Thermoworks ThermaQ vs. Smoke

egghead43

I have a ThermaQ and really like it.  I ended up getting it because I had terrible luck with the Maverick units pairing.  I see that the Smoke is basically like the Maverick, but better in some ways.  I'd really like to have the remote monitoring ability of the Smoke.  I kind of hate to buy another unit though after investing over $200 in the ThermaQ plus probes.  Thoughts?  

Big_Green_Craig

In my experience, having a spare is a necessary element. At some point, one of them will fail and it will probably be at the most important time. You could always use the ThermaQ in addition to the Smoke. 

blasting

@egghead43 I have both units you mentioned.  The remote function of the smoke makes it my go to unit.  The only thing I don't like about the smoke are the pro series probes, but this is outweighed by the convenience.  I have one of those 2200 degree probes, so I still use the ThermaQ when doing pizza.

abpgwolf

Before the Smoke was released, I considered the ThermaQ. There are a few ways you could monitor the ThermaQ. Here are 3 that I though of:

1. You could buy an inexpensive WiFi camera, point it at your ThermaQ & access it with your phone or laptop.  

2. If you have an old iPod touch or even an old iPhone, you could use a baby monitor app to keep an eye on your ThermaQ device. 

3. Buy a used video baby monitor at a local yard sale & use that to monitor your ThermaQ.

egghead43

Big_Green_Craig said:

In my experience, having a spare is a necessary element. At some point, one of them will fail and it will probably be at the most important time. You could always use the ThermaQ in addition to the Smoke. 

I suppose that is true.  One of my ThermaQ probes failed after one or two uses.  Thermoworks replaced it without issues, but I was out of luck for a while.

egghead43

blasting said:

@egghead43 I have both units you mentioned.  The remote function of the smoke makes it my go to unit.  The only thing I don't like about the smoke are the pro series probes, but this is outweighed by the convenience.  I have one of those 2200 degree probes, so I still use the ThermaQ when doing pizza.

I have smoked a couple of butts at once so the ability to monitor grate temp plus up to 3 meats with a combo of the ThermaQ and Smoke would be nice.

egghead43

abpgwolf said:

Before the Smoke was released, I considered the ThermaQ. There are a few ways you could monitor the ThermaQ. Here are 3 that I though of:

1. You could buy an inexpensive WiFi camera, point it at your ThermaQ & access it with your phone or laptop.  

2. If you have an old iPod touch or even an old iPhone, you could use a baby monitor app to keep an eye on your ThermaQ device. 

3. Buy a used video baby monitor at a local yard sale & use that to monitor your ThermaQ.

Not bad ideas, but the $99 for the Smoke and use of the ThermaQ as needed might make more sense.  I know the ThermaQ is a more precise instrument, but +/- 2 degrees isn't really necessary for smoking.

Mickey

I gave away $500 in wires, probes, and monitors. I have no wires and am a very happy Egger. You do not need them. I do have two Thermapens. 

HeavyG

egghead43 said:

I have a ThermaQ and really like it.  I ended up getting it because I had terrible luck with the Maverick units pairing.  I see that the Smoke is basically like the Maverick, but better in some ways.  I'd really like to have the remote monitoring ability of the Smoke.  I kind of hate to buy another unit though after investing over $200 in the ThermaQ plus probes.  Thoughts?  

Buy the Smoke and see if it meets your needs.

If so, sell the ThermaQ/probes to recoup some of your investment.

Even tho I have quite a few temp reading gizmos, wired and wireless, I pretty much agree with @Mickey - you really don't need them. I actually never even use them for most of the stuff I grill/bbq. Things like ribs and butts will let you know when they are ready as there is no one magic internal temp that always works for all butts.

egghead43

Mickey said:

I gave away $500 in wires, probes, and monitors. I have no wires and am a very happy Egger. You do not need them. I do have two Thermapens. 

HeavyG said:

egghead43 said:

I have a ThermaQ and really like it.  I ended up getting it because I had terrible luck with the Maverick units pairing.  I see that the Smoke is basically like the Maverick, but better in some ways.  I'd really like to have the remote monitoring ability of the Smoke.  I kind of hate to buy another unit though after investing over $200 in the ThermaQ plus probes.  Thoughts?  

Buy the Smoke and see if it meets your needs.

If so, sell the ThermaQ/probes to recoup some of your investment.

Even tho I have quite a few temp reading gizmos, wired and wireless, I pretty much agree with @Mickey - you really don't need them. I actually never even use them for most of the stuff I grill/bbq. Things like ribs and butts will let you know when they are ready as there is no one magic internal temp that always works for all butts.

I'm not that confident yet.  I like not having to open the Egg while smoking a butt.

Mickey

egghead43 said:

Mickey said:

I gave away $500 in wires, probes, and monitors. I have no wires and am a very happy Egger. You do not need them. I do have two Thermapens. 

HeavyG said:

egghead43 said:

I have a ThermaQ and really like it.  I ended up getting it because I had terrible luck with the Maverick units pairing.  I see that the Smoke is basically like the Maverick, but better in some ways.  I'd really like to have the remote monitoring ability of the Smoke.  I kind of hate to buy another unit though after investing over $200 in the ThermaQ plus probes.  Thoughts?  

Buy the Smoke and see if it meets your needs.

If so, sell the ThermaQ/probes to recoup some of your investment.

Even tho I have quite a few temp reading gizmos, wired and wireless, I pretty much agree with @Mickey - you really don't need them. I actually never even use them for most of the stuff I grill/bbq. Things like ribs and butts will let you know when they are ready as there is no one magic internal temp that always works for all butts.

I'm not that confident yet.  I like not having to open the Egg while smoking a butt.

You will not need to open the Egg till near the end of the cook anyway. Not going to let much smoke out then. Just saying I am much happier w/o wires. 

HeavyG

egghead43 said:

Mickey said:

I gave away $500 in wires, probes, and monitors. I have no wires and am a very happy Egger. You do not need them. I do have two Thermapens. 

HeavyG said:

egghead43 said:

I have a ThermaQ and really like it.  I ended up getting it because I had terrible luck with the Maverick units pairing.  I see that the Smoke is basically like the Maverick, but better in some ways.  I'd really like to have the remote monitoring ability of the Smoke.  I kind of hate to buy another unit though after investing over $200 in the ThermaQ plus probes.  Thoughts?  

Buy the Smoke and see if it meets your needs.

If so, sell the ThermaQ/probes to recoup some of your investment.

Even tho I have quite a few temp reading gizmos, wired and wireless, I pretty much agree with @Mickey - you really don't need them. I actually never even use them for most of the stuff I grill/bbq. Things like ribs and butts will let you know when they are ready as there is no one magic internal temp that always works for all butts.

I'm not that confident yet.  I like not having to open the Egg while smoking a butt.

I have the predecessor to the ThermaQ (the TW-8060?) and it was fine for butts because the only temps that mattered were what was going on in the last hour or two of a six, eight, ten hour cook, so I didn't even bother going outside to look at it until then.

Big_Green_Craig

egghead43 said:

Big_Green_Craig said:

In my experience, having a spare is a necessary element. At some point, one of them will fail and it will probably be at the most important time. You could always use the ThermaQ in addition to the Smoke. 

I suppose that is true.  One of my ThermaQ probes failed after one or two uses.  Thermoworks replaced it without issues, but I was out of luck for a while.

One of my injectors blew a gasket on Thanksgiving morning. Luckily, I had a backup. 

SaintJohnsEgger

I have a FlameBoss 200 and 2 Mavericks.  I used the FB200 for my Thanksgiving turkey with the meat probe in the breast and use a Maverick probe for the thigh temp.