Wi-Fi & Bluetooth BBQ Smoker Temperature Controller with Automatic Smoker Fan, INKBIRD ISC-027BW Grill Thermometer with 4 Probes for Big Green Egg, Kamado Joe, Primo, Vision Grill, Akorn Kamado, Weber

This is a review of the INKBIRD ISC-027BW. Short answer (tldr): I like this device thus far, but I have only used once and was a great day to smoke.*Disclosure, I have never previously used a smoker temp controller and cannot objectively say this is better or worse than others on the market.*As mentioned, I've only used this once and was a beautiful day to fire the smoker, calm weather, no wind, sunny warm winter day (60F/15C). TBD for performance on a less ideal day.With a large selection of smoke controller brands, I decided to purchase this item because I have other Inkbird equipment that has been reasonably priced and reliable.1- unboxing. Contents just as described in description in a convenient case. This is where I noticed my first concern, this device is NOT self powered. Description states battery powered, but should state external power source required. I feel that the description would be better if it mentions this fact more clearly. I interpreted the description as this can run on an external battery if needed, not as a requirement. Fortunately I have plenty of battery sources. I have a power station that runs off of my cordless drill batteries.2 - startup/connecting the app. This supports both Bluetooth and 2.4g wifi. I only tried to connect with wifi. Make sure your wifi is 2.4G, this will not work on 5G networks. Downloading the app, pairing, and setting the device took less than 5min. Could have been faster, but I was distracted/multi-tasking.3 - connecting to my smoker. This was my first and only "uh-oh" moment. This seems like it might be plug-n-play for Komodo/WSM/UDS, smokers, but I did not have a good option to set on my offset stick burner. Fortunately I ordered this a week before I was planning on trying this and had time to assess. See pic: I bought a small piece of sheet metal from my local box store, a couple of stainless screws and a couple of wing-nuts. I cut two pieces of sheet metal to sandwich the coupler in between the sheet metal and the air vent in the firebox.4 - App/control. Easy and intuitive. Minor frustration with this being at least my 4th different inkbird app. As mentioned. Ive been a long time user of inbird products and new gear seems to favor new apps. Sometimes I can abandon the old apps, other times I have to maintain multiple apps for similar products. Minor rant aside, the app was easy and intuitive to use. My only wish for the app with this device is that there is no manual setting. It auto controls the fan speed, which is nice, but I wouldn't mind an option to manually adjust.5 - Smoke day. Once everything was connected, it was relatively easy. Set the temp, the fan increases or decreases speed/airflow to moderate the temp. It really took limited effort to maintain 225f for 10hrs. I did need to refuel the firebox periodically and the controller would adjust air speed to get back to temp and stabilize.Towards the end of the cook, I wanted to turn up the temp to crisp the outside of some of the food and adjusted the temp to 275F. I refueled the firebox. It was difficult to maintain the higher temps. However, I do need to make some mods to my firebox to improve airflow. There was a good coal bed but needed to be raised a little to improve airflow. Additionally, my smoker might be a bit larger than what this device can handle to maintain higher temperatures. TBD. But to be fair, it was my first use with an inkbird controller, it was als not my usual brand of lump charcoal, not my usual wood splits and into the evening when the temperature was dropping. Lots of variables, thus not a very scientific approach to assess the effectiveness of this device at the higher temperature ranges.

inkbird smoker fan controllerI ordered this while they had a nice discount, although its too cold in February to be outside BBQ'ing in my town. I've used Inkbird equipment before, so I had to buy it before I can spend much time using it. The fan itself is pretty light, which surprised me because their products are usually solid and built rugged. But I understand now that you want to attach this to your BBQ without needing screws, so lightweight is a really good thing for that reason. The controller runs through the same inkbird phone app that I use for the bbq thermometer set I already own. The app is great, it has a variety of pre-sets for different meats, and has a lot of nice temperature tracking features. I think this will work very reliably, once I have a chance to get out and use it. The fan is variable speed, of course. But if you're like me and don't read the startup instructions you might get nervous with the first setup, because I turned the fan on and it stayed at full 100% power. Which is unsettling. In the app, you can settle the fan speed down to 10% power, which is a whisper. If they had a first-timer Wizard that made sure the fan speed stayed low in the beginning, it would be less anxiety. Its nice that it comes with 4 probes, so you get to monitor your food cooking in the same app. Compared to the original diy amateur setups I have seen, this unit is a very consumer-ready product -- easy to use, reliable, and pre-programmed with great features.

I have a Kamado Joe and I have seen many of these types of devices for sale. I have a few INKBIRD products so I thought I would give it a try.I am so glad I did. I know how to control my heat and use my Kamado, but sometimes I do just want to set it and not have to check on it. The app makes checking the settings very convenient.I thought I would see how quickly it could get up to a nice searing temp for a steak. I lit my coals using a torch and set the app to 450*. It was at 450 in less than 5 minutes. The little fan started blowing and in no time I was alerted that it reached my set temp.My second cook was some ribs, I lit the coals and once they were ready I set my temp at 225 and the unit held the temperature for the entire cook. At the end I raised it again to 400 to glaze than and it was ready in no time.This little unit is a great tool to add to your cooking arsenal.

Below was originally what I posted. Mine is now dead. Customer service won’t answer. And a long cook was ruined. The fan won’t engage.So I have had this unit for 3 months. Completed around 8 cooks. Most are low slow, past week cook was over 14 hrs. Pros: Cost - compared to others this a cost effective alternative to bbq temp control for long slow cooks Design- love the simplicity and sleek design Connection - stable WiFi and no major issues I see Durability- at this point seems ok Temp accuracy- seems to be good Cons: App- it is ok, but it is buggy. It needs to be cleaned up and even allow for more control of unit and temp settings. Temp control- ok here this is where it needs improvement. The “Open Lid” control doesn’t work at all. Also the unit will over shoot temp every time as fan runs at 100% until it hits temp. They need to adjust this to run based off temperature. Example would be: run at 100% until 75% of target temp the turn fan off. Measure temp for 5 min then start fan based off that temp. I am manually doing this but this would be game changer. Not a programmer but it doesn’t seem difficult. They could even expand the app to allow owner of unit to adjust based on their cooker. Probes: allow you to upgrade probes. Probes are good with but I want a better looking probe like there other units. Overall it is worth the purchase. I have owned Guru, Fireboard and others. But this right here is on track to be the best. I hope they invest in the product and don’t just put on back burner. No bun intended.