I put a brisket on this morning to find that my Fireboard has kicked the bucket and is not reading any of my probes. I checked the probes with my igrill and they seem to be performing just fine. I am looking to replace this unit and looking at options. I know all of the problems that came with the Meater product due to shipping dates from their Kickstarter campaign ; however, they seem to have good reviews and I like the idea of wireless probes since that is what usually fails with units. I am also looking at the flameboss as well but don't know much about it. Wanting to check with the OB to see what your real world recommendations would be. The unit would be used with my primo and offset in the backyard. Wifi monitoring would be mandatory.

TIA

Most of the reviews that I've seen from people that finally got the meater in were disappointed with performance. The signal isnt going to travel very far if you have it in inside a metal offset.

How old was your fireboard and why not get another? I've used a a few different wireless thermometers and have a fireboard myself now and it's by far my favorite. They did just release a fireboard 2.0 as well that has some improvements.

I recently returned my Meater, I had the cheaper unit with the 33' range. I could maybe get that range completely outside, but at 10' with a wall between the grill and my phone it would not detect it. The longer range model may work a little better but I decided to buy a cheaper wireless off Amazon than spend $100.

I had the original iGrill back in the day... it was revolutionary at the time, but they forgot to include an off button, so the batteries had to be removed to turn it off.

I bought the newer version once that one died, at least 7-8 years ago now.

They were purchased by Weber somewhere along the way.

My main smoker is a good 20-30 feet away from where I connect to it inside, and there are multiple walls in between. I would imagine the newer ones have better range as well.

I have the Meater+ (had the Meater but gave it away because of distance) and REALLY like it! It is not, however, perfect. Here are my good and bad from using a Meater+ for 8 months. I use the Meater+ on the BGE with the PartyQ temp controller.

1. Good: Range is OK, but like many others I do not tend to go too far away from cook while it is going on. Or there is so much time to the end that I can leave and come back without fear.

2. Good/Bad: External temp, mine runs approx. 20 higher than other measurements, but really not a big deal.

3. Good: Internal Temp: perfect, absolutley spot on.

4. Good: Cook graph: you can see exactly what is going on, remember the first brisket I did and you can see the stall occur on the graph like clockwork at 155 to 160.

5. Bad/Comical: Estimated cook time. Really this is a useless feature, they really ought to consider dropping this. Using the graph you can see that the algorithm is simply extrapolating the curve and if something has a stall it will go from 1 hour remaining to something outrageous like 23 hrs remaining. It is really only valid very near the end of a cook, but by then you know when the cook will be ready.

Might be a dumb question but are the probes universal/compatible? Meaning you can use your igrill probes with the FireBoard and FireBoard with igrill?

I have the ThermoWorks Signals and it is great. Connects to the WiFi so you can check it from anywhere.

They should be universal, I tried my fireboard probes with an old igrill and it was acknowledging the probes but the igrill fried a few years back and the temps are off by 100F. I used the fireboard roughly a couple months ago with now issues , I am curious if the summer heat and keeping it in the drawer on my primo cabinet caused the issue. I tried all 6 locations with no success but just a blinking light on the 'READ"led.

I am looking at the fireboard 2 drive version with the fan and competition cables and man is it pricey. I guess you get what you pay for as this one has treated me well for over 300 cooks over the last 3+ years. I normally only use it for long cooks and just go with the primo dome temp for chicken, pork loin and other short cooks as I know it is roughly 25-30 degrees low from the actual temp. Plan on keeping my dome temp between 2250 - 275 for the entire cook and will start probing with my thermoworks 8-9 hours in.

Love my Thermoworks Smoke.

I echo this. I have a Meater+ and have used multiple times in the last year and a half.

I have not given mine away. I like it. Estimated cook calculator is entertaining but not really very useful and it takes a while for it to get enough readings generate a ballpark estimate, but I usually know about how long it will take from experience. If it disconnects it will reconnect when you come back in range and send data that was missed.

Bottom line line I would recommend as long as you understand the range limits.

Gotcha. I wasn't sure if plugging an igrill probe into the FireBoard might've been the issue.

My pit temp probe is acting similar for my FireBoard but if I plug in a meat probe the readings pick up just fine. I assume my probe went/is going bad.

Signals
Went on sale yesterday

Is there a way to connect probes to a WiFi network and not Bluetooth to the phone and monitor things that way?

Say I want to take a short nap but the Bluetooth from my igrill hooked up to the smoker doesn't reach my phone if I'm on the couch or In my bedroom.

Signals

Absolutely cannot beat the performance of a Thermapen. Yes, it requires manual read; but it's perfectly precise. I have two other wi-fi probes I use until I get within 10 or so degrees of my cook, then it's Thermapen time.

Just ordered the Signals a few minutes ago. Thermoworks has never let down.

Get another FireBoard. Did you have issues with yours that would deter you from doing so or are you just seeing what else is out there? The fact that the Yoder YS 640S uses the FireBoard as its controller is a major reason I purchased their smoker. I have used the FireBoard for the last couple years with no complaints.

Signals+Billows

I'll second Signals + Billows

Just when I thought it was safe to go in the water, damn. Did a Tri Tip this afternoon, ya gotta try Tri Tip!!! Using my BGE, PartyQ temp controller and the Meater+. BGE set for indirect cooking at 225. Everything was going great, of course the cook time estimate was hosed, the BGE temp was spot on. Internal Set Temp for the meat was 132. Well the internal temp gets to 119 and the Meater+ says it is time to pull the meat. Well I have Grill/Smoked/BBQ'd enough to know that it ain't going to continue to cook of the grill for 13 degrees. The Meater+ does keep track of your internal temp even after recommendation to pull it. Kept the roast on until 130 internal was reached, pulled, let rest 15 minutes, final internal 133, perfect medium rare and TOTALLY delicious. Do not know what is up with the Meater+, this is the second time in a row this has happened.

I have/had the FlameBoss 300, but I just upgraded my internet to 5G and it is not compatible with 5G. Does anyone know of a temperature controller that is compatible with 5G?

Op, when it would connect to my internet, the Flame Boss 300 was excellent.

5g has shorter range and doesn't handle physical interference as good as 2.4ghz.

I know Signals is 2.4 for this reason

Just tried out my new MEATER + this Saturday on an 8 lb pork butt in my kamado joe. Didn't want a wire running out the side. Worked perfect. Best pulled pork I've ever had