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

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 several smokers and generally prefer using my stick burners. But sometimes I prefer the convenience and ease of using a pellet smoker. So I’ve been looking at temperature controllers and fans lately to see if I could combine the two experiences. And it looks like I found exactly what I was looking for. I had been considering several but decided to go with Inkbird as I’ve used many of their products and have been generally satisfied.The item arrived quickly and the packaging was nice. I really appreciate the provided case for storage – my BBQ drawer in my kitchen is a bit of a mess now with a ton of probes and different remote thermometers, gloves, etc. I also appreciated that everything (except see below) was provided – a lot of companies don’t give you the power block. I opened up the package and was ready to roll in a few minutes.One note on that. I used this on a Horizon smoker. But it appears that I accidently bought the one for ceramic smokers and the Weber Smoky Mountain. Not a big deal. Even though the clip didn’t work, I was able to modify it fairly easily by using aluminum foil to close the holes in the door and the weight of the main unit kept the controller in place the entire time. But make sure you get the right one for your needs.I usually start my charcoal briquets with a chimney but decided to toss some briquets in the wood chamber with some kindling on top. The blower was able to light all of the briquets quickly and with ease. Going forward, this will likely be my primary use for the unit. The rest of it was good but this is one thing that will be really helpful in the future. The blower brought the smoker up to temp fairly quickly and then shut off when it hit the desired temp (or shortly before). One thing that I would do differently is set the briquets or wood in a serpentine type fashion so that I could time how they light. I didn’t realize this at first and lit all of the briquets, which resulted in a little bit more tending that I had planned. But a serpentine approach would work nicely as you could direct what the blower lights and avoid everything catching fire at once.The unit had strong build quality and withstood very high temps in the wood box without any issues. And the app was easy to use and synced in less than a minute and I was ready to roll. I did have a hiccup because I’m not a fan of reading instructions but it was fairly intuitive. The range was quite strong, with me being able to monitor from inside my house without any issues.One of the key features is its power. This isn’t a lightweight fan and was able to provide a strong flow of air – and it was easily adjustable if I wanted to do so on the fly. As the cook went on, I experimented with lowering the fan speed as it approached temp and it responded without issue.I appreciate the design of this blower, with it incorporating a built-in temperature control system, which monitors the smoker's internal temperature and automatically adjusts the airflow accordingly. This feature eliminates the need for constant monitoring and manual adjustments, allowing me to relax and enjoy the BBQ experience without worrying about temperature fluctuations. Another interesting feature is that it knows when the smoke chamber door is open. I have no clue how it does it but it does. Maybe it’s a sensor on the wire. Not sure but it’s a nice feature because it lets the unit know that the temp drop is because of the door being open rather than the fire dying and needing to be stoked.I was surprised at how quiet the fan was – I could not hear it over the normal outdoor sounds. A few times I walked over to make sure it was on and it was.The blower exceeded my expectations and will be part of my smoking repertoire in the future. And it will hopefully lead me to use the stickburner a lot more.

Another great item from InkBird! This temperature control fan worked great on my kamado-style grill. It helped to get the temp to where I wanted quickly and then maintained that temp for a 10 hour cook. Connecting the Wi-Fi was super simple and made it easy to track everything on my phone while I was working around the house. This unit has the same great quality I’ve come to love from InkBird and is one of the reasons I continue to use their products. I highly recommend this item. You won’t be disappointed 👍

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.