So many options that make our life not necessarily better

[BBQPhil]

I've been using a Fireboard 1 for about five years and it's served me well. Gives me what I need: multiple probes, including ambient; good connectivity to my phone; superb software allowing me to record details of each cook. Then I bought a Meater because it seemed cool and I could use it on a rotisserie, that I rarely do. Lasted about a year before it fell into the fire and went up in flames.

Next, I was attracted by Fireboard 2, because, well, it was newer and I loved the F1.Had a better display, but realized I rarely used the display. Never upgraded because the original did much the same and the F2 was expensive and required another $25 for a $3 magnetic case. (Greedy!) Then came Combustion with a truly innovative product. Bought one, loved it, but had some problems with defects/failures. Company was great about replacing it.

I realize we can get into a buying spiral, trying to use an excuse that the new gadget will improve our cooking. For now I'll stick with the old Fireboard 1 and the Combustian for wireless. Oh yes, have the Fireboard Spark because I though it would be an improvement over the ThermoPen, but with it's unintuitive UI and WiFi dependency, and short battery life, I use the simple old Thermopen more than anything.

There's a lesson here somewhere. What do you think it is?

[Huskee]

Yeah, lots of barking dogs out there vying for our attention and our money. Gotta be smart and resist the urge to spend money we don't need to spend. Will it help the food on your plate be any better? Or would that cash have been better spent on a bottle of wine or bourbon... I still use my SnS-500 mainly, occasionally the Smoke X4, and if I need more probes the ol' Maverick 732 still pops up a time or two per year.

[DaveD]

Wait, what? Who are you and what have you done with Huskee ??? We are here to ENABLE people spending their money, are we not!?!

[Mosca]

I have thermometers from ThermoWorks, FireBoard, BBQ Guru, ThermoPro, Maverick, and a couple no-name sticks and IR guns. They ALL work about the same.

I very rarely use any of the truly remote monitoring, like going to the store or somewhere; I’m always home during my cooks. But it’s nice to have that stuff on the phone and tablet; sometimes the displays on the devices are hard to read.

In the kitchen, I use the ThermoWorks ChefAlarm, a wired one-probe device that I’ve owned the longest out of all of them. I tried the ThermoPro TempSpike a few times; I never felt confident with it, and the app is really non-intuitive IMO.

Outdoors it’s been BBQGuru, but they no longer support the DigiQ, so it’s FireBoard now. I can use the FireBoard to monitor the food in the BGE and the Kettle, and the FireBoard Drive and DigiQ as temp controllers. With the Pulse, I can actually use that in the oven in the kitchen, and have the FireBoard monitor everything.

[texastweeter]

Yeah consumerism is rampant these days. I still buy single ply toilet paper...

[Alan Brice]

Everybody likes polite potty humour.
Personally I rem you like the cobb version, Yes?
For me it is 2ply ribbed, for my personal pleasure.

[texastweeter]

I've used a cob or two back in the day at the old deer camp... Alan Brice

[Purc]

I have 1 roll of John Wayne TP left. It's rough, tough and doesn't take cr*p off of anyone.

[klflowers]

I fell for the temp spike thing. It was a waste of money. I have another set of wireless junk that I don't use. I don't even know where they are. I defaulted back to my Maverick XR50. Just bought some new probes. That is all I really need.

On the other hand, I just bought an insanely expensive juicer. So far I use it a lot and I enjoy the juice I make with it.

[Mosca]

I think the TempSpike works, but it isn’t confidence inspiring. The app is confusing, quality control is terrible, and support is clueless. I have one that works and one that died after a couple uses. But I only paid for one of them, so we’re even.

I feel completely comfortable with my 15 year old ChefAlarm though.

[Purc]

+1 on the Maverick XR50. Mine has served me well and I have only used 3 of 4 probes a couple of times but it makes me feel good that I have 4 just in case.

[Alan Brice]

klflowers I have been juicing for fidy years. Bought the orig SS Supreme brand. Right after that, they began to incorporate plastic n I saw that would be a prob w/staining n such.
Soo glad I got in on the ground floor, back in my hippie daze. Pun intended.

[SheilaAnn]

I never even used a fancy thermometer until I learned about it here. I got a combustion to beta test for Chris. I do have one from thermoworks, but it was a sample because they wanted my butcher shop to carry them.

[ItsAllGoneToTheDogs]

The point of the FB2 is drive, which eliminates the need for a thingy to power a fan or in my case K probes with the pro.

The spark doesn't make sense to me still, I am quite happy with my thermopro one instant read. Only way the spark makes sense I guess is as a way for their wireless probes to connect I dunno...

I get ya though, lots of "smart" devices that are better off dumb and cheaper.

[klflowers]

texastweeter

https://www.maverickthermometers.com/product/pr-50bbq/

https://www.maverickthermometers.com/product/pr-50f/

[texastweeter]

I just trained my thermo pro probes work on it too

[DavidNorcross]

I guess I am one of the weird ones. I probe it with an instant read and pull it when it is done. Tried the fancy probes and just did not embrace the technology I guess. Would much rather stay on top of the cook the traditional way. Nothing against those other methods guess it is just not for me.

[captainlee]

I received a wireless thermometer for Christmas from the kids. I never would of bought one and the only use I have for it is rotisserie chicken. It's nice to have and I appreciate the gift but I've done find just probing an Insta read. I have a!ways stayed on the simple side. Don't get me started on vehicle electronics.

[realdocBBQ]

I really love my myriad BBQ thermometer options. I am a tech guy and I love being able to document my cooks easily with Fireboard's app, share with friends, see and analyze the graphs, go back and compare with previous cooks and reference them, it's all so much fun for me. I like mapping temperatue zones on my cookers so I know exactly what they are doing in each spot.

I get that it's not for everyone, that's ok. I've also had some that annoyed me, like the TempSpikes I also fell for and subsequently have just thrown out. I have enough clutter as it is.

But I love the technological revolutions we've seen in BBQ over the years - and I love cooking on wood and fire like a caveman sometimes as well!

[DaveD]

I feel seen

[fzxdoc]

Ditto.

[Alan Brice]

My friends do not care all that much about my cooks. Just that it is good and there is enough to go round.

[GolfGeezer]

I'm jiggy with realdocBBQ (that's a Will Smith reference BTW). I currently have Gen 1 & 2 Combustion Inc probes and display, Fireboard 2 base + FB Spark + 3 FB Pulse probes, Thermoworks RFX gateway and 2 RFX meat probes, and a various Thermoworks Instant read thermometers (MK4, One, Dots). I used to have a Meater & Meater 2 Plus, XR-50 Maverick, Thermoworks Signals, TempSpike. Those I gave away to buddies who wanted/could use them.

Do I NEED all these? Nope. Do I love playing with/using them? Yup. I love the new wireless entries - and think the tech and implementation of them will improve a lot in the next couple of years. I am partial to the Fireboard solutions mainly because I love the App and its features plus its availability across Android, IoS and browsers. However, I think the Thermoworks RFX probes are superior - higher heat resistance, easy to clean, straightforward. Their App is primitive to me, but the base functionality is very good (I have not had any battery issues as some have reported).

The great thing there is a solution for a huge range of functionality and price points. Happy cooking!!

[jfmorris]

As an electrical/electronics design engineer, I'm into the tech stuff, but have learned over the past few years that I really don't NEED much of the tech stuff for cooking, as much as WANT it. Right now, I would rather spend that money on grandkids, or food to cook and share, than on cooking technology that doesn't really improve my cook.

I did buy a new Thermapen One recently, because my classic has started being flakey about turning on when opened - and it was serviced for the same issue a couple of years ago. Aside from that, I'll keep monitoring cooks with my Smoke (2 channel) and SOMETIMES the wifi gateway for that. I recently used the Weber Connect I tested with the Weber app a year or so back, just because it was there in the box of thermometers.

I know I will end up with SOMETHING new eventually, and it might be wireless, since I do use a rotisserie, but I'm taking a wait and see approach to see who "wins" in that area, amount Thermoworks, Fireboard and the others.

[DaveD]

I'm a former lab rat and data hound, so having multiple temp measurements is important to me. But after trying a few things (SnS 500, Meater+) I got me a FB2 and have never looked back. Having six inputs and the excellent app does everything I need, at least at this stage of the game. The SnS 500 is simple and has four inputs, but mine has not held up to the use, all the input plugs have completely worn and weathered out, even when the unit sits outdoors only when in direct use. Very disappointing.

The lab rat side always prevails over the data hound side though. First rule of experimental science is do everything that is required for a successful experiment, but not ONE thing more! When something works reliably, I stick to it.

[fzxdoc]

Well said.

[Oak Smoke]

I tried to be tech dependent but it just didn’t take well. My Smobot is important to me I like the way it controls my kamado’s temps. I no longer use the meat probes that go to it or my Maverick set up. I check with the ThermoWorks probe once in a while and do just fine. I finally got the, relax it’s doing fine, thing going and get great food too. The Maverick is still used to check the oven in the kitchen’s temp. About once a year it starts getting large swings in the kick in and kick off temps and has to have a new temp sensor or circuit board. You’d think by now the electric oven would have been perfected.

[Mosca]

“I finally got the, relax it’s doing fine, thing going….”

EXACTLY. It’s a big hunk of meat. Cook it. That’s all there is.