Aftermarket Temperature Probes

[good eats]

My Timberline 850 came with 2 Traeger wired probes and 2 Meater wireless probes. I tested one of the wired probes in ice water and it was spot-on at 32 degrees, not sure of its accuracy at higher temps though. I suspect that the Traeger pit sensor is somewhat inaccurate as it seems to me that my cooks are all taking longer than experience shows me that they should at a given weight and temperature. I'm wondering what other brands of aftermarket probes you all have used and to what degree of accuracy and satisfaction have you found them to be?

 

[MidwestSmoker]

If you do a search on the forum for temperature probes numerous discussions will come up. Here is the short recommendation. You can buy the low end Inkbird set for about $50:
https://www.amazon.com/Inkbird-Thermometer-Rechargeable-Wireless-Calibration/dp/B07XNTJKY4

Or get the high end FireBoard 2 set for about $200:
https://www.fireboard.com/shop/fireboard-2/

 

[Shedd]

My Timberline 850 came with 2 Traeger wired probes and 2 Meater wireless probes. I tested one of the wired probes in ice water and it was spot-on at 32 degrees, not sure of its accuracy at higher temps though. I suspect that the Traeger pit sensor is somewhat inaccurate as it seems to me that my cooks are all taking longer than experience shows me that they should at a given weight and temperature. I'm wondering what other brands of aftermarket probes you all have used and to what degree of accuracy and satisfaction have you found them to be?

You can use your one of your Meater probe’s to check the grills pit sensor. I know my Meater probe’s ambient end isn’t exactly accurate when inserted into meat but I just used one of the probe’s last weekend to monitor my pit temp since my 780 pit sensor is off. I don’t rely on my Traeger’s probe’s at all. The Meater probe as well as the ambient end was actually the same since it wasn’t inside of meat.

 

[midwest]

I have the ink bird and love it. It is accurate and I didn't want to fork out the money for the Fireboard. Sounds like you checked the low end on your probe, you can also check the high end using boiling water. Depending on where you are from water boils at slightly different temps based on your altitude.

 

[Whjones71]

I had a horrible experience with The Meater Plus probe in my Traeger 575 Pro. In a 6 hour rib cook it disconnected 8 times requiring a stop and start of my bluetooth on my phone to be able to reestablish a connection each time. I had the probe in the ribs, the charger/range extender and my phone within 6 feet of each other the whole time. 165 ft range my ass! With the lid closed on the Traeger, which is ALWAYS, the range was cut down to about 3 - 4 feet that the probe could be away from the range extender. The temps seemed correct WHEN it would stay connected but I have already returned it to Home Depot for a refund. I'm going to try the Inkbird IBBQ-4BW next. If that's a PoS then I'm going to try the Fireboard 2. Anyone have any issues, or tips for use, with the Inkbird IBBQ-4BW?

 

[Shedd]

I had a horrible experience with The Meater Plus probe in my Traeger 575 Pro. In a 6 hour rib cook it disconnected 8 times requiring a stop and start of my bluetooth on my phone to be able to reestablish a connection each time. I had the probe in the ribs, the charger/range extender and my phone within 6 feet of each other the whole time. 165 ft range my ass! With the lid closed on the Traeger, which is ALWAYS, the range was cut down to about 3 - 4 feet that the probe could be away from the range extender. The temps seemed correct WHEN it would stay connected but I have already returned it to Home Depot for a refund. I'm going to try the Inkbird IBBQ-4BW next. If that's a PoS then I'm going to try the Fireboard 2. Anyone have any issues, or tips for use, with the Inkbird IBBQ-4BW?

I guess I’ve been lucky so far. No disconnection issues just the ambient temperature isn’t accurate. I’m going to keep giving them a try, my intention is to get the Meater block with the WiFi and four probes but I’ll see how it goes.

 

[Whjones71]

I guess I’ve been lucky so far. No disconnection issues just the ambient temperature isn’t accurate. I’m going to keep giving them a try, my intention is to get the Meater block with the WiFi and four probes but I’ll see how it goes.

I don't think that wireless probes are "there" yet with technology. And they are don't have a very high internal temp range without ruining them i.e. the Meater only can tolerate internal temps of 212 degrees. Ribs cook until about 205. That doesn't leave a lot of wiggle room if you're not paying attention before you blow up the probe. I think I'm sticking with wired probes for now which means InkBird or Fireboard.

Bill

 

[Shedd]

I don't think that wireless probes are "there" yet with technology. And they are don't have a very high internal temp range without ruining them i.e. the Meater only can tolerate internal temps of 212 degrees. Ribs cook until about 205. That doesn't leave a lot of wiggle room if you're not paying attention before you blow up the probe. I think I'm sticking with wired probes for now which means InkBird or Fireboard.

Bill

I’m not getting rid of my others either, always gotta keep a check on probes especially on all night cooks. I quit using probes for ribs a long time ago, I cook ribs more than anything else so I go by looks and feel. If I’m not convinced then I check with my thermopen.

 

[tomhooper]

I had a horrible experience with The Meater Plus probe in my Traeger 575 Pro. In a 6 hour rib cook it disconnected 8 times requiring a stop and start of my bluetooth on my phone to be able to reestablish a connection each time. I had the probe in the ribs, the charger/range extender and my phone within 6 feet of each other the whole time. 165 ft range my ass! With the lid closed on the Traeger, which is ALWAYS, the range was cut down to about 3 - 4 feet that the probe could be away from the range extender. The temps seemed correct WHEN it would stay connected but I have already returned it to Home Depot for a refund. I'm going to try the Inkbird IBBQ-4BW next. If that's a PoS then I'm going to try the Fireboard 2. Anyone have any issues, or tips for use, with the Inkbird IBBQ-4BW?

I've found that my Meater will disconnect if I don't set up the cook time. When I started doing that, I didn't have any problem.

PS I was using the WiFI/Cloud not the bluetooth. Too many walls and distance between my cook spot and my recliner.

 

[tomhooper]

Oh and the ambient temp part of the Meater is usually wrong until later in the cook. It reports cooler than it really is because it is close to cold meat. I normally don't pay any attention to the ambient on the Meater. I use a different third party for ambient and put one in each end of the pit.
Before I bought the heavy duty heat shield/diffuser from here, there was as much as 15 degree difference from one end to the other. Now it's usually within 5.

 

[Shedd]

I've found that my Meater will disconnect if I don't set up the cook time. When I started doing that, I didn't have any problem.

PS I was using the WiFI/Cloud not the bluetooth. Too many walls and distance between my cook spot and my recliner.

I’ll have to check out the cloud part of them. I was given two of the plus ones and I’m not to good with all the latest technology so I didn’t know anything about the Cloud part he just helped me get them going on Bluetooth. I had thought I had to purchase the four probe unit for using it away from my house. I’ve only used them a few times. I do like the wireless part but I really like the app and if the ambient end works well later in the cook then the estimated time would be great too. I did use it on a meatloaf a couple days ago and I noticed right before it was supposed to be done that everything was correct and spot on on the estimated finish time.

 

[good eats]

Today I decided to cook a 14 pound brisket (before trimming) just to test the difference between the Traeger pit sensor and my BBQ Guru "Ultra Q" controller that I use on my Big Green Egg XL. Consistently the Traeger pit sensor was reading 25-30 degrees hotter than the Ultra Q pit sensor. As I've stated in here before, this difference in temperature goes a long way in explaining to me why the cooks that I've done on my Timberline 850, have taken so much longer to finish than experience has taught me to expect for a given temperature setting and meat weight.
I'm not sure what difference this differential makes overall, I still love my new Traeger and consider it my "go-to" cooking method recognizing that there has to be a bunch of variables involved in my experiment. My takeaway is just plan to cook longer or set the Traeger temperature selector 20-30 degrees higher.
Incidentally, I'm using a smoke tube on this cook too and the smoke is rolling. I hope the neighbors don't call the fire department.

 

[tomhooper]

I’ll have to check out the cloud part of them. I was given two of the plus ones and I’m not to good with all the latest technology so I didn’t know anything about the Cloud part he just helped me get them going on Bluetooth. I had thought I had to purchase the four probe unit for using it away from my house. I’ve only used them a few times. I do like the wireless part but I really like the app and if the ambient end works well later in the cook then the estimated time would be great too. I did use it on a meatloaf a couple days ago and I noticed right before it was supposed to be done that everything was correct and spot on on the estimated finish time.

I have the 4 probe set so I don't know if you have to have the "block" to do wifi.

 

[tomhooper]

Today I decided to cook a 14 pound brisket (before trimming) just to test the difference between the Traeger pit sensor and my BBQ Guru "Ultra Q" controller that I use on my Big Green Egg XL. Consistently the Traeger pit sensor was reading 25-30 degrees hotter than the Ultra Q pit sensor. As I've stated in here before, this difference in temperature goes a long way in explaining to me why the cooks that I've done on my Timberline 850, have taken so much longer to finish than experience has taught me to expect for a given temperature setting and meat weight.
I'm not sure what difference this differential makes overall, I still love my new Traeger and consider it my "go-to" cooking method recognizing that there has to be a bunch of variables involved in my experiment. My takeaway is just plan to cook longer or set the Traeger temperature selector 20-30 degrees higher.
Incidentally, I'm using a smoke tube on this cook too and the smoke is rolling. I hope the neighbors don't call the fire department.

I love my smoke tubes.

 

[Clint62]

I'm a fan of meater. Thus far it hasnt ruined anything.