Fireboard is it really that good

[magoo40]

Hi im considering buying the Fireboard, i see information about the logging function and syncing to the cloud, but does it calculate the remaining cook time?

Any user reviews would be appreciated.

 

[bfletcher]

Hello. I'm very well-pleased with my Fireboard. It always works and I've never encountered a glitch. I'm a heavy desktop user and love the provision for using the dashboard to log some details about each cook (of course, this can also be done with a mobile device). It does not, however, calculate remaining cook time. I also have the Meater, which does estimate remaining cook time, but I won't comment much about that aspect of its performance because I just don't pay much attention to it. I feel like saying that at least early-on it's way off and possibly takes time to recover again if you open the pit for spritzing, wrapping, etc. But I just don't pay close enough attention to it that I can make that as an absolute claim.

The only thing that makes me a little nervous is if some of these folks offering products for monitoring temp, fan controllers, etc. go out of business down the road then we'd possibly be stuck with less-functioning gear. As for Fireboard, though, I read an article a few months ago where they purchased their own PCB production lines to do their own in-house assembly; I thought that was interesting.

 

[Walleye Hunter]

It does not calculate remaining cook time and I don't see how they could. The closer the meat gets to oven temperature the slower its temp is going to rise. I find that the Fireboard is very accurate and I also use it in my kitchen ovens, I was surprised at how they fluctuate and differ from one oven to another.

 

[magoo40]

Thank you for the responses, I was just curious about the remaining cook time function as I have always thought it must be a rough calculation based on the data from the cook in progress.

I have an inkbird but the app is prone to locking up and every time it does and I rest it it dumps all the cook data, I assume with the Fireboard if this happens then it will just add another session to the cloud, and the cook data will be split into 2 sessions.

 

[bfletcher]

I assume with the Fireboard if this happens then it will just add another session to the cloud, and the cook data will be split into 2 sessions.

I cannot answer this question because every time I've used the Fireboard since February 2018 it has never crashed

 

[Smokaholic]

I really like the FB. I did have a glitch the other day when doing a long cook on a pork butt in light rain. I had only 2 probes connected and had the device under the smoker to be out of the rain, but i guess some condensation got in the ports and forced it to start tracking those other probes as if they were plugged in. You can see that i labeled these as "XX" so i would know that they were in error. You apparently cannot "kill" a probe that started reading on its own, which i think is a bad feature. They timed themselves out eventually but kinda ruins the experience. I went ahead and purchased the additional case for it to prevent this in the future and also have a magnetic base that i can put the unit to the side of the pellet hopper to be out of the way.

Just an FYI,
1) Grill temp probe reads lower than Traeger Probe. I had the grill set at 225, 250, and 300 and you see the "flat trend" sections are reading lower on the fireboard.
2) I kept the meat probe in when i put wrapped in an ice chest to rest to see if the temp increased any more and it did not. That is why the Pork Temperature extended longer than the Grill Temperature.

I recommend the FB, my wife bought it on black Friday and it came with an extra ambient probe and meat probe, so keep your eyes out as they do run specials.

 

[Walleye Hunter]

Mine came with 3 probes, one ambient and two meat, though I don't know why it's not just 3 meat, do we really need one dedicated to ambient? I put mine inside the pellet box when it's raining (and even when it's not), the thin leads still let the lid close pretty well.

 

[woodnboats]

Hi im considering buying the Fireboard, i see information about the logging function and syncing to the cloud, but does it calculate the remaining cook time?

Any user reviews would be appreciated.

I really like my Fireboard, especially its 6 probes and recording feature....but...

I have had probe failure problems, which the company has made good, as well as a moisture problem (my fault). They replaced the controller for a small fee, and I learned to put the controller in a zip-loc bag.

I think the probes read a bit low, so I'm going to calibrate them against my Traeger Pro 780 and my Thermapen. I hadn't been aware of a discrepancy until I used my 780 with both probes, although I had thought the FB might have been reading low as things seemed to be slighter more cooked than the FB said.

I lost all my data on my laptop somehow, but the FB folks told me that I could still retrieve it using the phone app. Now I routinely download sessions and store them on my backup drives. You can do this from the Realtime View. The ability to view previous sessions, as well as make notes in them, is really a great feature. I've also discovered that some bbq myths are just that. For instance, "when you're lookin', you really ARE cookin'". The chamber temp will drop, but the curve of temp rise in the product will stay constant, at least for short open periods.

If you are colorblind, as I am, you may find it difficult to determine which graph line matches the key, although hovering over a line will tell you which one you are looking at. FB says they are addressing the problem, but I'll believe it when I see it. Software designers are usually more interested in "pretty", and forget that 10% of men have some degree of color visual impairment.

I'd buy one, if I were you, but keep it dry!

Kirk

 

[magoo40]

I pulled the pin and got the Fireboard, I am very happy with it I love how I can add details to the cook sessions on the web page and create a log of my cooks for latter reference.

My only complaint (which is minor) is it needs a magnetic back to secure it. i think I will add a couple of strips of self adhesive magnetic tape and see if that works.

 

[Walleye Hunter]

I pulled the pin and got the Fireboard, I am very happy with it I love how I can add details to the cook sessions on the web page and create a log of my cooks for latter reference.

My only complaint (which is minor) is it needs a magnetic back to secure it. i think I will add a couple of strips of self adhesive magnetic tape and see if that works.

Not mine, I lay it in on top of the pellets where it's out of the weather and can't fall anywhere.

 

[woodnboats]

Not mine, I lay it in on top of the pellets where it's out of the weather and can't fall anywhere.

I assume you only do that for storage?

 

[woodnboats]

I pulled the pin and got the Fireboard, I am very happy with it I love how I can add details to the cook sessions on the web page and create a log of my cooks for latter reference.

My only complaint (which is minor) is it needs a magnetic back to secure it. i think I will add a couple of strips of self adhesive magnetic tape and see if that works.

That should work.

 

[Walleye Hunter]

I assume you only do that for storage?

Actually it's in there most of the time. I have it in there when the smoker is running too. I also have a plastic fork in there for pushing pellets around.

 

[woodnboats]

Actually it's in there most of the time. I have it in there when the smoker is running too. I also have a plastic fork in there for pushing pellets around.

I wouldn't have thought the signal would be able to get out of a steel box. Do you have the hand guard in place to keep things out of the auger?

 

[Walleye Hunter]

I wouldn't have thought the signal would be able to get out of a steel box. Do you have the hand guard in place to keep things out of the auger?

I didn't know either and there's only one way to find out! Yep, that honeycomb thing is still in there.