Best Temperature Controller Right Now

Hans61

The best temp controller = a seasoned pit master. That being said any of the above would be great! 

Mikea5232

I think if you have time to sit and babysit your cooker,  more power to you for having the free time to relax and enjoy.   I dairy farm and i don't have much free time.   So buying an egg with a cyber q, i can keep an eye on things when I'm busy working and can also plan things around when i need to come back to the house for wraping meats or what needs to be done.

  I love smoking and being a new egg owner i can do it any day of the week now with out worrying about my food and have less trips back to the put to check temps.    Wifi gadgets are defiantly not necessary but they will allow me and my family to enjoy the egg more often because of them.  Win win in my book.   Egg on and enjoy. 

Legume

Mikea5232 said:

I think if you have time to sit and babysit your cooker,  more power to you for having the free time to relax and enjoy.   I dairy farm and i don't have much free time.   So buying an egg with a cyber q, i can keep an eye on things when I'm busy working and can also plan things around when i need to come back to the house for wraping meats or what needs to be done.

  I love smoking and being a new egg owner i can do it any day of the week now with out worrying about my food and have less trips back to the put to check temps.    Wifi gadgets are defiantly not necessary but they will allow me and my family to enjoy the egg more often because of them.  Win win in my book.   Egg on and enjoy. 

You don't have to babysit, it's just an excuse to relax when you choose to, and of course if you have the time to...and have a beer or six.  When I tell my wife I need to tend to the egg, I get the eye roll.

Ozzie_Isaac

bgebrent said:

JohnInCarolina said:

A good old-fashioned chair and beer seems to work for me.  

That and the bottom vent.

Bottom vent?  I only use the top vent.

bgebrent

Ozzie_Isaac said:

bgebrent said:

JohnInCarolina said:

A good old-fashioned chair and beer seems to work for me.  

That and the bottom vent.

Bottom vent?  I only use the top vent.

You've always been top heavy.

Ozzie_Isaac

bgebrent said:

Ozzie_Isaac said:

bgebrent said:

JohnInCarolina said:

A good old-fashioned chair and beer seems to work for me.  

That and the bottom vent.

Bottom vent?  I only use the top vent.

You've always been top heavy.

I know my type

bgebrent

Ozzie_Isaac said:

bgebrent said:

Ozzie_Isaac said:

bgebrent said:

JohnInCarolina said:

A good old-fashioned chair and beer seems to work for me.  

That and the bottom vent.

Bottom vent?  I only use the top vent.

You've always been top heavy.

I know my type

Good to know your pocket my friend!

Mikea5232

@Legume. Babysit was a poor word choice.  The eggs good temp to well to need babysitting.   But for me just being able keep an eye on the meat when I'm busy thought the day with the cyber q is going to be nice.  

  It's going to be a great year cooking on my xl egg

westernbbq

Go to kickstarter @Hank_Stamper, they have the smobot!

Toxarch

The Smobot is $280 msrp? Eff That! I'd much rather pick up a Flame Boss 200 or a Stoker for an extra $20. 

I've got a Stoker and love it. Use it all the time on low and slow cooks. Sitting outside getting drunk alone by the grill doesn't appeal to me. I'd rather go prep food, cook sides, watch TV, go mow the lawn, work in the garage, go sleep at night, hop online, go for a walk, whatever. The Stoker let's me do those things if I want while the food cooks. If I need to check it, I can do that from my phone. And I can run multiple grills with one box.

It does take some tech savvy to set it up but that's easy for me. Though I haven't figured out how to get it to work over the internet yet. My router hates port forwarding.

Mikea5232

Toxarch said:

The Smobot is $280 msrp? Eff That! I'd much rather pick up a Flame Boss 200 or a Stoker for an extra $20. 

I've got a Stoker and love it. Use it all the time on low and slow cooks. Sitting outside getting drunk alone by the grill doesn't appeal to me. I'd rather go prep food, cook sides, watch TV, go mow the lawn, work in the garage, go sleep at night, hop online, go for a walk, whatever. The Stoker let's me do those things if I want while the food cooks. If I need to check it, I can do that from my phone. And I can run multiple grills with one box.

It does take some tech savvy to set it up but that's easy for me. Though I haven't figured out how to get it to work over the internet yet. My router hates port forwarding.

I set up the cyber q this weekend.   If you watch there how-to videos it might help you set up your stoker. Setting up the router to allow the stoker to talk to it might be very similar. 

Now if your internet provider is issuing you a different IP address than what your router has, you will have to call them and have them issue you a new port for your router and stoker to communicate on. 

Photo Egg

My new Flame Boss 300 arrived yesterday.
After getting it out of the package, took about 2 minutes to set it up, register the unit online and watch it plot my livingroom temperature.
Crazy easy to get up and running.

billt01

Photo Egg said:

My new Flame Boss 300 arrived yesterday.
After getting it out of the package, took about 2 minutes to set it up, register the unit online and watch to plot my livingroom temperature.
Crazy easy to get up and running.

if its "crazy easy"....i hope you don't do financial transactions or your taxes on that machine....

the stoker is "hard" because, your networked is somewhat "locked down" by design...i would take a closer look at anything that gets behind my router/firewall and talks to the WWW in 2 minutes...

Photo Egg

billt01 said:

Photo Egg said:

My new Flame Boss 300 arrived yesterday.
After getting it out of the package, took about 2 minutes to set it up, register the unit online and watch to plot my livingroom temperature.
Crazy easy to get up and running.

if its "crazy easy"....i hope you don't do financial transactions or your taxes on that machine....

the stoker is "hard" because, your networked is somewhat "locked down" by design...i would take a closer look at anything that gets behind my router/firewall and talks to the WWW in 2 minutes...

How long does it take you to type in a password?
Please enlighten me on why a Stoker would be safer!
But no, I don't do any secure work from my iPad or smart phone that I would use with the FB.

fishlessman

i just use the vents unless im rushed, the original bbqguru was so simple you just plopped it on and walked away. its really a shame they complicated things

Photo Egg

fishlessman said:

i just use the vents unless im rushed, the original bbqguru was so simple you just plopped it on and walked away. its really a shame they complicated things

You do know that you voided the warranty with that extreme modification you made to the cast iron daisy top...lol

Carolina Q

fishlessman said:

i just use the vents unless im rushed, the original bbqguru was so simple you just plopped it on and walked away. its really a shame they complicated things

@fishlessman, How does that stay on when you open the dome? After modification, my TTT looks a lot like that. I removed the daisy petals and I'm good to go...

Yno

I can't give a vote for 'best' since I have only used one. And I did learn to control the temps manually before I bought a controller. But I like gadgets, and I started beta testing the Flameboss 300 last year. I don't use it every cook, but for long cooks, especially with two or three pieces of meat, it works well and is kind of fun. I like being able to see the different IT's without opening the Egg and sticking a Thermopen in - I know exactly when something is ready. If I have company, I don't have to go out back, I can see what is happening from my phone. I like being able to go back and look at graphs of previous cooks so I can plan a future one. It was very easy to set up and I have had no issues with it. I don't NEED it, but then again, I don't NEED a smart phone, or even NEED an Egg. If the idea appeals to you and you can afford it, then buy a controller.

fishlessman

Carolina Q said:

fishlessman said:

i just use the vents unless im rushed, the original bbqguru was so simple you just plopped it on and walked away. its really a shame they complicated things

@fishlessman, How does that stay on when you open the dome? After modification, my TTT looks a lot like that. I removed the daisy petals and I'm good to go...

same same

SurfingEgg321

I love my flameboss 200. I enjoy cooking with it regularly. Its not that i cant control the temp, its just that i like not having to even give it a second thought. The pit is always right where it needs to be.

Legume

SurfingEgg321 said:

I love my flameboss 200. I enjoy cooking with it regularly. Its not that i cant control the temp, its just that i like not having to even give it a second thought. The pit is always right where it needs to be.

We have different approaches.  I don't tell the pit where it needs to be, I merely suggest and then let the pit speak to the meat.

SmokeyPitt

Just curious what is wrong with the flame boss 100 you have? It could just be probes that need replacing and that would be a (relatively) cheap fix. 

billt01

Photo Egg said:

billt01 said:

Photo Egg said:

My new Flame Boss 300 arrived yesterday.
After getting it out of the package, took about 2 minutes to set it up, register the unit online and watch to plot my livingroom temperature.
Crazy easy to get up and running.

if its "crazy easy"....i hope you don't do financial transactions or your taxes on that machine....

the stoker is "hard" because, your networked is somewhat "locked down" by design...i would take a closer look at anything that gets behind my router/firewall and talks to the WWW in 2 minutes...

How long does it take you to type in a password?
Please enlighten me on why a Stoker would be safer!
But no, I don't do any secure work from my iPad or smart phone that I would use with the FB.

The stoker does not store your wifi password, nor does it connect to the web...at least mine does not...

it has its own internal UI (user interface) and does not rely on a thrid party to manage the system..

mine sits isolated on a different wireless network...so if someone had wire shark and wanted to start sniffing the encrypted packets..the only thing they would be able to do is change the settings..they have no visibility into my main network...

Also...WEP is one of the weakest and earliest forms of wireless encryption...12 year old hackers from across the pond looking for holes in peoples networks live for "easy" networks look at...and WEP is easy for them to get through...

but hey...it may never happen to you...

NEKEgger

Put me in the camp of people who LOVE their pit controller.  Do you need one?  No.  But I absolutely love the feeling of being able to set the controller and not have to worry one bit whether or not my temperature has moved.  

I went cheap and got the Pitmaster IQ 110.  I didn't care about bluetooth or wifi.  I have been very pleased with my unit.  It has worked like a champ.

I was originally leaning toward the Party Q, but cold weather really hurts the battery life of the unit.  Coming from a cold climate, that was a deal breaker.

Photo Egg

billt01 said:

Photo Egg said:

billt01 said:

Photo Egg said:

My new Flame Boss 300 arrived yesterday.
After getting it out of the package, took about 2 minutes to set it up, register the unit online and watch to plot my livingroom temperature.
Crazy easy to get up and running.

if its "crazy easy"....i hope you don't do financial transactions or your taxes on that machine....

the stoker is "hard" because, your networked is somewhat "locked down" by design...i would take a closer look at anything that gets behind my router/firewall and talks to the WWW in 2 minutes...

How long does it take you to type in a password?
Please enlighten me on why a Stoker would be safer!
But no, I don't do any secure work from my iPad or smart phone that I would use with the FB.

The stoker does not store your wifi password, nor does it connect to the web...at least mine does not...

it has its own internal UI (user interface) and does not rely on a thrid party to manage the system..

mine sits isolated on a different wireless network...so if someone had wire shark and wanted to start sniffing the encrypted packets..the only thing they would be able to do is change the settings..they have no visibility into my main network...

Also...WEP is one of the weakest and earliest forms of wireless encryption...12 year old hackers from across the pond looking for holes in peoples networks live for "easy" networks look at...and WEP is easy for them to get through...

buy hey...it may never happen to you...

All great information, thank you.
I'm sure someone with the skills can get into almost anyones network.
And I agree, I would not want to make it easier. But most attacks happen because the user was stupid by opening attachments and/or using VERY poor passwords. I don't have a computer hooked up to my network at home but I do have the router set up with multiple accounts with no authority to the system except my Admin account. Flame Boss and iPads all use a password protected guest account. Maybe this is false security. I'm sure you know far more about this than I do. Thanks for all the information.

tarheelmatt

Just stopping by to see who was crowned "the best controller"?  Who's the winner?  

dstearn

I upgraded from my DIGIQ to the CyberQ prior to the FB being introduced to the market. I think the FB is great if you want an easy set up however, I heard that they have had issues in the past with their service not being available due to high usage. The CyberQ does require more set up for Port Forwarding and I can graph my data via the Pit Pal app if needed. I like the idea that I do not have to rely on their service being available.

MichaelCollins

Hank_Stamper said:

My Flame Boss 100 is giving up the ghost, so I’m planning to purchase a new temperature controller in the next few months.  Last I heard the FB 200 was the state of the art, but I’m wondering if anything better has come out or if anything is supposed to come out in the next few months that’s worth waiting for.

 

Thanks.

Hi Hank,

Please call us to see if we can help you diagnose your problem, 800-978-9078. It might be easy to fix. Even if you want to upgrade to a WiFi enabled model, it might be nice to have a working 100 to sell to others or just keep as a backup. 

Photo Egg

dstearn said:

I upgraded from my DIGIQ to the CyberQ prior to the FB being introduced to the market. I think the FB is great if you want an easy set up however, I heard that they have had issues in the past with their service not being available due to high usage. The CyberQ does require more set up for Port Forwarding and I can graph my data via the Pit Pal app if needed. I like the idea that I do not have to rely on their service being available.

I have no fight in the world domination of brands, but how many different times do you have knowledge of the FB site going down?
The bigger issue would be local provider going down but this does not stop the unit from continuing to work and controlling the cook. When service comes back up it automatically hooks back up.

HeavyG

tarheelmatt said:

Just stopping by to see who was crowned "the best controller"?  Who's the winner?  

The answer is obvious. The BEST ...[insert product type/brand here]... is whichever one you buy.

Confirmation bias is a strong force.