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Thermoworks Smoke First Impressions

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    Thermoworks Smoke First Impressions

    I'll update this as the cook proceeds, but I got the Smoke that I asked about last week a and thought I'd do a cook today. I butterflied a pork shoulder roast, made a paste of Italian dry herbs, garlic, salt, pepper and some olive oil. Rolled it up, salted the outside and let it sit in the fridge for a couple of hours (I'd have done overnight but... I want to cook NOW).

    Like some KBB in the 22" Weber with SNS and while those were coming to temp, I opened the Smoke. First off, I appreciated that they packaged it in a box just big enough to hold it and not some huge, oversized thing (Amazon does that). Wrapped in butcher paper to cushion it, not plastic. Kudos for that.

    Opening the box, I was impressed by how solid the sender and receiver both are. There's no squeak, flex or anything. Displays are big, have good contrast and are really easy to read. Probes feel much more durable than the Maverick ones I had. The unit comes with 2 probes, one for the air temp in the cooker (easy to tell, it's got a snub nose, not a pointy one) and one for the meat.

    Programming it was... simple. I like trying to do things like this without looking at the docs to see how intuitive it is and... it's easy. You can set low and high alarms for each probe and that took, literally, about a minute.

    I'll update as things proceed, but the pork is being bathed in apple wood smoke, right now and, as you can see from the top temp, not close to done.

    here's a shot of the receiver, Apple Watch for scale.

    Click image for larger version  Name:	IMG_0339.jpeg Views:	0 Size:	83.6 KB ID:	798264​
    Last edited by rickgregory; January 31, 2020, 04:32 PM.

    #2
    Good job you got the right color!

    Comment


    • rickgregory
      rickgregory commented
      Editing a comment
      Yeah, I like green as a color and I wanted something that I could easily spot in a drawer etc.

    #3
    I have always been impressed with the quality of the Thermoworks products. They definitely feel solid and well made. I know I have banged my around quite a bit over the years and it still works flawlessly.

    The next time probes go on sale though pick up a couple extras. They don't last forever and the time you really need one is when one will stop working. Mine tend to last 2-3 years but I am pretty rough with the cables.

    Comment


      #4
      And... outdoor cook aborted. It's 55F and a bit windy but even with 2 vents on the weber closed and one at 1/4 open, the thing WILL NOT stay below 300F. The seal of the lid is... not good but I don't have the sealer strip and so can't improve that easily right now. I'll get that and try again but the pork is moving to the oven. Hey, at least the Smoke will tell me if 275 is really 275 in my oven, right?

      Comment


      • RonB
        RonB commented
        Editing a comment
        The Smoke will tell you the range of temps that might average your set temp. If your set temp is, (just sayin'), 280F, The oven temp should fluctuate the same amount above and below that. If not, you can google instructions on how to adjust your model oven.
        Last edited by RonB; January 31, 2020, 07:05 PM.

      #5
      What were you cooking? 300F is the new trend for hot and fast....

      You must have an old kettle like my old 1997 model that I gave away last year, if you have the 3 intake vents. I never used the SNS in it, but did do the "snake" method for smoking. Where was your top vent set?

      Comment


      • rickgregory
        rickgregory commented
        Editing a comment
        Top vent was 1/2 way (this is very old, yes). 300F would have been OK but it kept climbing and I have work to do so I couldn't babysit the alarm. I could have set it really high so it never went off, but... eh.

      #6
      OK a couple of MINOR things.

      The bottom and top of the Smoke receiver are curved, which means you can't just stand it up without support. Not a big deal and obviously you can lay it on its side. They do include a lanyard that attached to the bottom of the receiver if you like that.

      A plus.. the alarm is loud. The sending unit alarm was clearly audible through the sliding glass door when it was outside so even if you misplaced or turned off the receiver you'd probably hear an alarm.

      another plus... the back of the sending unit has 2 magnets on it so you could fix it to a steel sideboard, etc pretty easily. It IS plastic, so I'd not stick it to the smoker.

      The sending unit has a Calibration mode if you want to make sure it's accurate (they claim it is +/- 1.8F from the factory).

      Finally, the sending unit can turn the transmitter off if you don't need it for some reason which will help battery life a bit.
      Last edited by rickgregory; January 31, 2020, 05:48 PM.

      Comment


      • jfmorris
        jfmorris commented
        Editing a comment
        Since I normally use the remote I mute the alarm on the outside unit. You can do this by pressing the VOL button several times until it turns the volume to off.

      #7
      I have and rely on The Smoke also. Its a good unit I think. I would be careful with the stand on the back of the main unit that can be pulled out so it can sit up at an angle. I managed to break mine off one day. No big deal really as I just lay it down on its back. Ditto with what jfmorris said about turning off the audible alarm on the receiver. I do that often as the alarm is indeed loud. I might point out that there is a sale which is said by the company to be ending soon on the smoke gateway. Its half off right now! I just purchased it myself but have not yet had the time to download the app to my iphone and sinc everything so I cannot give an opinion on it, but I do like the Smoke unit.

      Comment


      • Rolo Tomassi
        Rolo Tomassi commented
        Editing a comment
        I bought a Smoke in April ‘19. The kickstand is not necessary but occasionally nice. Have broken the kickstand twice (my fault, but it is fragile). Each time, I called Thermoworks (and offered to pay the second time). Each time, a free replacement was mailed that day. Good customer service.

      #8
      Thank you for that info Rolo Tomassi ! I will give them a call. Never even thought of it as mine is out of warranty (I guess).....come to think about it I don't know what the warranty time period is. I have had mine maybe 2 years.


      UPDATE:

      After reading comments here that Thermoworks might replace the kickstand, I just got off the phone with them out in UT. I told them I did not know if I was in warranty or not and while it was not life or death that it would be nice to get it fixed. She looked up my shipping address to verify where to send me my free replacement. Catch this: She indicated that it does not matter whether it is in warranty or not, they will replace the kickstand if it ever breaks, period. This is a professional company!
      Last edited by Alabama Smoke; February 5, 2020, 03:35 PM.

      Comment


      • jfmorris
        jfmorris commented
        Editing a comment
        2 year warranty on the Smoke I believe. I called last year with issues with my dedicated remote no longer connecting, they had me ship both the smoke and remote to them for testing, they shipped it back with a brand new remote. I was right at the end of the warranty period.

      #9
      To protect the LCD on the sender I make a little aluminum foil "tent". The sun gets pretty hot down here.

      Comment


      • Michael_in_TX
        Michael_in_TX commented
        Editing a comment
        Good point. I have a little cardboard box that covered the the Smoke when the sun is high in the sky during the summer.

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