Flame Boss Smart BBQ Smoker Temperature Controller with Patented Variable Speed Fan, 400 Universal WiFi with 2 Probes for Weber, Char-Griller, Drum Smokers, Offset Smokers

I did my first cook with the Flamboss 400 WiFi last Saturday. Setting up the MyFlameBoss account and pairing the device with my WiFi was pretty simple and worked the first time. Flame Boss uses the usual set up and configuration process of joining the wifi network of the device from your phone during its initial setup. I previously used a DigiQ DX3 which was an excellent control device but offered no connectivity. Additionally, I was pleased to see that the Flame Boss fan runs at a variable speed which is an improvement on the DX3 which just pulses the fan on and off.Setting up the adaptor on my Big Green Egg Minimax was also very easy. There were three adaptors in the box for different sizes of Green Egg. When I get a larger egg in the future or even a different brand, I'll still be able to use the Flame Boss 400.After starting my Egg's fire and placing the place-setter, I set the app to bring the egg to 225F for a low and slow smoke of some meaty St Louis ribs. It was terrific to see the egg's temperature come up gradually and stay in a tightly controlled zone. As you play with this device, you may want to experiment with where you place the pit probe. I like to control my temperature by putting the probe on the dome roof, rather than the pit. However, I've done it both ways and there is a bunch of chatter about this topic on the egghead forum.I experimented with changing temperature in the app and saw the temperature gently in a few minutes.The principal reason for this purchase was the wifi and internet connectivity. It was terrific to be able to visualize the pit temperature and fan usage percentage on my iPhone, iPad and a browser on my mac. To keep a close eye on the situation, I did an AirPlay from my mac to my large screen TV. Everything worked intuitively, and without issues. It was also helpful that the unit's design is simple. I don't need something with indicators and buttons or separate additional boxes if I can see and control everything I need in an app. In my opinion, the Flame Boss app is way more intuitive than their previous devices with their buttons and LCDs. If you BBQ for a living, you might feel differently. :-) If you've ever used a weber igrill for Bluetooth temperature monitoring, you'll appreciate the ease and convenience of viewing your pit temps on your phone/tablet. However, Bluetooth is quite limited in range and does not provide the Flame Boss useful internet connectivity.After several hours, with everything working correctly, I went out for a long walk, feeling comfortable that all was safely proceeding. 45 minutes into my stroll, I was both surprised and delighted to receive a text message warning me that I had a low-temperature condition in the green egg. Getting home quickly, I saw that the charcoal had burned entirely and that I needed to add fuel. That can be a common issue on small green eggs. It was terrific to get the warning and in a position to take action before losing the cook.On further investigation, I realized that the Flame Boss made it easy to see the emerging fuel condition at least an hour before it became a problem. Earlier, I mentioned that you can watch temperature and fan utilization over time. In the case of running out of fuel, the temperature stayed at a 225 steady, but the fan utilization slowly increased to a constant 100% during an hour. Now to be clear, you don't need to watch the screen or app constantly, but if you look every so often, you'll get a sense of impending trouble.All in all, I'm delighted. Given the newness and lack of reviews, the Flame Boss 400 Wifi might have been a shot in the dark. However, I was glad that it was a very solid out of box experience and first cook. I've included a pic of both the cook graph and my delicious smoky ribs. In the pic, you can see the fuel running out at 4pm, the fan going crazy to sustain the temperature in the hour before, the temperature drop, refueling, and the subsequent temperature recovery.Note that Big Green Egg created a branded version of this device that is only available through their retail dealer network. I am not sure if there are differences between the Flame Boss and Green Egg branded versions. That said, I'm happy with the Flame Boss version purchased and reviewed here.I'll update further if my experience changes. So far, So Good!

Best investment for WSM. It works the fire better then me, for sure. Wide open bottom vent for the unit, other two bottom vents closed, and 1/4 open on the top for a good flow on mine.

Very bad experience with the device customer service policies. Might be worth considering the trajectory of recent reviews.Within the first cook one temperature probe was very wrong (over 100 degrees) and the other just stopped working entirely. Flame Boss won’t accept a return and just asked me to sell it to someone else.The product:Out of the box - the pit/grill probe is far off, by around 120 degrees. (Temperature sitting inside my the house reads almost 200 degrees. I don’t live at near boiling point). The pit probe/ temperature for using the fan at all is unusable.It also seems the boss probes aren’t just unreliable, they seem fragile too.With one probe out, I plug in the device and just hope I can plug the non-functioning fan into the meat probe, to have an unwieldy, expensive l way of just knowing what the temperature of the meat is.The meat probe seemed not to be off by a crazy margin. For a few minutes. Partly into the cook — again the first cook with this — the meat probe just stops working entirely and reads no temperature. Mind you I’m not cooking at any crazy temperatures or manhandling it. It’s a brisket at low temperature, with no nearby flame.The thing about this kind of device is that it really needs to be dependable. Especially if you don’t want to be checking the grill often (ie why I bought it). For that you need to rely on it. Thinking you can when you can’t just makes you worse off and may wreck what you’re cooking.Anyway I’m then peeved and cursing at a 14 lb brisket. Which leads to the next issue with this product.Customer Service Policies:I try to return this thing because this is a lot to pay for a corded paperweight. Flame Boss won’t help me because I bought it through Amazon - Amazon (I get) can’t just accept a product after the 30 day mark. It’s not theirs. (I also first paid for it to be shipped to Flame Boss with an explanation of what was happening. It was sent back).Flame Boss says it would suggest selling this thing to someone else on Amazon used for a little bit of a loss, or they can give me additional probes and I can rely on those.This is really unacceptable. Given the price of this I hoped Flame Boss would care about the experience and not stick you with the product.I’m obviously annoyed but hopefully it helps someone else.Note: I don’t know if the company cares about these reviews or reads them, but I say customer service *policies* were bad. The man I spoke to was nice and I assume didn’t have discretion to do anything other than what he did.