New FireBoard Spark!

[Mosca]

I’m okay at resisting MTS, but only to a point. When a company gives a deal on something, I can be pushed to action.

FireBoard has a springtime deal that includes a free probe and probe pouch, and I really like those probe pouches. They’re also including a jar of Burnt Fingers BBQ Smokey KC Rub (like I need more rub)….



As an added bonus, this version of Meathead’s Food Temperature guide, which my original faded because I had it stuck to my bbq cabinet outside; I can laminate this one and use it again!



It also includes a free 90 day Pitmaster Club subscription… ha. This is the only forum I participate in! 90 days vs the rest of my life. All that does is move my renewal date. I’m good, thanks!




Anyhow, this thing is pretty cool. It comes with a Certificate of Calibration, and I checked it against my Thermapen One; they match exactly, as I thought they would. Thermapen is faster, but speed isn’t really significant to me. It connected to my FireBoard app through Bluetooth, and it connected to WiFi when I entered the network name and password in the app. Everything pairs with everything!

My intention is to use it as a base station for overnight cooks, on the kettle and BGE. I can use the Drive on one of those, and a BBQ Guru on the other, using the Drive to monitor meat temps on everything. And of course it will also be an instant read. And, I can use it in the kitchen, with a Pulse, in the oven. So, no more wires in the oven.

[Meathead]

I use mine a lot.

[LA Pork Butt]

Enjoy your new toy!

[GolfGeezer]

I think you will be very satisfied with it! I also use mine a lot as a base station for a wired ambient probe, using Probes for wireless meat monitoring. Very dependable connectivity and still all the features of Fireboard's App.

[Andrrr]

So is the real benefit of this that it’s a cheaper entrance point into the Fireboard ecosystem but also an instant read thermometer that can link to the wireless probe? Maybe the root of my question is if you already have a fireboard, what capability or flexibility does this add that you’d want to get one? You know, because MTS.

[Mosca]

Just MTS really.

[Andrrr]

So you’re saying I should get one then 😉 Mosca

[Mosca]

Andrrr It took me a while to figure its place, and how it would fit my workflow. I’m used to the DigiQ universe actually, where everything happens next to or near the cookers. I had the CyberQ for a couple years, and that was nice because it connected to my phone and I could change the pit temp without having to get out of my lounge chair. But support for that app is gone. I don’t care about tracking cooks, or keeping records; that stuff is cool, but for me everything is stored up here (points to head).

With a FireBoard Drive, a full array of wired probes, the S1G antenna, and the Spark, I can monitor the Weber Kettle, the BGE, and a Smokey Joe outside. I can use pit probes in the Kettle and BGE, using the Drive to control one of them and a DigiQ to control the other, with 2 meat probes and a Pulse available for each unit. (The DigiQ will control the fan, but I can monitor the pit with the Drive. They are close enough for the probes to reach, with the Drive in between.) At the same time, I can monitor the indoor oven with the Spark, or the Spark and the Pulse if I want to walk around with the Spark. And everything will be available on my phone or iPad or laptop, in the app. But also, overnight I can set the Spark on the nightstand and let it monitor everything, rather than my phone.

So, everything connected to everything, and all the info at my fingertips while I watch the Big Game, or whatever!