Bbq guru

[CelticT12]

Hi all,was thinking of pulling the trigger on the Bbq Guru controller for my WSM,is it worth it?,what hind of experiences have you guys had with this device?,thanks in advance.

 

[gmc2003]

I think SmokinAl had one on his WSM, and I'm pretty sure he liked it.

Chris

 

[SmokinAl]

Yes, Chris is right, I had one for about 10 years. Great unit back then, so I bet they are even better now. Never even had to buy any probes. When I sold the WSM the Guru went with it & I bet it still works!
Al

 

[sandyut]

YES! I also used one for a long time. Priceless. I only had the cheaply party Q which I think they stopped making.

 

[seenred]

I don't own a WSM, but I've used Gurus on my gravity fed cabinet smokers since day one. My experience is that they work great, and make temp control in charcoal smokers a breeze.

Red

 

[CelticT12]

Thanks guys,is there a particular model you would recommend?

 

[ronf]

I have the Digi Q 2. Works great on my WSM.

 

[JeffShoaf]

I think the non-connected ones are fine but they've had a bunch of issues with their remote units. I have a cyber-q that was always a bit aggravating to use but became very aggravating a few years ago when it started losing its network settings between uses and I couldn't get it to configure via its built-in mini web server. I had to configure it's network connections using the user interface on the unit itself and it was extremely non-user friendly. I gave up it and went with a Thermoworks Signals and Bellows fan, which I'm extremely happy with. If you go with this setup, just be sure to get the optional damper for the Bellows fan - the fan moves so much air without the damper, it will overshoot the target temperature of any kamado and most gravity feed smokers. The damper is cheap (< $5).

I stayed on the Guru Facebook pages and the postings there indicate things got much worse with forced updates occuring on major cooking days like holidays, updates making the controllers useless with no way to roll back to earlier functioning firmware with weeks passing before fixes rolled out, web sites down that some models (my cyber-q included) depends on for monitoring, etc. I think these issues have been fixed now but they've lost the trust of many users. My Thermoworks unit works so well that I can't see ever going back to the Guru.

 

[seenred]

Thanks guys,is there a particular model you would recommend?

I have the Guru Digi Q DX3. It has always worked flawlessly.

Red

 

[CelticT12]

I have the Guru Digi Q DX3. It has always worked flawlessly.

Red

I have the Guru Digi Q DX3. It has always worked flawlessly.

Red

Thanks everyone,DX3 it is.

 

[SurfinSmokin]

A little late to the discussion, so I figured I'd check and see how your digiq has worked out? I got one a while back myself and I personally think the DX3 is the temp control guru for smokers. I've done so many cooks with it using my drum smoker. Briskets, hanging multiple slabs of ribs, chickens, butts... it's never failed me. It keeps my temperature so steady, and that always results in super moist & tender meat. I've gotten so adjusted to being able to go back and catch some more zzz's for a few hours after putting my briskets on while they just cruise, don't know if I could do it any other way now. No worries about temp swings whatsoever, or burning through fuel fast.

For anyone who hasn't pulled the trigger on a good digital meat thermometer yet don't hesitate on this one. BBQ Guru makes them for just about every type of cooker/smoker out there. There's a really small easy learning curve to using it, which has to do with dialing it in to your cooker. The fan it comes with has a built-in damper system for fine tuning air flow. Once you've gotten it dialed in it'll stoke your fire and hold your desired pit temperature the whole way through on autopilot.