Hello from northern IN

[hickoryrokcih]

Hello all, and a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
4 days ago I purchased my new Woodridge Elite. I don't like to start on a negative note, but, I am having some issue with the cooker that I made a post about to see if I can come to a resolution. I'm relatively sure there will be a solution, we shall see. Took me about 5 hours with a couple of breaks to put it together, not big deal it was a treat, it's my mechanical back round that made it fun. I will say it is mechanically and structurally very sound, nice gauge of metal, nice fasteners, nicely routed wiring harnesses. Over all a really nice looking machine and No Stack to get in the way. One of the purchase points along with the extra insulation and a few of the features of the electronics and control. I like the idea that it had 2 wired probes. They worked very well too as well as the internal temp sensor for the cooker.

At any rate enough from this ol' windbag. Everyone! Have a Very Happy New Year and may it be prosperous for you.

David

 

[RayClem]

Many/most of use have found some issues with our Traegers. However, we have figured out how to make some great meals in spite of those isssues. Hopefully, you will be able to do so as well. Welcome to the forum!

 

[hickoryrokcih]

I have read good, bad and otherwise, mostly good. The reason I chose to go with the brand and model. Thanks for the encouragement. It's a bit frustrating because I maintain several Windows pc's in my home. if they acted like that, well. I wish they would have made it so you could update with a usb drive. I know that sounds pretty disparaging but it is not meant to be too severe. I'm going to give it another round with customer support today and see if we can get it updated. I would feel a whole lot more trusting that it was less likely to malfunction.

On a good note, the gravy from the brisket was great on my refried mashed potatoes (reds of course) from yesterdays dinner. hehehe Mmmm, mmmm

 

[primeone]

Welcome to the forum!

 

[hickoryrokcih]

Welcome to the forum!

Thank You, I look forward to enjoying your forum. it's been a long time since I have been a member of one.

 

[RayClem]

I updated my Ironwood 885 when I bought it 3 1/2 years ago. I have not updated it since. WHen I upgraded by wireless router, I did not bother to reconnect the Traeger. It works just fine without the app.

I have a brick fireplace in direct line of sight between my router and the Traeger, so getting a good connection is difficult.

 

[hickoryrokcih]

I updated my Ironwood 885 when I bought it 3 1/2 years ago. I have not updated it since. WHen I upgraded by wireless router, I did not bother to reconnect the Traeger. It works just fine without the app.

I have a brick fireplace in direct line of sight between my router and the Traeger, so getting a good connection is difficult.

It updated just fine, the people @ tech dept straightened it out. I like to play with pc's, windows pc's as it is. I like to keep that stuff up to date for security reason. It bothers me, I guess some would call it ocd, but to not having as it was supposedly designed is out for me. I paid for that perk, I want to use it and I want it working and secure. Just my to cents.

 

[RayClem]

It updated just fine, the people @ tech dept straightened it out. I like to play with pc's, windows pc's as it is. I like to keep that stuff up to date for security reason. It bothers me, I guess some would call it ocd, but to not having as it was supposedly designed is out for me. I paid for that perk, I want to use it and I want it working and secure. Just my to cents.

I doubt that any nefarious hackers are going to target your Traeger. I doubt that the Traeger updates have anything to do with security. The best way to keep your Traeger secure is to take it offline.

 

[hickoryrokcih]

That makes complete sense. I have been looking into these wifi/bt thermometers. They really sound unreliable. What I was looking for is one that would keep an eye on the ambient temp. The only one that I see that is reliable you can't leave in the cooker. I still have the two that are wired and seem to work so far and read in Traegers app. For ambient I am giving up to getting a couple of good high temp analog oven therms. The accurite that I have been testing with seems to read the same as the cooker reading.

 

[RayClem]

There a quite a few reliable 3rd party thermometers that are wireless. Meater thermometers are know owned by Traeger. I am not sure whether that is a good or bad thing. I use a pair of ThermoPro TempSpike thermometers. They seem to be reliable, but do have to be recharged frequently as the battery inside the probe is quite small. I have also used wired probes that go to a unit near the grill that transmits to a remote monitoring unit. Either system can work. There are many different models of both types of thermometers. Remember that these thermometers do not need to be accurate +/- 1F. You should always do final checks with a reliable meat probe.

Although somewhat expensive, many who do longer cooks love the Fireboard thermometer that provides a graphical presentation of temperatures throughout the cook.

 

[hickoryrokcih]

There a quite a few reliable 3rd party thermometers that are wireless. Meater thermometers are know owned by Traeger. I am not sure whether that is a good or bad thing. I use a pair of ThermoPro TempSpike thermometers. They seem to be reliable, but do have to be recharged frequently as the battery inside the probe is quite small. I have also used wired probes that go to a unit near the grill that transmits to a remote monitoring unit. Either system can work. There are many different models of both types of thermometers. Remember that these thermometers do not need to be accurate +/- 1F. You should always do final checks with a reliable meat probe.

Although somewhat expensive, many who do longer cooks love the Fireboard thermometer that provides a graphical presentation of temperatures throughout the cook.

I have been reading more about these. The Meater Pro Duo, which is about 2 bills seems to have some connection problems as per amazon reviews. There is a review on there that explains how you have a button on the back of that model which you can do a reset to get it back and also I read about the cloud being spotty on service.
I read about that Fireboard, the one that is just a thermometer. It sounds encouraging. In the reviews that I found there was nothing so far about connectivity on wifi or bt. For the same price as the Meater so far it sounds like a better choice. Plus, it says the are Made In The USA!
Thanks.

 

[onesquin]

I have been reading more about these. The Meater Pro Duo, which is about 2 bills seems to have some connection problems as per amazon reviews. There is a review on there that explains how you have a button on the back of that model which you can do a reset to get it back and also I read about the cloud being spotty on service.
I read about that Fireboard, the one that is just a thermometer. It sounds encouraging. In the reviews that I found there was nothing so far about connectivity on wifi or bt. For the same price as the Meater so far it sounds like a better choice. Plus, it says the are Made In The USA!
Thanks.

I use the RFX by Thermoworks. I like that it has a separate ambient temp probe and it's not built into the probes so they can be wildly inaccurate in the meat vapor zone.

 

[hickoryrokcih]

I'm reading a lot of discrepancies about battery life for the probes. How is yours doing on long smokes 6-8 hours. I'm partial to brisket and they take a while. I like the idea of the range on it though. I could use that because we have aluminum siding as well the gateway will be near 60 feet from the cooker.

 

[onesquin]

I'm reading a lot of discrepancies about battery life for the probes. How is yours doing on long smokes 6-8 hours. I'm partial to brisket and they take a while. I like the idea of the range on it though. I could use that because we have aluminum siding as well the gateway will be near 60 feet from the cooker.

I just stick the controller to my hopper and the controller will last like 24 hours?? Never seen it die. The probes last plenty long if you have the settings where it polls the temp and only sends every 1/1.5/3 degrees the higher that number the longer the battery life of the probe. I've never had one die. Will say if you wrap in aluminum foil like butts you need to have the probe end outside the foil. I do have really good commercial wifi in my house and it's like 30 feet from my wifi and outside and have never had signal issues. I go to parties or shopping and can monitor my cook and know when I need to get home.

 

[RayClem]

For brisket cooks, you might be better off with one of the wired probes that connects to a transmitter and has a separate remote monitor. That circumvents the issue with the tiny batteries in the wireless probes.