Probe Thermometers

[PCMancini]

The latest issue (Jul/Aug 2020) of Cooks Illustrated ran a test on Remote-Probe Thermometers. Thermoworks Smoke came in as the only one "Highly Reccomended". Weber iGrill2 came in as "Not Recommended." YMMV.

Cheers,
Paul

 

[Richard in NS]

I will second that highly recommended on the Thermoworks Smoke! I love mine.

 

[LarryB]

Love Mine too!!!

 

[Bruce]

Me2

 

[BrianCal]

Mine has been nothing but trouble since Day 1. I still miss my trusty old Maverick....

 

[Jeff Boudman]

Mine has been nothing but trouble since Day 1. I still miss my trusty old Maverick....

What problems are you having?

 

[BrianCal]

Getting it to sync with the remote unit, getting it to stay calibrated. And connecting it to my phone has NEVER worked. Have been on the phone with them, have worked with them by email, and have watched every YouTube video I could find. When it works, it is fine, but it just lost the connection with the remote unit AGAIN.

 

[Bruce]

Is this the Smoke, the Smoke with Gateway or the Signals?

 

[Chris Allingham]

And connecting it to my phone has NEVER worked.

Yeah, I think you're referring to Signals.

In the Cook's Illustrated article mentioned at the top of this thread, it should be noted that while ThermoWorks Smoke was the only "Highly Recommended" remote probe thermometer, ThermoWorks Signals was "Not Recommended" because "pairing the base with the app wasn't easy, and the app is glitchy and difficult to navigate, which renders it unreliable."

Personally, I've gotten some good use out of Signals. From time to time, you do have to allow for firmware updates to complete before you use the unit, so make sure you bust out the unit and fire it up to allow for updates well before you want to insert a probe into meat.

I can also share something that's not widely known...ThermoWorks is working on a new app that (hopefully) improves reliability and usability. It's in beta testing right now. I have access to it, but don't have time to play with it. Here are some screenshots provided to me by ThermoWorks. Looks like someone is doing temp testing in a refrigerator. I can't say that I understand the difference between "High/Low" and "Max/Min".

 

[BrianCal]

Is this the Smoke, the Smoke with Gateway or the Signals?

I have the Smoke with the wireless receiver that took forever to get it working, worked for a while and now won’t connect again. And the wireless unit is the Smoke Gateway, which males a lovely paperweight....

 

[Kyle in Woodstock]

I have the iGrill mini. It works ok. Bluetooth range isn't very far, but it is cool that it tells you the temp on your smart phone