thermoworks Archives

ThermoWorks Smoke X4 Review with a DJI Mavic Mini Drone

Posted on May 7, 2020December 9, 2023 by Wiley

Today we are going to review the ThermoWorks Smoke X4.

Now to answer the obvious question in what does a drone like the Mavic Mini have to do with reviewing the ThermoWorks Smoke X4? Well the Smoke 4X has a transmitter capable of transmitting over a mile and a quarter, as long as nothing is in the way. I live on 4 acres and am surrounded by trees and rolling hills. So I came up with two tests. One is the football field test where I marked 9 spots that were 300 ft or 100 yards (football field) away from my outside BBQ Deck. The circumference of this circle is just under 1,885 feet or over a third of a mile. The Smoke X4 also had to transmit through 6-inch house walls, trees, and even a fifth-wheel travel trailer. The second test was to see how far I could go from the BBQ deck before it stopped transmitting. I will get to that test later in this article.

So why the drone? It has the ability to measure straight line distance from where it takes off. It is very accurate with GPS and ground sensors. It is so precise if you tell it to go home it will fly right back to the place it took off from. If you watch the video review below you can actually see the drone in action.

Now let’s talk features. Or let’s realize that this product is great because it does not have all these features. Actually we are going to talk about what the product does not have.

First The Smoke X4 does not have WiFi

One of the number one complaints I get is my thermometer or grill keeps disconnecting from the wifi. In one extreme case this guy decided to put on a brisket and then went to Home Depot thinking he could monitor his brisket cook from afar. Well the grill disconnected from the WiFi so he had no way to monitor. When he got back his grill had started a grease fire and the grill, the brisket, and part of his deck were on fire.

So the lesson is don’t ever leave an unattended bbq cooker, period. Even if the thermometer was connected to WiFi his grill would have still caught on fire. Stay home and send somebody else to the store.

The next thing that the Smoke X4 does not have is Bluetooth.

Personally except for connecting my phone to my car audio I am not a Bluetooth fan. Why if I walk 25 feet away from a Bluetooth grill or thermometer it justs disconnects. The worst part is Bluetooth devices do not tell you they are disconnected so you think they are working.

Many a chicken has been overcooked or burnt because of Bluetooth disconnect.

Now the other thing the Smoke X4 does not need is AC power.

It is battery powered and can run for hours. So now when you go camping and you bring your smokey Joe and to cook some BBQ chicken well now you can leave the lid on and know when those chicken thighs hit 175F. No AC needed.

So no Wifi, no bluethooth no AC and no problems.

Now there are some things they did add that I really like. The lanyard is such a simple idea and makes it almost impossible to misplace the receiver. When I first put it on it reminded me of another product that has a lanyard.

I’ve fallen and I can’t get up

When running the football field test I walked to every spot and first made sure I was still connected but to really make sure it would work I turned off the receiver and then let it reconnect. In all 9 spots it reconnected in 30 seconds or less.

The next test was how far can I go before the transmitter fails to connect with the receiver.

This test I wanted to make it hard on the unit so I walked to an area that was below the horizon and had plenty of trees. It finally stopped working at 1,053 feet or 2/10 of a mile and this was not close to line of sight. If you want to actually see how far it looks using the drone please watch the video below for the full review. It also will give you instructions on how to program the unit.

In closing if you are looking for a NO PROBLEMS remote thermometer that just works and works well you cannot get any better than the ThermoWorks Smoke X4 or X2.

Please click on the link to learn more or to purchase the great thermometer.

ThermoWorks Smoke X4 or X2

To learn more about the drone, click below

DJI Mavic Mini Drone

ThermoWorks Billows on a Weber Kettle 22 – Jerk Chicken

Posted on August 12, 2019December 10, 2023 by Wiley

This is a real easy jerk chicken recipe that only requires 4 ingredients and that includes the chicken.

ThermoWorks Billows on a Weber Kettle 22 – Jerk Chicken

This is a real easy jerk chicken recipe that only requires 4 ingredients and that includes the chicken.

Print Recipe

CourseMain Course

CuisineJamaican

Keywordbillows, jamaican chicken, jerk chicken, thermoworks, weber kettle

Prep Time1

Cook Time1 30

Total Time1 1 30

Servings people

Calories206kcal

Cost8

Equipment

Ingredients

1/2 cup Tamari Sauce
2 tbsp Badia Jerk Seasoning If you want more heat add 1 or 2 more tablespoons
4 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
8 thighs Chicken Thighs

Instructions

Marinade

Badia Jerk Seasoning.
Tamari Sauce.
Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
Put 1/2 cup of Tamari Sauce into mixing bowl.
Add 2 tablespoons of Jerk Seasoning. If you like more heat you can and up to 2 more tablespoons.
Add 4 tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil. The oil allows some of the jerk seasoning to mix for they are oil-based and not water-based.
Now wisp it all together.
Now get 8 chicken thighs with both skin and bones.
get a 1-gallon zip lock bag.
Using food preparation disposable gloves put the chicken into the zip lock bag.
Pour marinade into the zip lock bag.
Remove as much air from the bag as possible.
Now mix it all up.
Put into refrigerator for 10 to 24 hours.

The Cook

Here is were the ThermoWorks Billows is positioned on the Weber Kettle.
Here is where you place the Weber Baskets. They are on both sides of the Billows.
Add even amount of briquets so each basket is full.
Add foil or drip pan.
Program ThermoWorks Signals BBQ Thermometer to 275F for pit temperature (channel 4) and 175F for meat temperature (channel 1).
Attach pit temperature probe to cooking grate as close to the food as possible.
Put 6 briquets into a starter chimney and ignite.
19 minutes later.
Put lit briquets into each Weber Basket. 3 in each.
Plug pit temperature probe into channel 4 on the Signals BBQ Thermometer.
Open lid vents to 1/4 open.
Put the lid back on the kettle grill.
In the food prep area put down paper towels for easy cleanup.
Now put frogmat or grill mat on top of paper towels.
Remove chicken from zip-lock bag and place on frogmat.
Pull skin tight and with the skin facing up.
Off to grill.
Place frogmat between the two Weber Baskets. The chicken is now set up for indirect cooking.
Insert meat thermometer probe into a larger thigh that is in the middle of the frogmat. Make sure probe is plugged into channel 1 on the Signals BBQ Thermometer.
Put the lid back on the kettle grill.
Here is the complete cooking chart from start to finish.
Here shows the pit temperature at 275F and that during this part of the cook the pit alternated between 275F and 290F.
Meat probe was set for 175F when the thighs would be finished.
We put the meat on about 15 minutes after lighting the Weber Baskets.
At 50 minutes the pit temperature was turned up to 375F so we could render the skin.
At 70 minutes we had to add briquets to both of the Weber Baskets.
At 90 minutes when the meat temperature reached 175F we pulled the chicken.
Here are the results. The chicken was cooked all the way through and the skin was rendered so it was easy to cut and eat. It also had enough heat from the jerk seasoning and also a nice smoky taste you can only get on a charcoal grill.

Video

Nutrition

ThermoWork Billow Insiders Facebook Group

ThermoWorks Billows on a Weber Kettle 22 – Installation and Review

Posted on July 27, 2019December 9, 2023 by Wiley

We are going to cover both installation and a full product review of the ThermoWorks Billows BBQ Temperature Control Fan. The Billows is an add-on product for the Signals BBQ thermometer. Here are all the things you will need to complete the installation.

The installation part is going to be installing the billows onto a Weber kettle premium 22 as you can see above a hole has to be drilled but before you panic, it’s a lot easier than you think.

The first thing we need to do is find out where we need to drill the hole. Start by getting behind the grill so the front is facing away from you.

From this viewpoint you will be making the hole on the right side of the grill now there are a few steps we need to do so we can make sure the hole is in the correct place.

Also, you’re going to need a few tools and some materials. The first material is masking tape.

Don’t use the blue or green tape for it is not strong enough. Also, get the wide version. Now you need to start taping approximately where the hole should be put down long strips of tape and move the ash vents around so you can get underneath them.

Now rotate the ash vent fully clockwise until they stop. Now trace around the vent using a dark pen or pencil making sure the lines are very visible on the tape.

Now rotate the ash vent counterclockwise until it stops now trace around the new vent over the tape.

Now go get the charcoal grate and put it in place then trace where the tape is.

Now remove the grate draw a parallel line about a half-inch below your traced line.

To find the spot to drill, you need to see these three points. Look at these three points and then find the middle of the triangle the spot that you have found is clear of the ash vents and also the charcoal grate.

Now, drill a pilot hole; the porcelain enamel on the bowl is really hard to drill, so use a new bit and take your time.

The Drill Bit below is a pretty mean-looking bit but it also gets the job done.

When using this bit you will fill that it pops as it makes the hole larger. In my case, when I felt seven pops, I knew I was done. Oh, I forgot to tell you it makes a sound similar to fingernails on a chalkboard, except it’s about ten times louder. Besides the noise, it does make a perfect hole for when it cuts it also deburrs the metal. Also, it is quite a workout for after a while, the drill motor feels like it weighs about 50 pounds. Then you are done and the hole is exactly one inch wide and perfectly round.

Next you peel off the tape and knock up all the metal debris the tape should come off real easy, but again take your time for a lot of the metal fragments will stick to the tape and not you. Knock off any metal fragments and I recommend you vacuum out the bottom of the bowl now put the charcoal grate back in and rotate the ash vents all the way to the left and then to the right just to make sure everything is clear.

Just one more thing to do to finish this modification and that is the paint the inside of the hole. I did do one final pass with a hole bit just to make sure all the metal birds were gone so I went from the outside in. Wipe the area clean and then put a piece of masking tape over the hole from the outside. Now using a high-temperature paint like Rust-oleum will protect the metal from rusting.

Let the paint completely dry this usually takes at least a few hours peel off the tape and the modification is now complete this is how it looks to the outside.

Looks pretty good to me now we can add the billows to the grill there are two springs you need to insert. It is best to secure one in the hole and then follow up by inserting the second spring in the hole. The billows will be held in place by the springs and a soft air silk gasket will keep the grill air tight.

Now we need to add the other parts. Here is the Signals BBQ thermometer. This is the controller for the bellows fan.

Next we need the splitter cable. This supplies power to the signals unit and also controls the Billows fan.

Now plug in the power line that plugs into an AC power outlet.

Now plug in the billows control cord.

Here’s channel 4 on the Signals unit without the billows plugged in.

Here is what channel 4 looks like when the billows is plugged in.

Notice there’s now a fan icon and the default temperature is 225 degrees Fahrenheit.

Here are the performance tests that we’ll be running.

The testbed will be a weber kettle 22-inch setup for indirect cooking. The test is to see how quickly the billows can reach temperature and then maintain temperature. The temperatures that we are going to achieve are 225 degrees Fahrenheit 250 degrees Fahrenheit 300 degrees Fahrenheit and then 350 degrees Fahrenheit, Here’s the grill being set up for test first the air probe is attached to the charcoal grate in the middle of the grill.

A Weber charcoal basket is put on one side.

And another Weber basket is put on the other side.

A full chimney of Kingsford original charcoal briquettes that had now burned for 15 minutes. The briquettes are then evenly distributed between the two charcoal baskets. Just the last look to make sure the baskets have equal amounts of coals.

Now put on the cover. The plan is the cover stays on for the whole test unless there’s an issue. Here is the complete temperature chart for our tests.

On this first test of 225 degrees the grill overshot and did not stabilize till it hit 247 degrees.

I believe the overshoot was caused by me for not letting the grill stabilize for 10 to 15 minutes before turning on the bellows. I then turned up the Signals thermometer to 250 degrees Fahrenheit. Within eight minutes the billows have brought the grill temperature up to 250 degrees Fahrenheit and there was no overshoot.

After thirty minutes I then set the signals to 300 degrees within 15 minutes billows had brought the grill temperature up to 300 degrees and there was no overshoot. It also had less than 2 degrees fluctuation. We then had another operator error and that we burned up all our charcoal. I then added a handful of briquettes to each basket and the grill fully recovered to 300 degrees within 10 minutes.

In the final 30 minutes of testing we cranked the signals up to 350 degrees and it took 15 minutes to reach temperature never overshot and at that point never less than three degrees fluctuation.

ThermoWorks is not the first to market with a temperature control fan but they are definitely the best in market with one based on the superior Signals BBQ thermometer. We give this product a top five star rating and have now added it to our own outdoor kitchen as a product we will use on all future reviews.