New from ThermoWorks: RFX wireless meat probe thermometer


 
Chris Allingham

Chris Allingham

Administrator
Staff member
I'm not a user of these "stick in meat" wireless meat probes, but I know some are and I got THREE emails this morning from ThermoWorks trumpeting the arrival of the new RFX wireless meat probe thermometer that can withstand direct temps of up to 1000*F and can supposedly RELIABLY transmit through metal cooker walls using sub-GHz radio frequency technology. Maybe the most shocking spec is that you can track up to 50 of these suckers at once, which sounds like a commercial kitchen play to me. They've also got Tuffy Stone and Jeremy Yoder singing the praises of this thing.

Anyway, if anyone wants to learn more about RFX by ThermoWorks, here's our affiliate link. They're taking pre-orders now.

RFX Wireless

www.thermoworks.com www.thermoworks.com
 
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I bought a Thermpro twin tempspike two months ago, otherwise I would definitely go for the RFX. Looks very nice and better build and features.
One thing that I don't understand, why is the ambient sensor wired? This adds a failure point and makes it more cumbursome to use.
 
I heard Kenji Lopez-Alt mention an expensive wireless meat probe thermometer called the Combustion Inc. Predictive Thermometer that has 8 sensors built into the stem, using them to determine lowest internal temp at the center of the meat, the meat surface temp, and the ambient air temp.

It looks like RFT from ThermoWorks has 4 sensors that attempt to determine internal temp at the center of the meat.

Yair Halamish said:
One thing that I don't understand, why is the ambient sensor wired?
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From their webpage:

"Competitors’ built-in ambient sensors give inaccurate readings as cold meat acts as a heat sink, pulling heat from the metal probe and skewing the measurement of the ambient sensor by 75°F or more. Even if these sensors were accurate, they're placed in an evaporative cooling zone around the meat. This means your ambient sensor is not reading the accurate temperature of your cooker. Our Pro-Series® Air Probe plugs directly into RFX GATEWAY for precise placement and true ambient temperature measurements."

Maybe they need a less expensive wireless clip-on ambient sensor that works with this system.

Also interesting:

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I like it and really love all my Thermoworks products. I have 8 probes with Signals and smoke x and likely would only get this if my wife or kids got it for me for Christmas. I'd likely wait for a sale down the road.
 
Yair Halamish said:
I bought a Thermpro twin tempspike two months ago, otherwise I would definitely go for the RFX. Looks very nice and better build and features.
One thing that I don't understand, why is the ambient sensor wired? This adds a failure point and makes it more cumbursome to use.
Click to expand...
Most ambient sensors on wireless probes are wildly inaccurate. They are by nature too close to the food to get an accurate reading. They have to insulate the heck out of them so that even if they did read somewhat accurately they aren't responsive enough to temp changes. This makes them kind of useless in anything but a situation where the temp is rock steady (and in that case you usually have a good idea what the temp is anyway). They are garbage for an offset smoker for instance that will have temperature swings. Thermoworks is smart by doing away with the ambient sensor on the food probe. It allows the probe to handle much higher ambient temperatures.

Now it seems to me the answer would be to come up with some kind of separate wireless ambient probe. The problem is you don't have the meat (which is mostly water) giving thermal protection to the probe. If you insulate the probe too much you lose responsiveness. So it's an engineering challenge that they probably haven't solved yet. A wired ambient probe is a decent compromise.

I have a Meater+ that I almost never use. I tend to gravitate back to the Thermoworks wired products. I like the idea of this product because I'm generally pretty bad at properly placing my probes in the meat. The multiple probe sensors are really nice.
 
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I am also tempted, but I just bought a second probe on Facebook marketplace for my Meater + and it does work without having to have the Meater block. According to Traeger support 4 probes are supported by the Meater app :)
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I like it.
All fine and dandy, sure would have liked to see better sliced cooked photos of the cooks.
I can put a probe in meat and under and over cook meat chicken and fish. Just my 2 cents.
 
Me likey.
Re: The wired ambient probe. Could a second wireless probe be used to measure ambient temp? (Drill out the grate clip to accommodate the thicker wireless probe).
 
TonyUK said:
Me likey.
Re: The wired ambient probe. Could a second wireless probe be used to measure ambient temp? (Drill out the grate clip to accommodate the thicker wireless probe).
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No the meat serves as an insulator for the wireless probe.
 
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@Bruno

Correct. I asked the same question to the tech gurus at TW. Quote: "It is not recommended to use an RFX Meat probe to measure the ambient temperatures inside your smoker. The probes are designed to operate in the conditions of being placed in food."
 
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