A Sad End to an Era

[Jim White]

Sigh. I have been a customer of BBQ Guru for just over 18 years. I bought my first controller from them in the fall of 2005 as I purchased my lovely black tile huge Kamado Number 9. Over the years, I upgraded several times as their controller technology evolved. Their entry into WiFi was ragged, but I persevered and, in hindsight, the CyberQ Cloud was reliable.

But when I went to my LSG Adjustable, I was obsessed with the possibilities suggested by the UltraQ, as having an app along with Bluetooth and WiFi had me thinking this would indeed be the "Ultra". So as I gave my Kamado to my friend John, I sent the old CyberQ Cloud with it and installed UltraQ on the Adjustable.

After a few false starts, I had several cooks where everything seemed to work just fine. And then in May of this year, I just could not keep the UltraQ and ShareMyCook (the app itself doesn't record and store cooks, the controller has to connect to the ShareMyCook website for that) talking to each other.

Here was the workaround from BBQ Guru in May:

Sorry to hear that you are experiencing an issue with your UltraQ connecting to WiFi. This is a reason the controller seems to freeze during your cook. Our developers are aware of the issue and are working to improve WiFi connectivity within the next three weeks. Until the update takes place you can still use your UltraQ while connected to WiFi using SMC on a Web Browser. Please follow the next steps:

Step A (Skip to Step B if WiFi credentials were previously saved)

1. Power on your UltraQ
2. Download and open your Guru App
3. Pair with your UltrQ Bluetooth
4. Create a ShareMyCook account
5. Enter your Wifi Credentials
6. Unplug your UltraQ
7. Close your Guru App on your mobile device

Step B

1. Power on your UltraQ
2. When the LED WiFi indicator turns a solid RED
3. Using your Smart Phone or WiFi-enabled device
4. Open a web browser to ShareMyCook
5. Login using the same credentials for your SMC in the mobile app
6. Your device will show Online Status: Good

That worked until just last week. And then it didn't work. ShareMyCook was convinced that my controller was offline, even when the indicator light on the controller said it was online. From my exchanges with BBQ Guru support via email, it seems pretty clear that new firmware corrected an old problem or two, but created this new problem that leaves me completely unable to record cooks.

Their first response to my description of the problem was to tell me to just keep entering the credentials for my WiFi:

To know for sure if you are online check to see if you are able to select the Start Recording Cook button under your temp probe readings on the Home Screen. (see screenshot). If you do not see this as an option. Enter your WiFi credentials again.

Note: This is the next improvement we are working on. Making it easier and more reliable to connect to SMC.

I didn't respond to this very kindly. My response was along the lines of "Is this all you have?" and even went to something like "This was a very expensive purchase and it has never performed as claimed. Is there any reason I shouldn't ask my wife to buy me a FireBoard 2 Pro system for Christmas?".

Their response:

We apologize for the issues you experienced with the UltraQ. The WiFi connectivity issue you experience is our top priority. We understand that are unhappy with our product and will consider other options. Our developers have been able to fix many issues including the temps freezing issue, We will not stop improving the UltraQ until it works for every user every time at any time of the year.

We thank you for your feedback.

So my final reply was to reiterate that in fixing a problem that was merely inconvenient, they went to making the product impossible to use.

To which they replied:

We are aware of the issue and is a part of our making WiFi more reliable. The issue is with the shaking of hands in SMC.

Which more or less confirms that they have made it impossible.

So after 18 years, BBQ Guru has lost me as a customer.

I had been in discussion with ItsAllGoneToTheDogs earlier in the week, since I had identified the FireBoard 2 Pro as my target if I go to a new system. Greg was one of the few people on here who has said they have one. Greg likes his and I'd like to go to this since the probes can go up over 1000 degrees and that sounds great for when I'm searing on my Adjustable. Greg doesn't have the blower, but my other reason for a new system is that I have the smaller BBQ Guru fan on my system now and it is slow in raising temperatures via the fan. A bigger fan would be really nice to have.

So the odds are I will pull the trigger later today on the FireBoard. Greg had suggested waiting to see Black Friday pricing, but it looks like all they're offering is a couple of free probes (which won't work on the 2, I will try to talk to them about that) and some probe pouches. Thermworks is offering $85 off on Signals, but those probes only go to 700.

So what say you, Pit? Do I go all in and spend more on the FireBoard or save some bucks and go Signals? Any compelling reasons for one over the other?

[klflowers]

Are you really asking us this??? Seriously though, if my Maverick dies, or if I inadvertently attach it to a hot kettle like someone else did recently (I saw the post but I forgot who posted it) I will probably get a fireboard. Everyone that has one seems to be pretty impressed with it.

[Jim White]

Well, I just want to have good back-up when I say that only the expensive one will do.

[ItsAllGoneToTheDogs]

They still might do a better sale on cyber monday... also the probe pouches suck for k probes, I gave them away.

I do like the stackable probe spools though. Dont remember if they are thermoworks or fireboard branded bit ill check when i get home

[Jim White]

I have set of the spools. They’re Thermoworks and I had already planned to keep them. So I guess I will wait for Monday. Thanks.

[DaveD]

I don't have the Pro, but I love the FB2. Their customer support has been excellent, too. I haven't touched my Meater+ in months...

[Jim White]

Oooh. Thanks for that. Part of my justification here is that with the 2 Pro, I won't need a Meater+ or Combustion, Inc predictive probe.

[fzxdoc]

Get the Fireboard. You'll never regret it. Not only is it a solid piece of equipment, the ability to chart (and photograph) your cooks is a huge timesaver from keeping a handwritten journal. Plus your cooks are easily searchable. I love that feature. Before that, I was writing each cook up in Microsoft Word table form .

I reference my previous cook logs all the time; even if I know how to cook something, like say a brisket or chicken, sometimes I put little notes about the prep/rub/ etc. in the Fireboard log that comes in handy the next time I'm doing it, or if someone here asks about cook times, etc. it's easy to reference the Fireboard log.

Plus Fireboard has those short skinny Competition probes that are great for fish, BS Chicken, or
ribs.

Kathryn

P.S. I don't have their fan; I have a Pit Viper instead. I like the round opening on the Pit Viper. but you do you, as the kids used to say.

[Jim White]

fzxdoc Yes, I still have many years of cooks recorded on ShareMyCook. It's just that most of them are on my old Kamado and therefore less informative for cooking on my LSG. There is only the recording with labels for the probes, though, because I never actually put in notes. Maybe as I move to FireBoard I'll start putting in more information and notes.

[hoovarmin]

I don't know how I'd use the Pit Viper fan fzxdoc but the multiple probes sounds really cool. With my Kamado it's really easy to dial in and hold temps and the Lang as well. If I stilled used my Kettle or my PBC I think a fan would be great, but the Kamado arrived like a firstborn child that makes the pups into outdoor pets.

[fzxdoc]

I hear you, hoovarmin . That's why Mr. Fancypants (the WSCGC) has yet to be adapted with a fan. I have the fan and adapter for it, but it honestly runs so solid that I've never felt the need to install the ATC feature. You'll love the 6 probe ports on the Fireboard, the readout, and the journaling capabilities. I usually journal on the fly with photos using my phone and then the next day I clean up the writeup, save to Fireboard's cloud, and also copy/paste it into my backup Word document.

K.

[DaveD]

Another huge plus for the FB2 is having six input ports. For a data junkie like me, that's ideal! The FB app's analysis feature is as accurate as the Meater's is, which is to say not hugely accurate until pretty late in the game when you can pretty much predict the finishing time by yourself anyway. Like Kathryn, I also makes lots of notations and include pics as well so that I can remember what the heck I did later...

[Jim White]

Dave,

It’s partly for data, data, data. But with the Adjustable, it will be slick to go from normal cook temperature to sear by just raising the fire grate without having to remove probes first. Or the reverse of that for a front sear. And then I’ll have the full record of the cook in all its glorious detail.

[Jim White]

Also, too, Dave, with these probes an uncontrolled temperature excursion would be more likely to result in only the loss of the food without also having the “order of shame” for replacing the probes.

[ItsAllGoneToTheDogs]

while the pro only has 3, I'm fine with 1 ambient and 1 protein, I rarely use more than 2.

[GolfGeezer]

My add to this for Fireboard is that you can access all your data and live sessions through all the Apps - Android, Apple or their web interface on a PC or Mac. I have the FB2 with 6 ports, plus the Spark (which is convenient for single probe cooks in kitchen oven, plus its instant read probe). I don't have any need for the fan functions (yet!). You will be satisfied with it I am sure.

[Polarbear777]

Keep your guru fan and adapter m. Barrel plug and 0-12 V works great with the fireboard. Or just get a fan from guru.

I’ve had some glitches with the fireboards maybe a few times a year where I have to hard reset them. It’s still software and there are bugs. But I’ve tried 3 other systems and they were all far far worse.

I got the fireboard pro and long K- cables from ThermoWorks and I have ent had to replace anything in 2+ years of running my system.

[Polarbear777]

I use the pit bull fan works great.

[fzxdoc]

I like my Pit Bull fan a lot as well. Is there a drive cable port in the Fireboard2, Polarbear777? I have the Fireboard 1 which of course needs the drive cable for the Pit Viper.

K.

[Polarbear777]

I have the old fireboard which needed a seperate cable and the pro. The pro has the barrel plug and I think the FB2 does also. I got the pro because there are lots more options with thermoworks K-type cables (high temp, length,etc).
I would probably have the ThermoWorks controller but they use a different fan plug and the fireboard works too well to replace.

[texastweeter]

58limited turns out some great que with his analog bimetal thermometers, a chief tablet, number 2 pencil, and times it with his sundial.

[Panhead John]

texastweeter 😂😂 just spit my coffee out.

[58limited]

You better believe it, I was BBQing long before fancy advanced technology like charcoal briquets came about.

[gcdmd]

58limited
Something like this?

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/490329478158696421/

[Mister C]

I too switched to FB2 after my Redi-Chek went bye bye, or so I thought. By the time it decided to cooperate again, it was too late . I guess having a backup is nice.

Overall, I've really liked it. Has some interface QoL things that I didn't think I'd appreciate. For example:

Backlit LCD is excellent and very readable, and it has multiple views you can cycle through to see what you want.

Never had any issues connecting quick to wifi routers, and was able to connect to multiple routers without forgetting previous ones whenever I've gone on the road. Also, this thanksgiving I realized the battery had totally gone, but a quick charge up and it still retained the wifi memory. Nice.

Starts up a logged session as soon as it detects a probe, which is nice so you don't have to remember. For cleanliness' sake, I always delete that auto-generated one and create a new one right before I put the meat on, otherwise you get a long tail at the beginning of the graph with just the ambient probe readout. Simple to do, though, and I like that you can monitor via website or app. Renaming sessions, probes, and setting limits is also very simple.

I know there are a handful of features I haven't touched yet, but I'm interested and happy enough with it that I plan to pick up the Drive cable and get to drilling a hole in the kettle. IMO it deserves the plaudits it gets. Good luck on making the switch!

[Mosca]

That stinks about BBQ Guru. I have a DigiQ2, a DigiQ3, and a CyberQ. The DQ3 came with a glitch, I don’t remember how it manifested. They emailed me that it was probably a pinched wire, and to take the case apart and look; it was a pinched wire. That fixed it, but it wasn’t overly confidence inspiring.

I got the CyberQ used from Mongo_Only_Pawn. It’s been great, once I learned how to set it up; it’s never disconnected. Honestly I don’t know if it’s hooked up Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth, or what; all I remember is that it was really frustrating, the instructions were unclear, and once it worked 1) I was shocked I got it to work, and 2) It has worked every single time since, for the last 3 years. I’m actually pretty amazed at that.

If I were to buy again, I would probably also choose Fireboard, and that was before reading your post. The feedback loop itself is pretty simple, but I’ve gotten the impression that Guru is trying to paste newer tech onto older hardware, skipping development of the interface; your experience confirms that. Without actually knowing what I’m talking about, I nevertheless have the feeling that solving that problem would be easier with newer hardware and electronics.

[Bob K]

fzxdoc I have the FB1 and FB2. The 2 does have a dedicated port for the Drive blower, and it works as expected, though I recommend having a battery pack connected for extended cooks. I got the 2 because the display is fantastic, but I do still use both, especially if I’m using 2 cookers at once. The app is brilliant as others have noted, it even displays both units’ readings at once, as in the pic where I had 2 turkeys going plus ambient probes

[KimO]

I have the FB2 and love it. It is durable and I too love its documentation abilities and drive capability. Originally I had their drive motor but it had a flaw with my big green egg. The drive's plate that rides along the egg's surface is flat the egg's surface is curved causing an air gap. This air gap was significant enough to impact the temperature within the egg. I switched to the pit viper and their plate was much shorter and allowed the air gap to be much smaller. Also, I much preferred the air controller mechanism at the fan. Love the pit viper fan. Thanks for the recommendation Spinaker!

[Spinaker]

You bet. To me, it just seems like a better unit overall.

[ItsAllGoneToTheDogs]

Jim White well doesn't look like they are gonna do anything with the Pro2. Just got the cyber Monday email and it's the same as black Friday, I'd call them Monday for sure to see if they might do something

[TxF]

The only thing I can say about the Fireboard is I’ve had on since almost the beginning and even though I leave it out side about 6 months out of the year it won’t quit so I can get one of the new ones. Other than replacing a few probes over the years the only issue I’ve had was the cable to connect the fan went bad after 2 years. Emailed Fireboard and I believe we traded, they sent one and I sent mine to them and the problem was solved for no $$ on my part.

[Jerod Broussard]

Give me your address, I'll "theft" the old one. I'll even find a LSU shirt to wear when I do it.

[TxF]

If you have one of those attack dog suits and a built proof vest you can show up when ever you want. Seems like a good challenge for everyone.