Disclaimer: I am a Thermoworks affiliate. Buying a thermometer through my Thermoworks links earns me a few dollars. I love Thermoworks thermometers - I was a fan of theirs long before I became an affiliate. If you buy a thermometer from them, you're buying the best, and supporting DadCooksDinner at the same time. Thank you!
Last year, I talked about the Thermoworks Smoke - a two probe thermometer with a remote receiver. Before the Smoke, my experience with remote thermometers was not good. They worked as long as I was standing near a window where I could see the grill - but if I went farther into the house…like sitting on the front room sofa - the remote was too far away, and it wouldn't connect. (The worst ones wouldn't know they were disconnected - they'd keep reporting the same temperature, even though they're out of range, and I'd get chicken surprise when I went out on the deck…the bird would be 50°F higher than I thought it was.)
I bought a Thermoworks Smoke and fell in love. It has serious range - the remote is rated for 300 feet away. That may be true; I've never tested it to its limits. What I do know is: I can go anywhere in my house, and the remote still connects, showing me the temperature for both my grill and my food. I was thrilled, and use my Smoke whenever I have a multi-hour cook in the backyard.
But what if 300 feet is not enough? What if I want to check the temperature from far, far away? Let's say, hypothetically, that I forgot to buy red peppers and ginger, and I have to run to the store while a pork shoulder is smoking all afternoon on the grill. Hypothetically, of course. I didn't forget the red peppers and ginger last Sunday, no I did not. Um. OK. So, 300 feet is fantastic range for a remote thermometer, but what about a few miles away at the grocery store?
That's where the new Smoke Gateway comes in. It is a bridge between the Smoke base unit and the new Smoke app on your iPhone or Android phone, using your home WiFi. It's broadcasting over the internet - as long as my phone can get an internet connection, I can check my Smoke temperatures. That way I can tell that the grill is doing fine while I'm standing in the checkout line at my grocery store.
Sure, it adds another $89 onto the already expensive $99 smoke…and I really shouldn't wander off when I'm cooking…but it's SO COOL. I can barely contain myself. I keep opening the app and checking the temperature (and the handy graphs of the entire cook), even though I'm sitting on my deck, and I can see the base unit from where I'm sitting. Yes, yes, I know. I'm such a geek. But I love my cooking technology!
(Note: the Smoke doesn't have to be dedicated to outdoor cooking. It is a scaled up version of the ChefAlarm probe thermometer. I pull it out when I'm cooking my Thanksgiving turkey - I can catch the football game in the TV room, remote in my pocket, and not worry about about overcooking the bird.)
And, while I was on the Thermoworks website, I came across the new TX-1010X-SC zippered case…and immediately ordered it. I've been jamming the Smoke back into its original box, wires everywhere, and having a case to keep everything organized fits my strain of OCD perfectly.
Links to Thermoworks.com:
Thermoworks Smoke Gateway - WiFi Bridge
Thermoworks TX-1010X-SC Zippered Storage Case
What do you think?
Questions? Other ideas? Leave them in the comments section below.
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