Having played with the RFX probes for a little over a week, here are my initial thoughts.
1.) Start out grilling to get a feel for where the temperatures land and update as compared to an instant read probes. Once you get a feel for that, then move on to a long cook. This allows you to get used to the product without having to worry about battery management. Battery is probably going to be an issue early on. But I have hopes much of this will be addressed in software.
2.) Plug the Gateway into an external power source. Electronic devices, especially those with RF equipment, just do better when not having to deal with battery discharge. If you have AC available, plug it in using the included wall wart. If not, get a cheap USB battery. Anker makes good ones and you can bet there will be deals in the next week or two. I have AC in my smoke shack as I have pellet poopers. But I've also experimented with my Anker 737 (a 24,000 mAh battery). Works great.
4.) If you have multiple probes, before you do anything else, pull each probe out of the dock one at a time. Identify this new probe on the app and immediately slip on one of the silicon rings. Then, immediately, assign that color in the app. You will thank me later...they all look the same once the lid closes and reopens. If you are doing high temp and don't want to use silicone, I'm thinking sharpie marks on the probe shank should hold up. (1 stripe, 2 stripe, etc.)
5.) I struggle with small cuts (Fillets, chicken breasts, etc) and stay in probes. Don't push the probe past the first mark on the RFX unless you are cooking something large. Otherwise you will be measuring a thinner cut and not accurate to thick. You won't overcook, which is good. But it will lead to lid opens, which can tank your chamber temp. There are 4 temp sensors in each RFX. I really hope they open the ability to select which sensor is being used. This would allow you to essentially shorten up the probe and fix this space issue.
6.) For long cooks, my plan is to mainly use the probes...well, I'm not exactly sure when. But certainly not right off the bat. For example, for packers, you know you are going to go at least 5-6 before anything serious happens (assuming you are also monitoring your chamber temp). So no sense using that battery when you don't have to. If, and only if, I can get the RFX, which is large, into the same probe hole as my Signals probes, I'll probably start out wired and move to RFX at that location near the back side of the cook. This allows me to wrap and keep it sealed up to the point of serving. Health nuts will gasp at this, but for all packer and pork shoulder cooks, once it hits about 160-170, I wrap in several layers of plastic wrap (the meat....I don't wrap myself) and then cover in foil. This creates a tight seal that allows the meat to steam itself to finish. Agree or disagree if this is "right", my circle of people seem to like it. And this is the primary reason why we picked up the RFX. That and flipping...
1.) Start out grilling to get a feel for where the temperatures land and update as compared to an instant read probes. Once you get a feel for that, then move on to a long cook. This allows you to get used to the product without having to worry about battery management. Battery is probably going to be an issue early on. But I have hopes much of this will be addressed in software.
2.) Plug the Gateway into an external power source. Electronic devices, especially those with RF equipment, just do better when not having to deal with battery discharge. If you have AC available, plug it in using the included wall wart. If not, get a cheap USB battery. Anker makes good ones and you can bet there will be deals in the next week or two. I have AC in my smoke shack as I have pellet poopers. But I've also experimented with my Anker 737 (a 24,000 mAh battery). Works great.
4.) If you have multiple probes, before you do anything else, pull each probe out of the dock one at a time. Identify this new probe on the app and immediately slip on one of the silicon rings. Then, immediately, assign that color in the app. You will thank me later...they all look the same once the lid closes and reopens. If you are doing high temp and don't want to use silicone, I'm thinking sharpie marks on the probe shank should hold up. (1 stripe, 2 stripe, etc.)
5.) I struggle with small cuts (Fillets, chicken breasts, etc) and stay in probes. Don't push the probe past the first mark on the RFX unless you are cooking something large. Otherwise you will be measuring a thinner cut and not accurate to thick. You won't overcook, which is good. But it will lead to lid opens, which can tank your chamber temp. There are 4 temp sensors in each RFX. I really hope they open the ability to select which sensor is being used. This would allow you to essentially shorten up the probe and fix this space issue.
6.) For long cooks, my plan is to mainly use the probes...well, I'm not exactly sure when. But certainly not right off the bat. For example, for packers, you know you are going to go at least 5-6 before anything serious happens (assuming you are also monitoring your chamber temp). So no sense using that battery when you don't have to. If, and only if, I can get the RFX, which is large, into the same probe hole as my Signals probes, I'll probably start out wired and move to RFX at that location near the back side of the cook. This allows me to wrap and keep it sealed up to the point of serving. Health nuts will gasp at this, but for all packer and pork shoulder cooks, once it hits about 160-170, I wrap in several layers of plastic wrap (the meat....I don't wrap myself) and then cover in foil. This creates a tight seal that allows the meat to steam itself to finish. Agree or disagree if this is "right", my circle of people seem to like it. And this is the primary reason why we picked up the RFX. That and flipping...
