Remote temperature monitoring

dubob

Member
This has probably been discussed ad nauseam, but being new here I'm deficient in search skills on this site. I did find a review of the 10 best wireless meat thermometers on Wiki.ezvid.com and read that and came away with a short list (#1 - #4) to pick from: Tappecue V2 (#1 - $149 w/2 probes; $185 w/4 probes), Thermopro (#2 - $60 Amazon), Morpilot Smart BBQ (#3 - $56 Bluetooth), & Ivation Long Range (#4 - $135 Amazon). There were a couple other review sites I looked at that listed other brands, so there are lots of choices out there.

I'm looking for something other than Bluetooth as the range of that is very limited and wouldn't work in my location setup. So, it has to be a wifi compatible device or have an RF range of over 100 feet. Two probes minimum but 4 would be better. I did check out the Meater, but the reviews were not good.

What are you using, and would you recommend it? I would like to keep the cost under $100 but can afford to pay more if the majority think the higher cost is really worth it. So, what say you?
 

skidog

New member
I have a Thermoworks Smoke, I have the 2 channel. Bought it when they first came out and have had 0 problems. Simple to use and have not had any instance where I don't get signal in the house. I forget how far i had to go before it lost signal but it was well over 100ft. There probes are pretty cheap and they have sales all the time. I'd check it out anyway.
 

sschorr

Member
I have bought/used just about every remote temp device and gadget out there. There is only 1 I would recommend that is in your price range: the Maverick XR-50. 4 ports and a range of about 200-300' depending on location and obstacles. It is NOT Wifi, but uses custom RF. No cloud session storage and basic alarm capability. Really decent.

The 1 I use most is Wifi - the Fireboard. 6 ports, great cloud-based session retention, customization and charting. 24 battery life or USB-based power.

A close second is the Thermoworks Signals. Wifi and Bluetooth (reverts to Bluetooth if Wifi lost and BT device is close enough). 4 ports, 10 sessions saved in their cloud, customizations OK, but not as rich as the Fireboard.

Both those Wifi devices are around $200 base price, but probably closer to $225-$250 if you get enough probes, covers, cases. You will at least get more probes I think.

Hope this helps.
 

dubob

Member
It does help. Thank you.

I looked at all the units you mentioned and immediately ruled out the over $200 units. The extra features they offer over and above temperature monitoring are of no interest to me at all. The RF transmitter/receiver units are way better for my use than Bluetooth only device. I'm leaning heavily towards the RF brands. The ThermoPro TP20 is fine when its working, but folks over the last 4 years or so have all to often had lots of problems with it not working. I'm leery of it.

The Maverick and Thermoworks brands come up quite often and there are a few folks that really like the Fireboard and Ink Bird units. Still undecided but closing in. 👍
 

Salmonsmoker

New member
It does help. Thank you.

I looked at all the units you mentioned and immediately ruled out the over $200 units. The extra features they offer over and above temperature monitoring are of no interest to me at all. The RF transmitter/receiver units are way better for my use than Bluetooth only device. I'm leaning heavily towards the RF brands. The ThermoPro TP20 is fine when its working, but folks over the last 4 years or so have all to often had lots of problems with it not working. I'm leery of it.

The Maverick and Thermoworks brands come up quite often and there are a few folks that really like the Fireboard and Ink Bird units. Still undecided but closing in. ��
My own personal opinion, I would stay away from Maverick. Their programming sequence makes both my eyes and brain go in circles. The Smoke's (I have the original) programming is straight forward and intuitive.
 

dubob

Member
My own personal opinion, I would stay away from Maverick. Their programming sequence makes both my eyes and brain go in circles. The Smoke's (I have the original) programming is straight forward and intuitive.
Yeah, I can relate to the programming thing. I worked in electronics my entire adult life and finished as a Radar Systems Engineer. I usually don't have any problems in figuring out programming processes. But thanks for the heads up about the Maverick.
 

dubob

Member
I would like to thank all y'all for your thoughts/input on this. I put this out on 3 different Q sites and based on the replies, decided - after a comparison between 2 finalists - that I would go with the Inkbird IRF-4S. The reviews on Amazon were VERY similar for these 2 units, but the differences that swayed me to the Inkbird are these. Water PROOF (Inkbird) vs RESISTANT (Maverick), range of 1500 ft (Inkbird) vs 500 ft (Maverik), and best of all, a cost of $60 (Inkbird with a 15% discount - promo code= O4YFDQ7X) vs $90 (Maverick). Already ordered on Amazon (Prime - of course) and will be delivered tomorrow. 😁
 

dubob

Member
The package showed up yesterday (one day shipment from Amazon Prime).
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Here is the Tx and the Rx
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The probes were under the Tx/Rx holder tray.
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I used a working Sous Vide for a warm temp check (doing a 36-hour pork steak for dinner tonight – yum, yum)
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The IB temp is reading all 4 probes within the +/- 2*F tolerance for that temp level.
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Put probes in ice water and they are all within the +/- 4*F tolerance for that temp level.
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I have some chicken thighs I will be doing in a day or so and will check IT with the IB.
 

dubob

Member
I discovered something about the company (Ink Bird) that I hadn't heard or read before - their service center is off shore and most likely China. I've been emailing back and forth with their support people and the character of the replies is hilarious. My unit is new and I really wasn't finding any problems with it, but when I put the 4 probes in ice water, I got a couple of temperature readings of "LLL". That was not covered in the manual, so I emailed the support folks. It took 3 emails from me and 3 emails from them before they finally understood I was NOT reporting a defect or problem but was just asking for an explanation as to what "LLL" was an indication of. Their writing in English is comical and needs an open mind to understand it. I'm glad I didn't have to endure phone calls with them. I haven't had a chance to actually use the Ink Bird IRF-4S yet, but will report the results when I do.
 

dubob

Member
While temperature monitoring isn’t required for 3-2-1 pork ribs, I wanted to check out the Ink Bird IRF-4S for a cook. I’m doing 2 different sauce flavors on this cook of St Louis cut ribs; Blues Hog Original on one half and Blues Hog Tennessee Red mixed with Traeger Apricot, 50/50. The rub is the same on both – Blues Hog Dry Rub Seasoning.



The barrel chamber temp tracks almost perfectly with the built in CC probe.

The meat probes are within 15 degrees of each other and I’m guessing the difference is because the probes are not perfectly placed with in the muscle of each half rack. It wouldn’t take much for one probe to be closer to a bone or the out surface to generate a different IT.



I did buy a bone-in Boston Butt today and will be doing a pulled pork cook later this week. The Ink Bird will be used for that cook as well.

So, after only one use, I’m liking the Ink Bird 5-Stars worth. 😁👍
 

dubob

Member
My unit is new and I really wasn't finding any problems with it, but when I put the 4 probes in ice water, I got a couple of temperature readings of "LLL". That was not covered in the manual, so I emailed the support folks. It took 3 emails from me and 3 emails from them before they finally understood I was NOT reporting a defect or problem but was just asking for an explanation as to what "LLL" was an indication of. Their writing in English is comical and needs an open mind to understand it.
Here is an update from Ink Bird Customer Support on the "LLL" reading.
Hi friend,
Thanks for your patience.
We have confirmed the LLL is the signal of low temp (lower than 0℃ or 32℉), it doesn't mean defective probe or any other thing, please dont worry.
And we will inform this issue to our relevant colleague to see whether we could add this into specification.
Thanks for your understanding.
Any other confusion please feel free to let us know.
As I said before - comical to read. 😉 Because I was an electronics engineer in a past life, I assumed that the "LLL" was an indication of a low reading. The didn't seem to be aware that this wasn't mentioned in the manual. Oops! 😁
 
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