Digi-Q...... Does it work?

wylievol

I won't ask if it's worth the money because that depends too much on the individual. But I'd like to hear from some folks that have one of these things about how well it REALLY holds a steady temp for long cooks. Is it reliable enough that you would leave the house to run some errands without worrying that either the fire will die or your meat will get torched? Or is there another similar device that works better? Or, am I just being a paranoid newbie thinking that I have to run out and check the pit temp every 30 minutes?

Rusty Rooster

I have used three different models from BBQ Guru, all have worked as advertised.

lousubcap

First up welcome aboard and enjoy the journey. I don't know your BGE eggsperience, but I would offer that you get comfortable setting and maintaining temperature before buying a controller; and they are a few out there.  That way, if the controller has problems during the cook you are not held hostage.

And even w/o a controller you can get the BGE stable and run errands, sleep, whatever.  FWIW-

Carolina Q

Welcome wylie. Yes, it does exactly what it claims to do. For hours on end. I put a butt on one night a while back and went to bed. Woke up the next morning and didn't even bother to go outside to check. I knew the meat wouldn't be done yet and that the egg would still be chugging along at the set temp. About 10AM when I thought it should be getting close, I went outside and the pit temp was 250°, exactly where I had set it, and the meat was about 190°... almost done, not quite.

The common suggestion though, is to learn how to set and control the temp manually before you buy a crutch. Also, I don't use mine for anything but lo n slo cooks. It's great for those, but think about how often you do such a cook. If not often, it's a ton of cash for a once in a while thing. And you don't NEED one, just a nice to have.

As for leaving the house while a fire is burning, that makes me nervous. So does going to sleep. That's why I moved my egg off of my wooden deck and onto a non-flammable surface. If something goes wrong, I might lose a butt, but I'm less likely to lose my house... or worse.

tillerman7

wylievol said:

I won't ask if it's worth the money because that depends too much on the individual. But I'd like to hear from some folks that have one of these things about how well it REALLY holds a steady temp for long cooks. Is it reliable enough that you would leave the house to run some errands without worrying that either the fire will die or your meat will get torched? Or is there another similar device that works better? Or, am I just being a paranoid newbie thinking that I have to run out and check the pit temp every 30 minutes?

If I could add a question on this topic... Is there a recommended digital controller you fellow eggers would recommend?  I know of the digi Q, but wanted to know what you folks liked and why.

Mickey

I am not the best person to touch electronics. I bought a Digi Q and sold it after the second try. I then bought the much simpler Party Q and gave it away. After that I do nothing but Turbo and now a happy Egger. No wires in anything. And I get to sleep all night.

tgkleman

I'll echo the comments that the temp controllers work as well as advertised.  I built one from a PID controller I bought from Auber Instruments, and it will hold a temp to +/- 1 degree.  It is much more precise than my oven.

f22-CH

It holds the temp for long slow cooks within a degree or two.  Had mine for three or four years now and they stand behind their product too. One of the probes went bad and they replaced it outside of the warranty peroid. I cooked a butt this weekend at 220 and it held the temp there for 19 hrs and never wavered a degree.  I support the suggestion to know how to set your temp manually before running with a Digi-Q.  The only comment I would add is when bring up the temp of the Egg, bring it up in stages.  When I set the final temp on the Digi-Q from the get go the Egg can overshoot by 20-30 degrees in my hands (fire is set from a single point in the center).  This isn't the fault of the Q.  I didn't have an overshoot be bringing the temp up to 180 and then to 210 and finally to 220.

stlcharcoal

All of the temp controllers are great.  BBQ Guru, FlameBoss, and Pitmaster.  We're a dealer for all three companies and have yet to have any complaints.  There's a bit of a learning curve (moreover, learning their limitations), then you'll be good to go.  Each has it's own plus's......none really have any negatives.

Give me a shout and I can walk you through all the differences between the units.  You can also check out the reviews on Naked Whiz--he doesn't have the IQ120, new PartyQ, or FlameBoss though.

A lot of people like the Stoker too--check that out if you're looking for Wifi.  The only one I've heard of people having problems with is the Auber--so we chose not to carry it.

Rusty Rooster

f22-CH, next time you set your Digi-Q watch it as the temp rises.  Approx. 10 degrees before your target temp it will jump ahead to your target and shut off the fan.  BBQ Guru built that into the program to keep it from overshooting your target.

Charlesmaneri

I use it on all my low and slow cook and all I'm going to say is IT WORKS !!!!!!!!!!!!

nolaegghead

It does work.  That said, I almost never use mine anymore.

r8rs4lf

I'll go out on a limb and say it's probably one of the best things I've purchased since I started egging. I use it a lot!! Whether it be 2-3 (turbo) or 5-6 (slow and low) hours for ribs, turbo pulled pork, what ever, I use it whenever I can. Why try to hold the temp manually when I can set it and forget it? I figure since I have it, why not use it? It's not hard to set up so I start my fire and away it goes. I leave my house, do what I got to do and it has never let me down. Now that I recently added a MBGE to compliment my XL, I use it on that now since I didn't have to buy anything extra to get it to work.

Carolina Q

r8rs4lf said:

Why try to hold the temp manually when I can set it and forget it?

I was looking for 400° last week. Removed the cap, lit the lump, closed the dome, adjusted the lower vent where I thought 400 should be. Came back in a bit and there it was, 400 on the nose. Does it always happen? Of course not, but it's always close enough that I won't bother with the digiQ for hot fast cooks.

r8rs4lf

Carolina Q said:

r8rs4lf said:

Why try to hold the temp manually when I can set it and forget it?

I was looking for 400° last week. Removed the cap, lit the lump, closed the dome, adjusted the lower vent where I thought 400 should be. Came back in a bit and there it was, 400 on the nose. Does it always happen? Of course not, but it's always close enough that I won't bother with the digiQ for hot fast cooks.

I get what your saying as I do the same most of the time with fast cooks. I wouldn't use the controller cooking some links or wings.

wylievol

Thanks for all the info everybody. Especially the suggestion to learn how to control temp manually first. I guess that's a whole other discussion. I sort of have it figured out but not completely I guess because my egg ALWAYS seems to be either on a slight rise or slight fall. Am I just not waiting long enough between air flow adjustments?

FATC1TY

Does the Digi-Q Dx come with everything I need to plug and play and control my BGE?

I've looked around and some controllers are just that, controllers without the blowers.

Carolina Q

a la carte. build your own system

jfm0830

In addition to the sound advice about learning your Egg before you put a pic controller on it I will add one other thing. If you don't end up going with the Pit controller, I would suggest getting a remote read thermometer, such as the Maverick ET 732 or ET 733, which has a grate probe and a food probe. You can set and over and under alarms on the grate probe and an alarm for when the food probe reaches your desired doneness temperature. For me this is enough insurance for doing low and slow cooks around the house. I have had my egg go 9 to 10 hours without me having to tweak it, assuming I get it properly stabilized before I put food on it. As for leaving the area completely, I don't like doing that for safety reasons, but in a pinch I feel pretty confident I could go away for an hour or so without any issues,.

FATC1TY

Not to hi jack here.. but whats the best cost set up for someone who might use it once or twice a month. All in together with everything one would need?

Not interested in wi-fi unless there's no real price hike, and it makes it worth it.

stlcharcoal

FATC1TY said:

Not to hi jack here.. but whats the best cost set up for someone who might use it once or twice a month. All in together with everything one would need?

Not interested in wi-fi unless there's no real price hike, and it makes it worth it.

Best bang for the buck is the IQ110......used one for years before upgrading to the 120 to run my Rebel23.  I hardly use any of the extra functions on the BGE though--I just use my Mav 733.

FlameBoss makes a nice unit too.  I've used my demo model several times, works great and is much easier to program/monitor because of the big screen. 

All of those come units with the fan and adapter.  When I order the BBQ Gurus, I have to get the fans and adapters separately.

Miked125

Works great but I would get the 5 cfm fan, I have the ten. If I could do it over I would either get the stoker and cyberq with wifii. There wasn't app support when I bought mine... My dad has the party Q which also works great.