We tested the top selling Wi-Fi thermometers to tell you everything you need to know about purchasing the very best wireless meat thermometer for your smoker or grill.
Everything comes with Wi-Fi today. You don’t need a Wi-Fi enabled fridge to tell your Wi-Fi enabled toaster what the ideal bread settings are for your breakfast, but you may well need a Wi-Fi smart meat thermometer if you enjoy grilling or own a smoker.
Your classic probe thermometer has the temperature information you want, but a Wi-Fi thermometer puts that information in your hands anywhere, not just when you’re standing by the smoker.
In this report, we break down what you need to know about these smart wireless devices and reveal our top picks in each category: grilling, BBQ, and smoking.
Thermometers We Tested, Reviewed, & Rated
☆ = Half star | *No fan controller capabilitiesABOUT WI-FI SMART THERMOMETERS
SELECTING THE BEST BBQ & GRILLING THERMOMETER AND PIT TEMP CONTROLLER
If you want to cook low and slow, you need to maintain a temperature around 225° for several hours, maybe all day if you’re cooking a whole brisket. Too low a temperature won’t cook your food and the lack of heat can put you in the danger zone for bacterial growth. Too high a temperature and you overcook the meat into a dry and chewy mess.
If your life involves more than sitting by the smoker to constantly monitor temps, you need a way to both, monitor temperatures, and maintain your pit temperature while you’re off doing other things. All these Wi-Fi based thermometers come with probes that you can leave in a grill or smoker throughout the entirety of the cooking session.
These digital wireless thermometers come with both ambient and internal meat probes. The ambient probes are uniquely designed to slide into a special clip that mounts easily onto your grill grate. The internal meat probes are simply inserted into the meat and will remain there throughout the duration of the cook. You just want to be sure that the both the ambient probe and meat probe(s) are not placed directly over any flames.
A Wi-Fi thermometer for your smoker lets you check the temperature of your meat and your entire cooking process from your phone at a glance. These devices feature multiple probes, so you can keep an eye on each piece of meat and your ambient temperature simultaneously. You can configure the phone app to send you alerts if one of the probe thermometers goes too high or too low. It’s like getting an emergency call, “This is Meat! I’m in trouble here…”
About Pit (Thermostatic) Controllers
These fans turn on as the ambient internal temperature drops, adding air to the fire which increases the temperature. It’s like a thermostat for your house, except running hotter. The more advanced models let you create more complicated programs so you run the smoker at different temperatures for different segments of the cook.
For control that’s even more automated, [almost] all these thermometer systems can control a pit fan.
Also see: Guide to BBQ Thermometers
About Bluetooth Connectivity
Wi-Fi is a step up over Bluetooth thermometers at this level of complexity. Bluetooth links up one phone to your thermometer with a direct connection, limited to about 100 feet minus losses to walls. A Wi-Fi thermometer reporting data to the cloud has basically infinite wireless range, so you can keep an eye on your pork butt while running to the store. Some of the best products here do both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth so you can use them to their full potential at home or take them out camping where there’s no Wi-Fi without sacrificing performance. When it comes to grilling you can use a Wi-Fi meat thermometer but it may be a bit of an overkill, so while our pick for the best Grilling Thermometer is Thermoworks' Signals, wireless probe thermometers like the Meater+ are designed for simple grilling tasks - read more about these probes devices here.
Below are the results of our testing to rank the best BBQ and grilling thermometers on the market today.
Test Results & Rankings
Best grill thermometer
THERMOWORKS SIGNALS
ThermoWorks is a name that makes us jump up and take notice. They make our the best instant-read thermometer and our favorite Bluetooth model, so we walked in with very high hopes for their Wi-Fi thermometer, the Signals. Recent update: Signals secures its top spot for grilling with a new version of the ThermoWorks App and Cloud software.
The Signals supports four thermistor probes with a temperature range of -58°‒572°. It includes three food thermometer probes and one ambient probe with grill clip. In your first signal that the company put ease of use first, they’ve got color-coded rings for each end of each probe, so you can see at a glance which one is which. As you might expect from Thermoworks, the probes are very accurate, advertising ±1.8° in the usual cooking range. Our testing says that’s conservative — we found them within 0.7° on all our comparisons to the calibrated reference thermometer.
Signals -
User Experience
The base station is super-easy to use.
You get a full view of all four channels at their alarm setpoints. Setting those alarms is as easy as selecting a channel, pressing set, then adjusting the number with the arrow keys. There’s a volume button for the alarms ranging from muted to quite loud (they say 90 dB, but we didn’t haul out the decibel meter). The quality of the base station is what makes us pick the Signals as Best for Grilling. You can run everything you need without needing to break out your phone.
Signals - Connectivity
Phone connection is solid, though. It connects through Bluetooth and Wi-Fi so you’re good on the beach or your backyard.
Setup is simple, especially with Bluetooth. The app is solid, giving you a full view of everything you see on the base unit, plus the ability to label your probes. The first four letters of those labels push back to the base unit, making it even more versatile.
With the new version of the app, you can assign colors to each channel to match the ring on the probe itself, making the graphs more readable. Setting alarms is easy, and all alarms go to both your phone and the base station. You can view temperature graphs in the app too, and save an unlimited number in their new cloud system, or download your data as a .csv file for local storage. The app and cloud software now include a notes section so you can better log your cooks. We never had too many complaints about the app, but the latest update wiped two of them away.
Signals - Pit Fan Controller
The Signals can control the ThermoWorks Billows fan if you want to do an automated cook, but it’s very much an add-on.
Billows runs its own ambient probe, and you set the desired temperature. It automatically sets alarms 25° in both directions of that point. It works, though the app isn’t that good and sends up a lot of questionable alerts. ThermoWorks did add lid detection to their software, so it doesn’t kick the fan up to maximum when you open the grill anymore. However, you do not need this addon if you're just looking for a wireless grill thermometer, as it's designed to maintain temps over look cooking sessions; ideal for BBQ. If you care to see more watch our Billows review on YouTube.com or read our complete review on this thermostatic controller here.
Signals - Durability
The Signals’ durability is one of its strongest suits.
It feels rock-solid, and sits up conveniently on a flat surface with its nice grippy base. It’s rated as IP66, which is completely dust-resistant and water resistant “against powerful jets”, though not waterproof. Our testing showed that it kept working fine when we ran it under the tap (which we do not recommend).
The battery is rated for 16 hours (we got 18) and recharges via USB-C. On the questionable side, it takes 12 hours to fully charge the battery, which seems excessive.
Signals - Quick Overview
Pros
Cons
Conclusion:
The Signals is great by itself and good with its app. It’s got the right features for a variety of situations, and the first-rate base unit will hold up for the long haul. The Billows fan control isn’t up to the standard of the Fireboard, but it’ll work for your smoking needs too. The Signals is the best Wi-Fi grill thermometer.
Best BBQ thermometer
FIREBOARD 2
We like the original Fireboard, but it didn’t quite hit the top of our charts. It was a little too Silicon Valley: too married to its phone app and not weatherproofed without a $50 pain-in-the-butt case. The Fireboard 2 addressed those problems and kicked its fan control up a notch, putting it in our Number 1 spot.
Fireboard 2 -
Probes
The Fireboard 2 (and the original Fireboard) supports six probes.
Though the basic set comes with three. Two are food probes; the other is an ambient probe with included grill clip. The two probes are 100K thermistors for fast response on a temperature range of 0°‒572°. The Fireboard also supports 10K thermistors for low-temperature applications (-58°‒248°) or RTD PT-100 probes for wide temperature ranges (-58°‒716°) at a slower response time. Each channel can have its probe type configured in the app if you’re doing something that requires multiple probe types. Fireboard claims the included probes provide accurate temperature readings within 0.7°, and our testing against a calibrated thermometer shows they’re even better.
Fireboard 2 - LCD Display
The on-board display covers the whole front face of the Fireboard 2
A big improvement over the tiny display on the original Fireboard. It has multiple view modes, allowing you to see one channel’s current temperature, a graph of one channel’s temperature over the cook time, all six current temperatures, or a hybrid view with one graph and six readouts.
There aren’t any alerts here: for that you need to go to the phone app. That phone app is the number one reason to get the Fireboard 2. It syncs as easy as pressing “Add Fireboard” in the app.
Fireboard 2 - Connectivity
This smart device connects with both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi for use on the road and at home.
The app shows you the readings from all grill thermometers, with the easy option to label each channel and set alerts for high or low temperatures. Those alerts can come in as push notifications in the app, emails, or SMS messages.
You can also view your current cook session as a graph, with the labels helping it make sense. All this data gets saved to the cloud, either directly from the smoker thermometer over Wi-Fi, or via your phone’s data connection on Bluetooth. Bluetooth range is a little above average compared to the others we tested.
One nice feature for those looking to improve their craft is the ability to annotate the graphs.
Notes in context are a great way to remember what worked and what didn’t. If you want a local copy, you can download everything as a .csv file.
Fireboard 2 - Three Models
The Fireboard 2 comes in multiple versions.
The basic version comes in at $189, while the Fireboard 2 Drive adds a fan control port and costs $249.
The basic version can run a fan with the Drive Fan Control Cable (for $79), so if you want to run a fan, the Drive version saves $20, and you don’t have an expensive cable to lose.
Coming in August, the Fireboard 2 Pro (no price yet) will have the fan control port, but will swap out the six 2.5 mm probe inputs for three inputs for Type K thermocouple probes. Those Type K probes can operate at extremely high temperatures (2,012°!), suitable for monitoring wood stoves or a pizza oven.
The Fireboard 2 Drive (or basic model with a Drive Fan Control Cable, if you already had one from an original Fireboard) can run any 12-Volt fan with a 2.5 mm barrel plug, including the Fireboard Drive Blower. Assign the fan control to any channel, then set the target temperature. When your ambient probe temperature drops below that level, the Drive activates the fan proportionally to push the fire back up towards the target internal temperature. The Fireboard 2 also senses the big temperature change of taking the lid off and not instantly max out the fan, which is a nice extra.
Fireboard 2 - Fan Drive Controller
One thing that sets the Fireboard 2 apart from other units is Drive Programs.
Which can change your temperature automatically over the course of your cook. Let’s say you’re smoking a pork butt, and want to power through the stall. Start with the Drive holding ambient temperature at 225°. When the pork butt thermometer reaches 150°, change the setpoint to 310°; then when the pork butt thermometer reaches 170°, change the setpoint back to 225° for the finish.
Fireboard 2 - Durability
One last thing on the Fireboard 2 is that the durability is there.
We set it out in the Arizona summer sun for hours and sprayed it with the hose for a while, but neither did a thing to stop it. It’s not waterproof, but it’s good enough to stand up to a spilled drink or a little rain.
Watch Our Testing of the Fireboard 2 - Our Top Rated BBQ Thermometer
Fireboard 2 - Quick Overview
Pros
Cons
Conclusion:
The Fireboard 2 is the best smoker thermometer for BBQ. It’s got the versatility, programmability, and durability to make anything possible. If you plan to use a fan control, it’s even better. The only downside is that it’s really tied to the app. You can’t access more than pretty basic features without it, so the Fireboard 2 is always a heavyweight choice, even when you don’t need its full power.
ideal thermometer for bbq pit control
Flame Boss 500
Where the Fireboard and the Signals are wireless thermometers that got upgraded to be thermostatic fan controllers, the Flame Boss did it the other way around. What started as a thermostatic controller with just enough wireless thermometer capability to do its job has expanded into a full-on Wi-Fi thermometer. You can see our full review of the Flame Boss 500 and 400 comparison here.
The Flame Boss 500 comes with one meat probe and one ambient probe, but supports up to four probes. It uses RTD probes with a rated maximum temperature of 475°. The kit also includes the fan unit and mounting kit — word of warning: there’s a different version with a Kamado mounting kit, so grab the right one for your smoker.
Flame Boss 500 -
Device
The base unit gives you the basic info you need at a glance.
Current temperature on all thermometer channels, plus the setpoint for the fan controller.
Flame Boss 500 - User Experience
You can set individual alarms on each channel.
Plus an interesting option to shift the fan controller into Keep Warm mode when you reach the target temperature (e.g. when Meat 1 reaches 200°, drop the pit temperature to 205°).
The bad news: just because you can set all of these things on the base station does not mean you should. Anything more advanced than setting the pit temperature is like programming a 1980s VCR. You should definitely use the app.
Flame Boss 500 - Application
The Flame Boss app definitely does things right.
You’ve got full controls for all the alarms (which come in as notifications) plus the fan controller. If you’ve got an internet connection, all of your cook information is stored in the cloud, with well-laid out graphs for future reference.
Flame Boss 500 - Connectivity
Getting the Flame Boss connected to the Wi-Fi can be a bit of an adventure.
One important note: it only works on 2.4 GHz wireless. Most routers do both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz, but if you’re in a crowded area, 2.4 GHz wireless might be dicey. You can punch in your password on the front panel, one character at a time, or start up the Flame Boss’s internal wireless, log into it with your phone, enter your password there, then switch Wi-Fi modes back to regular. If this all sounds complicated, well, it is.
Get it going and it works, but it’s not as easy as the Bluetooth models. The internal Wi-Fi means you can take it on the road and use it in Direct mode (minus the cloud stuff), but setup is still a little rough.
Flame Boss 500 Fan
Flame Boss 500 - Pit Fan
As a fan controller, the Flame Boss 500 is extraordinary.
Controlling a fire is hard. It’s driving an indirect control with the fan, there’s an inconsistent delay from the when the fan spins up to when the temperature changes, and the environment changes as your fuel burns out over time. Through some wizardry, the Flame Boss does it amazingly well.
It holds the tightest range of temperature we’ve seen in our testing. It has lid-open detection and sends you a push notification when it kicks on and off, just in case there’s a problem with your lid and airflow.
Flame Boss 500 - Quality
Build quality on the Flame Boss 500 is solid
The magnetic mount is a useful feature I wish everybody would use. A big downside to the Flame Boss is that there is no internal battery. You’ve got to either plug into an outlet, or buy the external battery pack.
Watch Our Testing of the Flame Boss - Our Top Choice for Automated BBQ Pit Temperature Control
Flame Boss 500 - Quick Overview
Pros
Cons
Conclusion:
You buy the Flame Boss 500 because you want a great pit controller and get the bonus of a good smoker thermometer system. If you’re not a computer person, stuff the manual in a six-pack and hand it to someone who is, then let the meat smoke itself.
okay thermometer For smoking / bbq
BBQ Guru UltraQ
Good design for computer systems isn’t about jamming more data in front of your face. Most of the time, it’s about cooking down the data into the information you actually need, then giving you the opportunity to dig deeper. A lot of these Wi-Fi digital thermometers are systems by enthusiasts, for enthusiasts. The UltraQ is a system that tries its best to make smoking meat sensible for folks who don’t live inside a smoker.
BBQ Guru UltraQ -
Pit Fan
One thing BBQ Guru does well is to avoid one-size-fits-all solutions.
They’ve got two sizes of fan and dozens of mounting kits for different grills and smokers. You punch in your grill model, and their system comes up with a custom package to fit your situation.
Installing one of these package is as painless as possible, not to mention the significantly reduced probability of wrecking your grill.
BBQ Guru UltraQ - Probes
The basic kit comes with one meat probe and one pit probe; the system supports four probes total.
The probes are thermocouples, and the company rates them at a pretty awful ±5° in normal cooking ranges. We found them to be better than that, but not brilliant. The probes are advertised as dishwasher-safe, which is a surprising plus.
BBQ Guru UltraQ - Device / Display
The base unit is great for displaying information.
There’s a big LED ring on the outside. It’s blue when the pit temperature is low, red in cooking range, pulsing on the edges when the fan runs, and flashing red when the pit temperature is too high.
This is the critical piece of information, and you can see it from across the street. Get close, and there’s an LCD display that can show any or all of the temperature channels, with the color-coded crossbar of the Q indicating what channel you’re seeing.
You can set the pit temperature and alarms for each channel on the device, but a clock radio has better controls. How did they get the display so good, and the controls so bad?
Before moving on to the app, I’ll note that the UltraQ comes with a really nice mounting bracket. It makes the display easy to see and offers multiple mounting options for easy positioning.
BBQ Guru UltraQ - Application / Connectivity
The UltraQ connects to its app via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi.
You get the usual array of digital thermometer data plus easy settings for alarms and pit temperature. If you’ve got Wi-Fi setup, your data syncs automatically to the cloud for easy social sharing using sharemycook.com.
There doesn’t seem to be a way to assign names to the probes, so the graphs don’t make as much sense as they should.
The app is definitely the way to go for control, but it doesn’t have the thought put into it that the on-board display had.
Viper Fan Model Connected to a Weber Kettle Grill
BBQ Guru UltraQ - Pit Fan
The fan control is the other main reason to grab the UltraQ.
Their two fans (the Pit Viper and Pit Bull) do their job well, and have a damper for adjusting the overall airflow or shutting it off altogether at the end of your cook.
One very nice feature BBQ Guru has designed is Ramp Mode, which feathers down the pit temperature as your food temperature moves towards its alarm setpoint. This gets you a fine level of control over the end of your cook and protection against overcooking. UltraQ has lid detection too, so you don’t have to sweat checking on your food.
BBQ Guru UltraQ - Quality
Build quality on the UltraQ is solid.
I especially appreciate the dishwasher-safe probes and the excellent mount. The base unit is water resistant, but not waterproof, and it doesn’t love the sun.
You need external power for this one, so plan to smoke near an outlet or spring for an external battery pack.
BBQ Guru UltraQ - Quick Overview
Pros
Cons
Conclusion:
In summary, the UltraQ has brilliant parts and OK parts.
I love the base unit’s display, I love the variety of mounting kits available for the fan, and I love the Ramp Mode for smoothly finishing a cook, but I don’t love the controls or the app. In the end, the UltraQ is an average wireless smart meat thermometer device priced just a hair above the average price-point.
Best wireless meat thermometer For the money
Inkbird IBBQ-4T
Maybe you don’t need the all-everything BBQ thermometer. The Inkbird promises a simple four-probe thermometer for a reasonable amount of money. There’s no fan controller, but if you don’t plan to use one, why spend the extra money?
Inkbird IBBQ-4T -
Setup
Setup on the Inkbird was reasonably straightforward.
I downloaded the app, set up an account, and fired up the base station. It connected immediately, then asked for my Wi-Fi password in the app. I see in the manual that there’s a whole procedure for dealing with problems on connection, but it went extremely smooth for me.
One oddity is that the app asks for more permissions than most. Digging a little deeper, it looks like this app runs a larger system of home automation devices and asks for everything that any of them needs. Another important note: the Inkbird can only connect to 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi with WPA/WPA2-PSK encryption.
Inkbird IBBQ-4T - Device
The base unit is very simple: four covered probe ports, one covered charging port, and one button.
The screen shows the current temperature on all four probes. Press the button once to turn on a backlight temporarily for easy reading. There’s a battery gauge, but be warned: it’s pretty rudimentary. At below 20% battery, it says LOW, above it shows as Full.
There is no way to set any alerts on the base station — everything is in the app. An alarm does sound on the base station when a timer or temperature alert goes off, but it’s pretty quiet. With the unit outside, I could barely hear it over relatively quiet music, even with the door open. You can mute the base station alarm in the app.
Inkbird IBBQ-4T / Probes
The Inkbird comes with four angled probes.
They are color-coded so you can match the probe to the plug, which is nice. There are colors in the app that match the probe colors in the package, but they don’t automatically assign. You’d have to plug the right probe into the right socket to get those to match, and there’s no indication anywhere as to which color should go where. One thing that’s nice about the Inkbird is that the probes snap in hard to make a positive lock. There’s no worry here about connectors slipping.
I tested the probes for accuracy against the Thermoworks Calibrated Reference Thermometer by suspending both probes in the boiling water with the High-Tech Science Gantry. The verdict: great! The Inkbird reads within 1° of the reference value, maybe a little bit better. The probes register accurate readings pretty quickly too — not instant-read, but faster than some other wireless meat thermometers we've tested.
Inkbird IBBQ-4T - The App
The Inkbird app can run a large number of automation products.
Utility
There’s an outside layer of the app for running multiple devices and making them talk to each other. I don’t have any other products, so I can’t speak to the quality of the automation side.
Jumping into the BBQ portion of the app shows a pretty standard view of all four stainless steel probes with current temperature, temperature alerts, and timers. You also get the real battery status on the base unit. The settings menu offers the opportunity to calibrate each individual probe, adjust the backlight delay on the base unit, mute the base unit, and change localization settings.
Alarms & Timers
Each of the four probes can run a countdown timer with individually selectable sounds. One interesting feature I haven’t seen on other devices is a box to set a message on each timer. This way, when the timer goes off, you can tell your future self what to do with that information (flip the meat, check the potatoes, etc). The timer goes off on both the base unit and the app.
Each probe can also have temperature alerts. There is a wide variety of presets for different meats and grilling situations. You can start with a preset and adjust it, or create your own. Meat presets have only a maximum temperature alert, while chamber presets have maximum and minimum temperature alerts. The temperature alerts come through the app at a reasonable volume and include a message that explains what alert is going off.
Visualization
Here’s where things fall down a little for the Inkbird. You can view a graph of any individual probe or all four together. Each day is a new session, and you can’t change that. This is less than useful for overnight cooks, or for if you test out the device before starting to cook.
The view is a real problem. It jumps around automatically to the current time (or midnight if you’re looking at the past), so you can’t set it down without it changing on you. The view is locked to portrait mode, so the temperature range on the graph is gigantic compared to the time range. You can’t zoom either, so you’re stuck with a temperature range from -100°‒900° and a time range of 75 minutes. That’s the opposite of good. All the data is crammed into a tiny vertical range, and you’ve got to scroll to see it.
You can export the data from any one probe as a CSV file, but you have to do each probe individually. You can also export a picture of the bad graph of all four probes, but it’s no better than taking a screenshot.
Inkbird IBBQ-4T - Build Quality
This thing feels like an absolute rock.
With the rubber covers over all the port connectors, it should be pretty resistant to water. Charging is via a USB-C connector, and battery life seems solid. Four hours of use have dropped the battery meter by 5%.
Inkbird IBBQ-4T - Final Take
Conclusion:
The Inkbird is basically very good. It’s an accurate thermometer, easy to set up, and easy to use. My complaints are pretty limited. The alarms are too quiet, and the data visualization is lousy, but that’s it. There’s no option for a thermostatic pit controller, so it’s limited in that direction, but if you don’t need that, the Inkbird IBBQ-4T is a solid value for the price making it a great price point if you're just looking for a wireless grill thermometer or something to set in your smoker for BBQ smoked to perfection.
Best bbq / smoking thermometer for customizing
Tappecue Touch
Here’s one for the person who puts the Geek in Smoking Meat Geeks. The Touch is the newest version of the original Wi-Fi smoker meat thermometer and keeps getting better. With the new Cruise Control fan and controller, it now offers thermostatic control.
Tappecue Touch -
Probes
The Touch comes in a variety of packages with two to six thermistor probes, measuring -40°‒572°.
It has four ports, but supports up to 8 inputs with splitters or with an interesting dual probe that senses both at the tip for internal meat temperature and at the curve of the shaft for ambient temperature. Probe length is good and they are rated to within 1°, which jibes with our testing.
Tappecue Touch - Base Unit
The base unit now features a touch screen display showing all of your temperatures on a color-coded screen.
You’ve got the stylus-based touch screen for control locally, but the screen is a bit finicky, and is best used to punch in your Wi-Fi network and password so you can hand off control to the app. If you’re away from home, you can use the Tappecue’s internal router to connect directly to your phone in Offline Mode.
TAPPECUE APP SESSION BOOK
Tappecue Touch / Application
The app is bare-bones but effective, with the usual displays and alerts.
There’s a nice library of meat types built-in so you can set up the right set of alerts automatically. The graphs are good, with a nice notes feature. At the end of a session, the Tappecue will email you a file with your temperature information. There is a cloud service for storing your session records, but they charge for more than a trial set of sessions.
Tappecue Touch - Pit Fan
The Tappecue Cruise Control is a thermostatic fan add-on.
They have two CFM options coming it at either 10 or 20 CFMs. In a nod to the very modular and expandable nature of the Tappecue, you can run four of these at once if you wanted to. Control is adequate, but pretty bare bones. There’s no lid detection, so you need to stop the fan manually before opening the lid.
Tappecue Touch - Design
The Tappecue has an internal battery rated for 25 hours of operation.
Overall, build quality is spotty. The main control unit is solidly built and water-resistant, but the details are off. The splitters are fiddly, and make the readouts go wild if you move them the wrong way. The Cruise manual tells you that you might need to razor out some of the gasket to make the splitter fit. That manual and the one for the base unit are, uh, questionable. At best.
Tappecue Touch - Capabilities
One thing that makes the Tappecue unique, and a good choice for someone who wants to really dig into this sort of thing is the public API.
If you like programming and barbecue, prepare to go hog-wild. There are users on the forums that have done some pretty amazing things with the Tappecue, so if that’s your thing, dig in. To see our complete review of the Tappecue Touch click here.
Tappecue Touch - Quick Overview
Pros
Cons
Conclusion:
On the whole, the Tappecue is an idiosyncratic labor of love. It’s for the folks who want to really dig in and do it their way. When it comes to grilling, Tappecue's AirProbe3 is worth looking into as it's more refined than the Tappecue Touch; its more user friendly, intuitive, and practical to use out at the grill. You can check out more on these types of wireless probe devices here.
Out of all of these models, which ones can export temperature data to a csv format to allow graphing in Microsoft Excel, for example?
Great question Joseph, this is one of the best features of all these devices: they all export to csv. While the data is pretty raw it gives you everything you need to create your own graphs and tracking logs.
Sample excel sheet from flame boss raw data export
Slight Error in your fireboard, it does infact have the ability to control a fan as well. And not only the fireboard fan but several other fan models.
Thanks for the feedback Joe. When we first drafted the article we missed the temp control attachment. We have since spoke with Fireboard to obtain all the specs and details which are now reflected in our review.
I own a tappecue and have been trying to get their off line update installed. Can you send it in for this or is it going to become a eBay item? Version 3.0
Larry, they posted the update here with a step-by-step outline to update: https://tappecue.freshdesk.com/support/discussions/topics/13000027636.
Their support forum is one of the more elaborate ones of the 5 devices we review; if you can’t find the troubleshooting help you need here: https://tappecue.freshdesk.com/support/discussions, then you can add a ticket or email them from the same link.
Fireboard is NOT WIFI in itself. It’s a BLE only device. The “wifi” comes from the fact that the app on your phone talks to their servers by wifi.
Would be nice to note which units have antonomous wifi and will function without internet/cloud connectivity.
This is incorrect. The Fireboard has an 802.11a/b/g/n radio and supports WEP, WPA, and WPA2 protocols. You do not need a phone for this to work. If the WiFi drops out the unit can use Bluetooth to connect to a mobile device and sync with the cloud but isn’t required.
Will all (or any) of these devices function on a WiFi network that doesn’t have internet? We do not have an internet connection at our home. So, is it possible to connect these devices to an internal/home network and then connect a smartphone to that same network to monitor grill temps through the app? I know the same can essentially be provided by Bluetooth, but I’m looking for something with a better range and that will work better through walls, so that I can monitor grill temps if the phone is inside the house.
You should amend your review. the Signals unit can in fact control pit temperature with a fan blower.
Thanks for the feedback; article will be updated by EOD to indicate that Signals is capable of controlling pit temp with their new Billows device.
We are currently testing the Billows unit and will be updating our articles per findings in the next few weeks.
I’d like to see a review and long term test of the various probes. My Thermoworks Smoke is a great thermometer, but I’ve had to replace at least 3 of the probes over the past year. I find that the probe that came with my grill (Blaz’n Grid Iron) and a cheapo grocery store probe have been more reliable. I’m looking at the Fireboard now since they hopefully are better probes.
Just wanna let you know that a USB-C cable is only as fast as the wall adapter on the other end of it. IF the Thermoworks Signals device is set up to charge with a higher voltage, you will need a high voltage adapter to make it happen. 12 hours is a ridiculous amount of time to charge that device!
This article is a bit old at this point but still seems to be accurate, at least for the Inkbird thermometer. I purchased one last summer because I was tired of loosing the Bluetooth signal on my other wireless thermometer. I think the article is spot on regarding the Inkbird thermometer and app.
I love the thermometer so much I bought an Inkbird Sous Vide (which doesn’t seem to be quite as accurate). Having one app for multiple wi-fi devices like this is really convenient. But I digress…
From an Inkbird wi-fi thermometer user I just wanted to comment on the accuracy of your article.
Oops, I see now that the article was at least updated in June 2020. My comment regarding the age of the article was based on the earlier comments from 2018.
Great article, very helpful. Was thinking about the signals.
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