Temperature Control System

In addition to what @stlcharcoal said, just last week I asked the forum for recommendations for the newest FB as I carelessly left mine out in the rain, he chimed in and said while he does offer discounts for BGE forum members, his advice was to wait it out because they are indeed resilient. In short, he saved me a lot of money and lost a sale because of his honesty, that's ok because I'm going to buy a joetissery from him instead and his charcoal... don't get me started! I'd suggest strongly looking at the FB and I would only buy it from him.. FWIW..

I'm sure the Flame Boss is a terrific product based on what people have reported, but I will also add that a smobot deserves consideration. They have an app now that makes it easy to control from wherever and I like the fact that there is no fan to worry about. Not sure how costs compare and, like I said not sure how it compares to the others, but mine works beautifully and maintains temps like a champ.

Hey @StillH2OEgger glad to hear, after reading your post, I don't want to come off as a FB evangelist :) it works for me but may not for everyone... I guess I'll have to research the SMOBOT for the second anticipated BGE XL.... hope all is well!

whatever you do buy from @stlcharcoal he’s a stand up guy. He always goes the extra mile to make sure his customers are taken care of.

They tested the hell out of it (and the backups) prior to Thanksgiving last year and thought they were ready, but servers (and backups) still fail. No one can ever give you a 100% guarantee for any server--Amazon, Facebook, IG, etc go down at least 1-2 days a year too. Just like losing signal on satellite TV out during the big game, stuff happens at bad times. I remember a Thanksgiving day when I was a kid--power went out from 1-3pm all across town and messed up a lot of people plans.

The good news is that all FB's work and can communicate to the app WITHOUT internet. AP mode and be within 300ft......no different other than text messages are disabled. And even if you're not within 300 ft, the unit stays where ever you set it.

Just saying the .01% failure rate of a server shouldn't keep anyone from buying ANY temp control unit, especially when you don't need the server to run it.

I've had very good luck with the Smobot.

I can’t speak for FB or most of the other controllers - never used most of them. I’m sure they all work well and FB definitely has a big following around here. However, I do highly recommend the Smobot. It works like a champ and customer service is outstanding. I was drawn to it initially because it controls the BGE just like I do - by simply adjusting the damper. I would buy smobot again if I needed a second controller.

How does the smobot hold up in the rain?

The smobot is somewhat dedicated to a cooker so keep this in mind. I can move my Flame Boss from Small, Mini Max, Large and XL BGE and my brothers Kamado Joe with no added expense. The adapters are all included. Buying another cheap adapter allows me to use on my Weber Kettle or many other grills.

Team flameboss here.

I move my Auber between my Weber's and eggs all the time, and the size of the egg doesn't matter either, so I see what you mean here. It looks like smobot is expanding the use of their controller to WSMs and kettle's. I am very excited about that. When using my WSMs, I leave on vent fully open on the inlet side, and the exhaust all of the way open too. The temp wanders between 235-300 without any consequence to the cook. Having the smobot to provide tighter control (if I want to) is kind of cool. If having the controller work on many cookers today is a necessity, smobot isn't the option I'd recommend. But if the cookers you need are already supported, its a good option, like the flame boss and a half dozen or so others that do the same as well.

They all have limitations, they all are not worth it.

Learn to use the DW and you will be fine.

Nobody on this forum will freely admit they have spent as much money as I have on temp controllers, just to default back to the DW.

PM me for details if you want to know the Deets.

They may not be worth it to some, but they definitely are to others. Everyone has their own likes, dislikes, needs, and wants. I used the Egg many times without a controller and didn't have any problems keeping temps, although I never did an overnighter. I decided to try the Flame Boss 300 and have had great success with it. It controls the temps perfectly, and as an added bonus I have charts and graphs of all my cooks, so I can go back and see what times and temps I have used in the past. It is also fun to show other people what different cooks look like.

I upgraded to the FB 500 when it came out. Works the same but with a bigger display, and if, by some weird happenstance, something happens to it, I have a backup. Or if I get a second Egg, I am covered.

I will echo the sentiment that Flame Boss support is top notch.

Lots of people here have things that are worthless to me. Should they all get rid of them?

Perspective here. The same argument could be said for the other side. I am in the camp of using a controller for long cooks that I don't consider "grilling". I get what you are saying, I have more eggs than I like to admit, and 4 ATC's to run them. How many ATCs do I need? None, I have never used more than one at a time, either. But they are fun to play with, and I would never be without them. They give me options I don't have otherwise.