RFX Probes. Losing signal and losing love

[geek with fire]

We are on about week 3 of using these RFX probes. They have done great with grilling chicken and steaks. Have cooked a couple turkeys and they handled those perfectly as well. But we had our first failure last night. The way I do briskets and pork shoulders is to smoke to about 165 degrees F. Then I wrap in plastic and foil to finish. Had high hopes. But when the brisket was wrapped in foil, both probes disconnected from the app. I recorded the process below. Hopefully Thermoworks can chime in. But at this point, the primary reason for purchasing these probes isn't going to work.

The wrapping process:


The failure/punt process:


We we reached final temp and added to the cooler to coast, one of the probes tried to read. But to make matters worse, it lagged behind and was off several degrees. The readings from the Signals probes were spot on with the ThermoPen One.

Side note on wrapping to finish: Wrapped briskets don't have that "Texas" look. In fact, they are pretty ugly. But you will never have a more tender result.

 

[normanaj]

I have to ask...were the probes under the foil or poked through from the outside?

 

[geek with fire]

I have to ask...were the probes under the foil or poked through from the outside?

Definitely under the foil. That was the whole reason for getting them. They were under the plastic wrap and the foil. The idea is to completely seal the wrap to allow the meat to steam without leaks. If I have to poke through the foil, I have literally no reason not to use our wired probes.

 

[normanaj]

That's a no go. They were never going to work for the same reason an EZ Pass transponder won't work while wrapped in foil.

There's a reason the UFO folks wear tinfoil hats.

 

[geek with fire]

That's a no go. They were never going to work for the same reason an EZ Pass transponder won't work while wrapped in foil.

There's a reason the UFO folks wear tinfoil hats.

I just assumed they couldn't afford cast iron Dutch oven hats, which should be harder to penetrate than thin aluminum.

 

[Buckeye1]

That's a no go. They were never going to work for the same reason an EZ Pass transponder won't work while wrapped in foil.

There's a reason the UFO folks wear tinfoil hats.

Exactly what I was thinking. But I agree with Geek on functionality desire.

 

[bmudd14474]

ThermoWorks can you assist

 

[geek with fire]

ThermoWorks can you assist

Performed a few more tests over the holidays and confirmed that the RFX probes cannot be trusted inside/under of foil. Thick cookers with multiple layers of steel, it seems to penetrate fine. But foil (specifically aluminum foil) seems to be fatal. Such a shame. And I probably would not have purchased them (certainly not a 4 probe set) had I known this flaw in advance. I certainly understand how metal can cause issues with RF signals. But given the extensive marketing of the new tech T-works was using to beat the competitors in this area, my expectation was that it would be a viable solution under thin foil. Would love to hear feedback from the ThermoWorks folks on this issue.

Aside from that, battery life is usable for us. The long cook and long rest in a cooler test on our brisket would have been the final battery test. That was about 24 hour start to finish. At least one of the probes was dead when we pulled out the next day. Was so disgusted at that point I didn't even check to see battery life on the other. I do recall it was still functional (once the foil was removed). Signals was a great backup plan. But penetrating the foil and plastic lead to some moisture loss, and I'm assuming heat as well.

Cooked a few big birds this last week and the probes served us well over those 3-4 hour cooks. Using the 4 probes helped deal with smoker uneven temps on a very cold day. Placed a probe in each breast and each thigh. This helped identify that one side was cooking more slowly and allowed us to rotate each hour to compensate. One thing that would be helpful would be to see each probe on the same chart (like we can in Signals). Even if this was available only on the web/cloud instead of the app, that would suffice.

I give this tech an A- for grilling, a B for baking/med-short smokes, and a D for long smokes. The probes are far too big to penetrate our foil wrapped items. This will lead to significant moisture and heat loss. So ultimately, we will just use our wired probes in this case instead of the more expensive wireless items.

 

[ThermoWorks]

Performed a few more tests over the holidays and confirmed that the RFX probes cannot be trusted inside/under of foil. Thick cookers with multiple layers of steel, it seems to penetrate fine. But foil (specifically aluminum foil) seems to be fatal. Such a shame. And I probably would not have purchased them (certainly not a 4 probe set) had I known this flaw in advance. I certainly understand how metal can cause issues with RF signals. But given the extensive marketing of the new tech T-works was using to beat the competitors in this area, my expectation was that it would be a viable solution under thin foil. Would love to hear feedback from the ThermoWorks folks on this issue.

Aside from that, battery life is usable for us. The long cook and long rest in a cooler test on our brisket would have been the final battery test. That was about 24 hour start to finish. At least one of the probes was dead when we pulled out the next day. Was so disgusted at that point I didn't even check to see battery life on the other. I do recall it was still functional (once the foil was removed). Signals was a great backup plan. But penetrating the foil and plastic lead to some moisture loss, and I'm assuming heat as well.

Cooked a few big birds this last week and the probes served us well over those 3-4 hour cooks. Using the 4 probes helped deal with smoker uneven temps on a very cold day. Placed a probe in each breast and each thigh. This helped identify that one side was cooking more slowly and allowed us to rotate each hour to compensate. One thing that would be helpful would be to see each probe on the same chart (like we can in Signals). Even if this was available only on the web/cloud instead of the app, that would suffice.

I give this tech an A- for grilling, a B for baking/med-short smokes, and a D for long smokes. The probes are far too big to penetrate our foil wrapped items. This will lead to significant moisture and heat loss. So ultimately, we will just use our wired probes in this case instead of the more expensive wireless items.

While RFX MEAT™ Wireless Probes are designed to maintain strong connections even through thick smokers and grills, aluminum foil can act as an RF barrier or Faraday cage. A small crinkle or fold in the foil can change and disrupt the signal.

To avoid any interruptions, we recommend gently pushing the probe through the foil once your protein is wrapped. This keeps the connection strong while still sealing in all those delicious juices. If you have any other questions, let us know—we’re here to help!

 

[BigW.]

I cannot believe anyone would have an issue with poking thru foil. Sticking a probe in a SV bag would be a problem. Thru foil, there would be no noticeable difference in "steam" effect.

 

[geek with fire]

I cannot believe anyone would have an issue with poking thru foil. Sticking a probe in a SV bag would be a problem. Thru foil, there would be no noticeable difference in "steam" effect.

I get that. I think the importance centers around a particular cooking style. And for the way I like to cook large cuts of meat, it is important to me. The combination of plastic wrap with an outer layer of foil creates a sealed structure that allows the cut to steam in its own moisture, with the moisture up against most surface of the meat. Any opening in the foil will lead to a puncture in the plastic. That will lead to moisture loss. Sure there is plenty of moisture left in most cases. But I like to take a step beyond good enough. It is also less messy if you can keep it from leaking. Lastly, if I have to have the probes extend outside the wrap, I gain nothing from my wired probes. Having an IT background, I tell my users that "wired" will always beat "wireless" when performance is the gauge. Wireless is only a convenience. So when you can't take advantage of the convenience, you are generally left with liability. In this case, an expensive one.

 

[ThermoWorks]

We are on about week 3 of using these RFX probes. They have done great with grilling chicken and steaks. Have cooked a couple turkeys and they handled those perfectly as well. But we had our first failure last night. The way I do briskets and pork shoulders is to smoke to about 165 degrees F. Then I wrap in plastic and foil to finish. Had high hopes. But when the brisket was wrapped in foil, both probes disconnected from the app. I recorded the process below. Hopefully Thermoworks can chime in. But at this point, the primary reason for purchasing these probes isn't going to work.

The wrapping process:


The failure/punt process:


We we reached final temp and added to the cooler to coast, one of the probes tried to read. But to make matters worse, it lagged behind and was off several degrees. The readings from the Signals probes were spot on with the ThermoPen One.
View attachment 708256

Side note on wrapping to finish: Wrapped briskets don't have that "Texas" look. In fact, they are pretty ugly. But you will never have a more tender result.
View attachment 708257

Hi! Thanks for sharing the details here - the video was helpful!
While RFX MEAT™ Wireless Probes are designed to maintain strong connections even through thick smokers and grills, aluminum foil can act as an RF barrier or Faraday cage. A small crinkle or fold in the foil can change and disrupt the signal.

To avoid any interruptions, we recommend gently pushing the probe through the foil once your protein is wrapped. This keeps the connection strong while still sealing in all those delicious juices. If you have any other questions, let us know—we’re here to help!

 

[geek with fire]

On brisket #3 with these new probes. Still trying (and failing) to find a way to use them the way we like to cook. At the advice of, I can't recall who, I just cooked the packer unwrapped all of the way to final temp. While I have done a few pork shoulders this way, I had never tried a packer. And I can check that off the list of things I'll never do again. Yes, it has tons of bark. But unlike fatty port bark, beef bark just isn't my bag. The flat just doesn't have the texture I like when I wrap and steam finish. The edges came out stringy. Additionally, the point and flat cooked a lot more unevenly vs when we wrap. I think the next test will involve wrapping in plastic wrap (like we have always done) and then wrapping in peach paper to cover. Hopefully that creates enough barrier to trap moisture, protect the plastic from contact melting, but still allow the RFX signal to penetrate.

Here's the result of Brisket #3. Collected and vac-packed 6lbs of beef. The packer looks a little bulbous as I trimmed off before hand about 4lbs around the edges for the grinder (made meatballs. And they were perfect!)

I will say, having the 4 probes was handy as I was able to do a couple ribeye's for dinner while the brisket cooked. It does get a little confusing on the app. It would be nice if the cook title for each device was displayed on the main screen.

It would also be nice if you could color code an additional strip (currently limited to 3 colors). I'm slightly color blind and it is hard to tell the difference between red/orange/yellow as well as blue/green. Once they have gone through a couple cooks, the light colors get lighter and the dark get darker. Each combination starts to look the same But if I could have 4 stripes, the number of colors would mean more to me than the actual color itself.

All of the probes are set to 1° change updates. The steaks probed exactly to the ThermoPen. Even the long smoke probes were set to 1° and ran almost 15 hours. I didn't check capacity at the end of the cook. But no drops or failures that I saw.

Still learning, I guess. Will keep trying, and stay fed along the way.

 

[bmudd14474]

Have you tried using butcher paper?

 

[geek with fire]

Have you tried using butcher paper?

Yea. That's what I meant by peach paper. I'm assuming it's the same thing. And I've tried it by itself, using Jeremy Yoder's technique of applying a coat of wagyu beef tallow to the inside before wrapping. But again, without the plastic, it just seems to lose too much moisture this way. Texture and flavor is better than the last test. But still more mess than what I like. So I will try to wrap in plastic and then the butcher paper (no tallow) to see if that is a decent compromise to plastic and foil.

 

[ThermoWorks]

On brisket #3 with these new probes. Still trying (and failing) to find a way to use them the way we like to cook. At the advice of, I can't recall who, I just cooked the packer unwrapped all of the way to final temp. While I have done a few pork shoulders this way, I had never tried a packer. And I can check that off the list of things I'll never do again. Yes, it has tons of bark. But unlike fatty port bark, beef bark just isn't my bag. The flat just doesn't have the texture I like when I wrap and steam finish. The edges came out stringy. Additionally, the point and flat cooked a lot more unevenly vs when we wrap. I think the next test will involve wrapping in plastic wrap (like we have always done) and then wrapping in peach paper to cover. Hopefully that creates enough barrier to trap moisture, protect the plastic from contact melting, but still allow the RFX signal to penetrate.

Here's the result of Brisket #3. Collected and vac-packed 6lbs of beef. The packer looks a little bulbous as I trimmed off before hand about 4lbs around the edges for the grinder (made meatballs. And they were perfect!)
View attachment 709447

I will say, having the 4 probes was handy as I was able to do a couple ribeye's for dinner while the brisket cooked. It does get a little confusing on the app. It would be nice if the cook title for each device was displayed on the main screen.
View attachment 709448

It would also be nice if you could color code an additional strip (currently limited to 3 colors). I'm slightly color blind and it is hard to tell the difference between red/orange/yellow as well as blue/green. Once they have gone through a couple cooks, the light colors get lighter and the dark get darker. Each combination starts to look the same But if I could have 4 stripes, the number of colors would mean more to me than the actual color itself.
View attachment 709449

All of the probes are set to 1° change updates. The steaks probed exactly to the ThermoPen. Even the long smoke probes were set to 1° and ran almost 15 hours. I didn't check capacity at the end of the cook. But no drops or failures that I saw.
View attachment 709450

Still learning, I guess. Will keep trying, and stay fed along the way.

Hey Josh,

Thanks for the updates. We have logged all your feedback for review with our product team. In the meantime, we wanted to let you know that you can change the name of your probes on the main devices page by renaming each probe in the settings menu. You could also identify 4 probes using probe rings with a quantity of 0, 1, 2, and 3 rings. Happy Cooking!

– The ThermoWorks Team

 

[912smoker]

Yea. That's what I meant by peach paper. I'm assuming it's the same thing. And I've tried it by itself, using Jeremy Yoder's technique of applying a coat of wagyu beef tallow to the inside before wrapping. But again, without the plastic, it just seems to lose too much moisture this way. Texture and flavor is better than the last test. But still more mess than what I like. So I will try to wrap in plastic and then the butcher paper (no tallow) to see if that is a decent compromise to plastic and foil.

I also place the paper wrapped brisket in aa pan to collect all of the liquid gold leakage.

Keith