook on the app and pulled the meat at 122 IT after a 1 hour 10 minute cook time. Cannot wait to use this rig on a long cook such as pulled pork or brisket. And for that matter getting an adapter for my PBC as well

At age 66 I feel I have earned this cooking pleasure ! Fuels many passions . . . cooking good meat for my family, spending qualty time with the family: and oh yes, sipping good bourbon and smiling about how blessed I am.

[ofelles]

I use their older model and a Pit Bull fan on my LSG cabinet. Game changer for sure.

[RustyHaines]

Forgot to mention the meat was phenomenal ! Malcolm comes through again.

[ecowper]

I love FB Drive and Fan on my WSM 22 …. Tried it out once on SnS Kettle + Insert and it really seemed unnecessary to me. on WSM is a different story.

[FireMan]

Thanks ecowper ! After two game changers & one phenomenal I was starting to git the shakes. The SnS does work like a dream.

[ecowper]

I think the FB Drive and a fan is amazing for SOME cookers. Not so much for others.

[SmokeyGator]

I bought a BBQ Guru "Cloud" with my Primo XL. After a few years it started acting squirrely, probably due to being left outside for extended periods of time. Out of the weather, but still. South FL = humidity.

Anyway I upgraded to the Fireboard and you are right. It is a revolution. I do overnight cooks often. Last one was brisket flats for a neighbor's crawfish boil party. I agreed to supply some brisket for the appetizer round. Put them on at 1 AM and went to bed. I had that much faith in the brand new Fireboard to do its thing.

Woke up the next morning and checked my app. Temp was rock solid steady at 225 degrees with no spikes. Meat temp was at 190something. Almost done! So I got up and did the whole morning thing, and by the time I got outside it was done. Took it off, wrapped it in butcher paper, then put it in the cooler (warmer).

Once for work one of the secretaries asked me nicely if I would do ribs for her boss's birthday. Not my boss, but someone on the same floor. Because she was so nice I agreed. I was given $120, which at the time bought 8 racks of baby backs. I put them all in the Primo XL using my advanced Tetris skills and set the controller to do its thing. at 6 AM everything was done. Woke up, wrapped each rack in foil, then put them all in a 35 quart Yeti cooler. Everything was still hot at noon for the party. Work? Hardly. I was sleeping for most of the time.

[fzxdoc]

I resisted adding the Pit Viper medium fan and the Fireboard Drive to my PBC, because I love dancing the BBQ tango with it. That said, I use Automatic Temp Control 80% of the time on the PBC because I'm focused on getting the darn dinner on the table.

The rest of the time I leave the adapter in place and cook old school on the PBC. I cannot lie: having an ATC on the PBC is so forgiving that it's hard not to use it all the time.

I have and adapter for my WSCGC but have never installed it because it runs so solid. Even so, I'll probably get the WSCGC fitted up for ATC in another week or two. After all, there's nothing to lose.

Kathryn

[bbqLuv]

"The BBQ Tango" -- fzxdoc That is what I am missing with my Traeger.

[ecowper]

This is one of the reasons I’ve never been tempted by a pellet grill. I like the BBQ tango and I’m afraid that a pellet grill would be too much like my oven. TUrn it on, put the meat in, come back hours later and take the meat off.

[bbqLuv]

ecowper it is true, my Traeger is very close to a set-it-and-forget-it, smoking oven.
There is a need to monitor the meat, temp via WIFI, and color, look, and feel of the bark, plus spritzing. Fire management is made easy. From BBQ Tango to BBQ 2 step.