Fireboard vs Thermoworks Smoke

[jdsegra]

I've been cooking with a Themoworks Smoke for 6-7 years and really like it. I trust the RF connection and I know that if it loses connection or if my temp craters, it will wake my ass up in the middle of the night.

I don't love the fact that it can only support 2 probes, and the lack of connection to the cloud means that I have to stay close to my smoker.

I bought an original Fireboard a while back. I was lured by the fact that it could support 6 probes and had Wifi connectivity. I don't remember the particulars, but I did an overnight cook once and lost the fire in the middle of the night. The app didn't wake me up. Could have been user error (maybe I had my phone on slient.. who knows). Since then, I use the Fireboard on occasion, but when it really matters, I use the smoke.

The latest fireboards support fans and look pretty slick. They look like a better product than the Themoworks Signals, but that 4 Channel Extended Range smoke looks good as well.

I tend to trust RF more than something that is app dependent. What are your thoughts? Would you trust a Fireboard for an overnight cook?

[Huskee]

I've never had to purchase a Fireboard since I had the Mavericks and ThermoWorks products, so I have no experience with them myself and therefore cannot tell you how much I love it, but many others definitely do. I am a BIG fan of the Smoke X4, the 4-probe Smoke X. That sucker has some serious range and is far better than the original Smoke, in my humble opinion. I too like RF and am not interested in graphing or having to use my phone, so to me the dedicated RF receivers suit me better.

[jdsegra]

yeah, that Smoke 4x is probably what I'll end up with. Even the original can cover almost every room in my house.

[realdocBBQ]

I've used my Fireboard many times for overnight. I have the original, as well.

I love it, I love it, I love it.

WiFi connectivity OR Bluetooth, so I can use it anywhere.

And yes, it's woken me up numerous times for various alarms I've set - it will send you an 'alert' to the phone, will send a text, an email, whatever. You just have to configure the alarm settings for whichever probe(s) you're watching. I can't say enough good.

I will say lately the ability to add pics and notes to my cooks at specific times doesn't seem to be working. I need to email Fireboard and ask about that, but overall, I absolutely LOVE my Fireboard.

And yes, the alarms work, if it didn't go off, I'm thinking there was a problem with your config on your phone or your app.

[jdsegra]

Yeah, I’m mostly sure it was my fault. I woke up to a bunch of notifications.

i guess the SMS feature would enable it to work even if the app went down. I should probably give it another try.

[DaveD]

Have not used the Thermoworks but picked up the Fireboard 2 a couple of months ago and love it to little bits. Six probe inputs and the app is really capable, lots of features that make it basically a full-fledged "lab notebook" too, you can add notes and photos at any spot on any temp profile. Here's my record from yesterday's cook - each of those dots is a place where I took some notes and/or captured a photo.



Totally understand the attachment to RF. My first probe set is an SnS-500 four-probe unit with RF transmitting to a remote, and yep it's rock solid. But the additional features of the FB2 really outweigh my twinge of trepidation there, and thus far have had no probs, everything has stayed connected just fine.

I also love that you can monitor from a web page as well as your phone, any web browser will do. Makes it super easy to keep track while I'm doing stuff on the computer during a cook.

Very glad indeed I went for the FB2. My only real quibble is that they didn't build in magnets to the unit, you have to buy a holder/stand separately, and THAT has the magnets. Seems like a gratuitous way to snag another $25 from the buyer - but I recognize that the FB unit is pretty advanced, it's a very dense, solid unit from all the circuitry, so maybe there's a good design reason they had to be omitted...

[realdocBBQ]

I am glad to see your dots are working - mine works MAYBE once per cook, then every time I select to edit or add, it just does nothing. I need to email them. Does the app autoupdate? I need to go check that...

<edit> Yup. Just checked and I am up to date at v3.7.7

[DaveD]

Wow, sorry to hear that. Adding notes has been super simple mostly. The one thing is that often it doesn't get the time exactly right, but that's just my fat fingertip not touching precisely the right spot. Easy to edit the time to the exact value one wants. One thing I didn't realize at first is that you can zoom in on the temp graph in the app with the usual pinch & squeeze moves, and that makes it easier to place the note accurately.

[rlozinak]

I have had my fireboard 2 and spark for about 6 months. I trust them for my overnight cooks to alert me when the temp drops or the meat hits the programmed temp. I also love the spark for checking the temp of meats. It is an instant read thermometer. The spark also has a mode that makes it connected to the fireboard 2 so that the temps from the fb2 display on the spark. Over all I would recommend the fireboard 2. And or the spark.

[Attjack]

I just packaged up my Fireboard to send back to the company. If I have the drive cable plugged in and turn the unit off it immediately turns itself back on. They're going to take a look at it.

[JoeDorn]

I have had the same problem and have just received the replacement. See my about to be posted exchange with the FB rep...VERY POSITIVE!!!

[Attjack]

JoeDorn They just sent mine back to me, acknowledged there was an issue, and told me it would get fixed with a future update but it hasn't been which is disappointing.

[xaugievike]

I bought a t-works signals with the same attraction to wifi. and like you I almost lost a cook b/c my phone didn't wake me up when temps took a dive. and like you I'm sure it had something to do with my phone alert settings.

I still have the signals and I do really like it, but I mostly use it at home. At the getaway where I do more, longer, and bigger cooks for people I since added the smoke X4. more probes, but nearly idiot-proof RF signal to make sure I wake up. Booze tends to be more of a factor there also, so the loud remote alerts give me peace of mind.

[jdsegra]

Yeah, I like how solid RF is. I want a device that does both but i'm sure that would be more expensive and would be overkill for most folks.

[rickgregory]

Depends on what you value. I don't care about cloud connectivity or graphing my cooks, so that aspect of the FB doesn't matter to me. But especially if you add a fan, I can see the appeal - you're out on errands or whatever, the cook is going too fast or too slow, you can adjust the temp.

[Spinaker]

I love my FireBoard. It has served me well for 5 years (I think 5 years) I have since added two more devices as well. When you add more controllers you can run them independently from the app, which is really sweet.

The WIFI makes it great for overnight and cooks while I am at work. I also love how you catalogue all of your cooks. As well as add notes and graphs. This makes it really nice when cooking for events on an annual basis. You can add home foods you cooked, how long it took and if you need to add more or less for the following year's event! I find this to be really handy as I do some charity cooks through out the year.

[Bruce Z]

I'm changing the subject a tad. Why is there so little conversation about the Auber Instruments controller and blower ( (KIT-3615-20)? Its rated platinum by AR and is a less expensive package than the FireBoard with the Pit Viper.

[realdocBBQ]

I'd never seen it. For me, on a very quick glance, only 3 probes and a proprietary charging cable (vs USB) at $200 and I'm not too interested.

[MtView]

I bought a Fireboard 2, but after working with the company over time I couldn't use it on my Trex deck because of the static discharge. Whenever I touched the unit the static made it go kerflooey. They made a strong effort to get me up and running and sent me three units. Their customer service was great once I got past the front guy, but it just didn't work in my environment.

This made me go to Thermoworks Signals. I was leery about Thermoworks because their early tech was kind of iffy. Signals has been top notch, works fine on my Trex deck and what I especially love about it is when I have the app open front and center on my iphone, the temperature alarms keep ringing until you turn them off. Just make sure the alert doesn't go to your Apple watch if you have that set up. Signals takes four probes in total and Thermoworks customer service has been top notch.

[realdocBBQ]

So the Trex decking is causing unwanted static buildup? Wow, that's a new one, I hadn't heard that - but definitely something to keep in mind for the future, as Trex was something I'd pined after.

[MtView]

That was a new one on me too because I never had a problem with the original FireBoard. The engineer I spoke with said static discharge was a common issue for synthetic decks. He said I could spray the deck with something (I never asked about what), have an electrician ground the smoker, or get a refund. I chose refund and give them credit for offering it. Hopefully future designs of FB will take static into account.

[MtView]

I just found one BIG caveat emptor regarding Thermoworks Signals that I was completely unaware of if you experience cold weather. I happened to be looking at the specs and Signals only works in temperatures as low as 32 F. Unfortunately, that's not a joke. I just called them to confirm and tech support said at that temp or below the unit could stop working (display and data transmission). The reason for that design decision is that Thermoworks feels most of their customers stop smoking in the winter. ** Bangs head against desk **

[ItsAllGoneToTheDogs]

I mean batteries (especially lithium) perform poorly in the cold. I haven't had issues with the Fireboard below 20, but I also put the unit under my grill in cold weather and it keeps that area at about 50 degrees or so. I suspect you could do something similar with the Thermoworks depending on the grill.

[MtView]

I will jury rig something like a cooler with a hand warmer in it or just go back to my original Fireboard in the winter. I believe the FBs can operate below 0, but I don't have the specs in front of me. Hopefully Thermoworks will improve that in a future release.