ThermoWorks Billows


 
Also - watch out for the Sam's club house brand briquettes. I bought some, thinking it looked like Royal Oak red bag and would probably be fine, but it wasn't. It lit, but didn't seem to spread/stay lit with minion or snake method. It smelled OK, and the fook was good, but didn't burn very hot and made a ton of ash.
 
Wow, looked at Royal Oak's website, no mention of the Ridge version, wonder if they quit making it or if it was some cheap offshoot for certain stores as somewhat suggested above.

I unfortunately assumed it was their classic briquets with a new shape...apparently not so.
 
The one I used was the red white and blue bag that was on sale a year ago. The "Ridge" is just the shape they have that allows more airflow between the briquettes. Most Royal Oak briquettes have that now. Royal Oak is all over the place with their labeling so it's really hard to keep track of what is what. My main quibble with the Royal Oak briquettes I've used it that they are small and hard to reuse, but that's a minor complaint. I haven't seen much difference between it and KBB. Royal Oak seems slightly more neutral in flavor and that's about it. I haven't tried Embers.
 
I am extremely pleased to say with some good Timber Lump, and I thought what the heck I'm in this deep I'll get the 2 fan extension, this baby is working perfectly!
 
Bob Bass said:
Royal Oak. Their Chef's Select product. Personally, I really don't think the type of briquettes really matters. You should be able to do very well on just about any brand.
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Having a hard time finding that, do you think the RO 100% Hardwood Briquettes are essentially the same thing in a smaller package?

Also there's a rumor the Weber briquettes are the same as Chef's Select.

Any idea?
 
Bob Bass said:
Could be...
Royal Oak Chef's Select
Available in 20 and 40 lbs bags.

Do you have a Do It Best locally ?
Based on posts back a couple of years ago, Restaurant Depot might also carry it.
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When I look for Do It Best locally, I find a couple of lumber companies but it appears they also sell other household items, I may check them out.

I have a friend with a Restaurant Depot membership, I'll have him check it out.

Thanks!
 
Glad I stumbled on this thread, I was thinking of getting the signals system with billows.

From what I am reading it seems like the air traveling through just one vent hole may not be enough? Why not drill one of the vent holes out bigger with a step drill? Or put in a dedicated port.

I already have a 1” hose barb put in my 22 WSM for my pitmaster IQ, I haven’t used it yet as I’m still doing mods on my new to me WSM, but it worked awesome on my weber 26.

I like the idea of having one unit do it all, but for $325 shipped I may just stick with the pitmaster and my cheap inkbird probes.
 
MKovach said:
When I look for Do It Best locally, I find a couple of lumber companies but it appears they also sell other household items, I may check them out.

I have a friend with a Restaurant Depot membership, I'll have him check it out.

Thanks!
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OK, stopped by my local Do It Best store, and they said it's out of stock, and they can't order anymore because it's been discontinued.
 
M Andreyka said:
Glad I stumbled on this thread, I was thinking of getting the signals system with billows.

From what I am reading it seems like the air traveling through just one vent hole may not be enough? Why not drill one of the vent holes out bigger with a step drill? Or put in a dedicated port.

I already have a 1” hose barb put in my 22 WSM for my pitmaster IQ, I haven’t used it yet as I’m still doing mods on my new to me WSM, but it worked awesome on my weber 26.

I like the idea of having one unit do it all, but for $325 shipped I may just stick with the pitmaster and my cheap inkbird probes.
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I added a 2nd fan (they have an adapter for that), worked like a charm once I got good charcoal.
 
MKovach said:
I added a 2nd fan (they have an adapter for that), worked like a charm once I got good charcoal.
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But they claim it’s a 50 CU foot fan or something like that and mine is only 5-15 and I have to close the damper. Doesn’t make sense why you would need a second fan
 
M Andreyka said:
But they claim it’s a 50 CU foot fan or something like that and mine is only 5-15 and I have to close the damper. Doesn’t make sense why you would need a second fan
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I can't explain it, just saying 2 worked a lot better than 1. 3 would probably be perfect, just for getting the charcoal hotspots even.

The fans don't blow constant when near temp, it cycles on and off with short puffs of air.
 
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Ok, key serms to be lighting a lot more charcoal initially when using the minion method.

Did a brisket Saturday, temperature held steady for 8-10 hours!
 
MKovach said:
Ok, key serms to be lighting a lot more charcoal initially when using the minion method.

Did a brisket Saturday, temperature held steady for 8-10 hours!
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I just got the billows system, it held the temps perfectly all day... except for the fact the actual temp was close to 50 degrees off from what the air probe said on channel 4.

I didn’t figure this out until way late in the cook, it seemed to be taking way too long so I checked the grate temp with my old Inkbird and also a second signals probe. Both confirmed that the port 4 probe was off

ThermoWorks is sending me a new one, they think it’s just a bad probe. I hope
 
I was having a little trouble with temps and finally started using the "dog bowl" manifold from my old Pitmaster IQ 110 instead of a single vent hole. It seems to have helped keep things a little more stable. Here is a recent cook, the Billows kept the temp within a 10 degree window for 18 hours. The top vent was cracked open about 1/8" or less throughout.
 

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