Brian.Leblanc
New member
I have had a WSM 18 for 5 years now that I monitored with an old maverick bluetooth thermometer. I decided I wanted to be able to leave the house for an hour or two while smoking and be able to monitor the smoker. I also wanted the data that people are collecting from smart thermometers.
I started with the Inkbird IBBQ-4BW. I ordered from Amazon for $120. The thermometer seemed well built. The instructions were not easy to follow. I was able to easily pair the thermometer with my phone over bluetooth. Configuring the thermometer to connect to wifi so I could leave the house was not very intuitive but I eventually figured it out. The deal breaker was that the current version of their iOS app in May 2021 only sends ONE notification when your food reaches temperature or when the smoker goes out of range. This was not obvious in a lot of the reviews. This was not going to work for me so I returned it.
I looked at the meater thermometers. I don't rotisserie so the wires are not a huge thing for me. The pluses for these devices seem to be the intuitive app and its ability to predict when your food will be done. What I didn't like here was the inability to control a blower and the fact that the probes have two sections to them. The section closer to the tip monitors the meat and the section closer to the square end monitors the ambient temperature. The inner part can be damaged if it is exposed to high heat. I might buy a meater plus or the two probe original meater bundle for cooking in my oven at some point in the future. I have an old iPhone that we leave in the kitchen as a house phone so bridging a short range meater wouldn't be a big problem for me.
I finally landed on the fireboard drive 2. I watched several youtube videos and the app seems very intuitive. The device can drive the fan which will be interesting for me to add to my WSM. It's a fathers day gift so I have to wait a month to use it. Looking forward to it.
I started with the Inkbird IBBQ-4BW. I ordered from Amazon for $120. The thermometer seemed well built. The instructions were not easy to follow. I was able to easily pair the thermometer with my phone over bluetooth. Configuring the thermometer to connect to wifi so I could leave the house was not very intuitive but I eventually figured it out. The deal breaker was that the current version of their iOS app in May 2021 only sends ONE notification when your food reaches temperature or when the smoker goes out of range. This was not obvious in a lot of the reviews. This was not going to work for me so I returned it.
I looked at the meater thermometers. I don't rotisserie so the wires are not a huge thing for me. The pluses for these devices seem to be the intuitive app and its ability to predict when your food will be done. What I didn't like here was the inability to control a blower and the fact that the probes have two sections to them. The section closer to the tip monitors the meat and the section closer to the square end monitors the ambient temperature. The inner part can be damaged if it is exposed to high heat. I might buy a meater plus or the two probe original meater bundle for cooking in my oven at some point in the future. I have an old iPhone that we leave in the kitchen as a house phone so bridging a short range meater wouldn't be a big problem for me.
I finally landed on the fireboard drive 2. I watched several youtube videos and the app seems very intuitive. The device can drive the fan which will be interesting for me to add to my WSM. It's a fathers day gift so I have to wait a month to use it. Looking forward to it.
