Thermoworks RFX opinions?

[Dan Deter]

So the only flaw in our T-day cook this year is my leave-in thermometer died. No big deal, it was one I won for free, it was just annoying that I checked to make sure it was working the night before and then day of it wouldn't turn on. SWMBO's immediate reaction was "well, I guess you'll need to get another one!" . So I'm looking at wireless as it seems they've come a long way, and I still do a lot of rotisserie chickens and would like wireless for that. Of course I love my various Thermoworks instant reads, so that makes me lean toward the RFX.

Anyone have recommendatons towards or against the RFX? Or towards its competitors like Meater or Combustion? Or should I stay with wired (and just keep doing the chickens as I always have) and go for the Signals or the Smoke like I've previously leaned towards? Whichever will probably go on my wishlist as my birthday is coming up before Christmas...

Thanks for any opinions!

[Dan Deter]

Followup consideration for the RFX, I'm on Android for the app, so if there are good or bad with that as well.

[IdahoJim]

I've been using a Smoke with it's gateway for years. I love having the remote with the display as well as being able to see the temperatures on my Android phone in their app. Thermoworks support is great. They replaced the main unit once for free a few years after I bought it because of an issue, I can't remember what it was. I've been eyeing the RFX units, but I don't have a rotisserie so I can't really justify buying one. Also, they don't have a remote with a display for the RFX, yet.

[LegoMySearwood]

I have the rfx and it has been great so far. No complaints.

[Jerod Broussard]

I'd go RFX for the sale. Combustion didn't work well for me but many here love it. Fireboard came with my pellet pooper so I am riding with that puppy.

[theroc]

Been running the RFX for several months now. Generally have found the connectivity and use has been very good. I initially got two meat probes. One had intermittent problems charging and holding a charge. Thermoworks customer service were very helpful trying to diagnose the problem. After trying a few things unsuccessfully,b they quickly replaced the defective probe. I've since added a third probe. All three have been working without any problems.

I do hope they are able to make some software improvements. For example, the unit will display a temperature graph for one probe at a time. I miss being able to see multiple probes on one graph. Recently read about such capability coming soon, but haven't seen the details yet. The unit also doesn't have predictive capabilities yet.

[jfmorris]

This has been updated in the app during Thanksgiving week. You can now great a group of probes, and see a graph that shows all those probes together. I did it yesterday.

[theroc]

jfmorris - Thanks! I was glad to see the announcement that the grouping functionality was coming, now very happy to hear that it is live. Now if they can only give us predictive capabilities.

[DavidNorcross]

Following this. Have looked into Inkbird and Meater. Neither have gotten rave reviews.

[Alan Brice]

Don't waste yer money.

[LA Pork Butt]

Smoking Dad has a a comparison review on YouTube.

[Lynn Dollar]

I try to follow his line of reasoning, but he talks way too fast for me. It turns into gobbledygook. Somehow, having the RFX ambient wired, is some kind of major drawback. Its not been a problem for me.

He says something about not able to move meats from smoker to oven. I don't recall ever wanting ambient temp in my oven

And right off the bat, he's got the RFX over priced. He's quoting the TW list price, but I've never bought anything from TW at list. Everything goes on sale often.

[LA Pork Butt]

Lynn Dollar Yep, he talks way too fast on that video. It was still 47 minutes long which is long for my watching a video.

[Lynn Dollar]

LA Pork Butt I just looked at the comments and he's getting hammered over potential bias. He's been asked directly if he's sponsored by Meater and he doesn't directly answer, he just points to his affiliate links that has Meater at the top of the list.

[Lynn Dollar]

I've had RFX for a year, got it from the get go. Very happy with it. No serious problems. Its very accurate, I've done ice bath tests with the probes.

I've read reviews that are critical of not having a wireless ambient temp probe. Thermoworks says ambient sensors in the probes, stuck into meat, do not give accurate temps. They can't be separated far enough from the meat. So they do a wired ambient probe. And that matters to me, because I use the RFX to run Billows.

Customer service, as usual with Thermoworks, has been excellent. Any questions I've had have been promptly answered using email. Would be even faster by phone or chat.

I bought two more probes last month. I tested them and one was reading about 10 degrees lower than the other. They replaced the probe pronto. That's the only problem I've had.

I use it on a Franklin offset that has 1/4 " and thicker walls, and it shoots right through it, no problem. I also use it on a heavily insulated gravity feed, no problems. My understanding, is aluminum foil is the only metal the waves won't pass through.

I like the small slim diameter of the probes. Not as thin as wired, but a lot thinner than the other wireless products on the market.

I'll add, that using the Thermoworks Cloud is fantastic. All of my cooks are on the cloud. Far far more detail available than what I can download off my phone. I access the Cloud with my laptop.

[DTro]

In the market so I read some of the reviews. Nothing bad, but one person brought up that the probe had to be fully inserted to the minimum line to protect the internal electronic components. This caused some issues with smaller items like chicken breast and fish. Any thoughts on that?

[Lynn Dollar]

I guess your speaking about RFX ?

Might be a problem with fish, depends upon size and thickness of the fillet. But I don't smoke nor grill fish, so I don't know.

I've not had any problem with chicken breast on whole chicken. Again, I don't grill breasts. But if I did, I would not use any probe. I'd flatten the thick end of the breast so the entire piece would grill evenly.

[Alan Brice]

Yes, I have never used a leave-in probe on fish or wibs.

[Alan Brice]

I bought the RFX four pack. I had an issue with a probe but switched out the factory supplied batts n solid as a rock since.

[bordercollie]

I have an RFX and 3 of the 4 probes work consistently. I bought a 2.5 extender for our wifi and have no problem with connections since then. Its really nice to check the temperatures on my phone even when I'm at the barn or down the road.

[Alan Brice]

I have heard of some changing the settings for timing of the sample. Not sure if that helps you, ThermoWorks is more than happy to take yer phone call and discuss issues and resolutions.

[jfmorris]

I am going to toss in a vote for the RFX, as I have never had bad luck with a Thermoworks product, and if I did, their customer service has quick to fix it. I had an out of warranty Smoke that they repaired after I melted the screen by laying a hot grate on top of it accidentally, and they ended up not even charging me for that repair, because they didn't have the right color in stock for the housing. I send in a black Smoke with a melted screen, and got back a black Smoke with flames on it!

[dshaffes]

I have the RFX with 2 wireless probes and it works great.

[Duanessmokedmeats]

I have the RFX and really like them.
Just wish they would make a shorter model for chicken, where it is hard to get to the center without covering the minimum line.
Also maybe a separate receiver, so you don't need your phone.

[IdahoJim]

I would really like a receiver or remote with a display like I have with my Thermoworks Smoke (on the main unit and a remote). I'm kind of holding off at least until they add that. I don't want to be required to use my phone as the only way to see the temperatures.

[LegoMySearwood]

+1 on the shorter model. I really like the RFX but you can't use them in smaller meats.