I have read ecowper 's review of the Fireboard and respect his opinion, immensely. Here is my dilemma: for Christmas I received and envelope with a card that says "You chose". My wife said it was just too confusing deciding between the following: 1 Fireboard, 2 Thermoworks smokes or a BBQ Guru. My upright stick burners are adaptable enough so that I could hook up a Guru (DigiQ). I have to make a decision soon so I can still get sale prices. 2 Thermoworks would be useful on those occasions in which I am using both BBQ's for large, large groups but that happens very infrequently. I most often cook multiple items on 1 smoker. Both are vertical units with three shelves. I have a Traeger thermometer with a receiver that works well right now for monitoring the cooking chamber temp but the meat probe temp is just off. No opinions from you all are bad opinions. I posted this originally in the middle of another thread and didn't get feedback. Any stick burners with large smokers using a Guru/DigiQ or other brand out there with pros and cons - advice appreciated.
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How about replacing the broken probe?-
LA Pork Butt - That's actually a good point and one I hadn't considered. Thanks. -
LA Pork Butt - I am taking your advice and will replace the meat thermo for the unit I have. I have a Vision Grill that sits away from the other Q's near the house. It's where I put single butts and briskets for through the night cooks. Hadn't thought of that, Thanks!
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One thing to think about tbob4 is that with the Fireboard and all the probes, you could monitor the grill temp on each stick burner and up to 4 hunks of meat. You just need to label each probe correctly in your cook session so that you don't get confused about what probe is doing what.
I've never been very excited about a Guru. I love managing my fire myself.
I really like the Thermoworks Smoke based on all the reviews and on knowing just how good their other gear is (I have a single probe monitor, and two thermapens) .... I just wish they had more probes on the unit.
Guess that wasn't much help :-)Comment
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I have a Smoke, and I really like it. A lot. As per the reviews, it is built like a tank, syncs immediately with no fuss, and has very good range. The alarms are unbelievably easy to set. The only thing I don't like, and it's really minor, is that the remote doesn't have a stand or a belt clip. It does come with a lanyard, though. I would also like more colors, but that may come later.
Oh, I almost forgot. The Thermoworks probes are all 47" cable length, much better than the standard 3 feet for Maverick. And the Smoke uses the pro-series probes, which are all interchangeable with the Dot, and the Chef Alarm.
All that said, if you don't see the need for two Smokes, I would go for the Fireboard, just because you can! It sounds like you can do a lot with it.
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I don't use a guru, but do you want/need 6 probes for one cooker? If only 4 then the Fireboard may be overkill (not that you have to use or even buy all 6 of course). 2 Smokes would get you 4 probes of course, but as you mention there's also the ability to use them on 1 or 2 separate cookers and has its own dedicated receiver(s)..... Fireboard is quite impressive with the ability to use up to 6, and graphing, and bluetooth and WiFi, but requires a mobile device for the receiver... You could always buy some probe extension wires (a novel idea from Fireboard, kudos on that!) to run probes to a neighboring cooker possibly, and get by with using 2 cookers and one device... I don't own a Fb and I certainly don't need one but that seems to be quite the unit. I've never been a fan of the idea of needing a smartphone or tablet, etc, to use my thermometer but I certainly see its benefits with the cloud and the graphing if that's your thing (not mine).Comment
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I think Huskee has a good point here. What is the key criteria for you for your thermometers? And will it bother you to need to access your phone, tablet or laptop to get your temps? Doesn't bother me since I'm pretty much always connected anyhow. Here's what seems like the key criteria to me. These are not in order of priority
1. Accurate temperatures
2. Quick/instant read
3. Broad temperature range
4. Multiple probes
5. Remote monitoring (could be using WiFi, Bluetooth, or standard RF)
6. Ability to monitor from anywhere
7. Ability to retain data and cooking sessions
8. Data visualization
9. Weather proof
10. Durability
11. Price
12. Access information via phone/tablet/computer
13. Ease of use
14. Able to monitor multiple grills/smokers
I think if you prioritize these, and consider whether some are necessary, or desired, you can probably make your decision. :-)Comment
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If you only need 4 probes, and don't need logging, I'd go with two Smoke Thermometers. They're my favorite.
If you need 5 or 6 probes and data logging the Fireboard is the way to go. The downside is you'll have to fuss with using a mobile device and put up with software and firmware updates.Comment
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I pulled the trigger on the Fireboard. It's on back-order. The deciding factors were: It was cheaper than a DigiQ. The capability of one day adding a fan was nice. I live on an acre and the BBQ area is back and around a corner a bit so I wasn't sure if the Smoke signal would go through walls. My Wi-Fi will reach it, though. My wife said - "Half the fun you have is checking on things and moving the wood around. If you buy the fan and don't ever have to do anything you may not have as much fun." Hopefully the notifications are loud enough to wake me up if I decide on a through the night cook. Thanks to everyone on this thread for their feedback. It has been very greatly appreciated as it was my Christmas present.Comment
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Huskee I have a Party Q which I use less than 25% of the time. I can't say I like fiddling with the temp, but I can set my cooker on low and slow, and it holds the temp as well as it does with the Party Q.
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I was watching a Youtube video by Troy Cooks. He said an interesting thing. ( It makes since once you think about it) he has a Yoder Off Set and has a DigiQ set up for it. What he said is the DigiQ will not make a Off Set set it and forget it. It will help keep temp. But you will still have to go out every 30 to 45 min and stoke the fire or add more wood. so while it helps some it wont work like on a Kamado that can go 9, 10 to 14 hours with out much (if any) fire manipulation. So I would look more into the Fireboard, or Thermoworks smokes before the DigiQ. (hopefully that helps narrow down your choice)Comment
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