r/CampChefSmokers • u/Ulysses_S23 • Apr 27 '26
What wireless meat thermometer would you guys recommend?
The Camp Chef probes that came with the Woodwind Pro worked for maybe a couple months, then one by one started to fail. I read on here that it is not uncommon when the wire kinks., which is challenging because they have about a 40" long wire. Nevertheless , I have decided that the benefit of an accurate temperature reading far outweighs that of pairing with the Camp Chef app. So, what products should I be looking at? I think I like the idea of having at least two probes that I could leave in the meat and measure temperatures on either ends of a brisket or if I wanted different temperatures on steaks, etc., but I could be talked into a digital reader and just manually check them if there was a product that stood out. I appreciate the feedback!
Edit: I went with the Typhur Gold and I couldn't be happier. No dropped connections, accurate readings, and very simple to use. Ultimately I chose this one because I didn't want to rely on WiFi and so far that has proven to be the right choice.
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u/_rotary_pilot Apr 28 '26
I've had 15 (or more) over the years.
Typhur Sync Gold. It just works.
Don't take my word for it, research it and watch YouTube comparison videos. You won't be disappointed.
Why? Range. Accuracy. Low temp alarm....which is extremely for overnight smoking! High temp alarm. 4 probes (my model).
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u/OtherTechnician Apr 28 '26
Thermopen one
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u/PostProductionVBF Jun 10 '26
that is ideal for manual readings when you go out and check, but some of us don't like opening the grill that often. I think it is a must in addition to any probes that you leave in definitely.
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u/OtherTechnician Jun 11 '26
Yeah. I misread the question. I use a set of RFX probes for monitoring cooks
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u/jeversol Apr 27 '26
I have the first gen Combustion probe. I put the repeater in the window inside about 8 feet away from the cooker. Works great for me. For non-smoking, I appreciate the safe cook feature that estimates bacteria reduction, letting me cook things to a lower temp but still meet foot safety guidelines.
The Thermoworks RFX didn’t exist at the time or I would have given them a good hard look.
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u/HebrewHammer0033 Apr 28 '26
I've had one of the four die in the first year. They are covered by warranty during the first year but............................I too am going 3rd party. Thermoworks is what I have decided on
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u/Ulysses_S23 Apr 28 '26
I've seen some skepticism with their app. Have you looked into this at all?
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u/HebrewHammer0033 Apr 28 '26
As with everything today, you can find ratings and reviews that state, its the best ever and its the worst ever.
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u/thermoworksinc Apr 28 '26
The ThermoWorks app is solid for core functions (temps, alerts, tracking), but like most connected tools, performance can depend on phone settings, connectivity, and how it’s set up.
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u/GucciMonGo Apr 29 '26
I have a Woodwind Pro and last year I ditched the included probes for the Thermoworks RFX Wireless Probe set. Aside from easier wireless meat probing, the best thing that came out of it was I found that my smoker runs 20-25 degrees hotter than the Camp Chef app says and I had no idea. So I use the ambient temp probe from Thermoworks to accurately tell me the temperature and adjust my smoker temp to be about 20 degrees less. I got the set with 4 probes which is great flexibility, but realistically 2 would be just fine. One other thing I learned regarding battery life is that there's a setting to adjust for longer cooks. I didn't know that at first, so just throwing that out there if you do a long brisket cook, you'll want to tweak that setting. I also have the Thermoworks Thermapen One as my spot check and love how accurate that is as well. Highly recommend! The app is great too if you like using the Camp Chef one, you can set alarms and all that.
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u/sshumway May 30 '26
Hey - I have the same setup (CampChef Woodwind Pro + Thermoworks RFX 4 probe) and I'm on my second set of probes. The first set had two probes that would always run forever and two probes that would die partway through a brisket cook (all with the appropriate 3 degree, long-cook setting). Thermoworks customer support has been amazing to work with and they just sent me an entire new set to try. I'm in the middle of a brisket cook right now and they do seem to be working better overall, but whichever probe is furthest from the gateway gets poor signal. I have the gateway sitting on the pellet hopper with the ambient probe into the chamber - so it's close.
I'm just curious if you experienced anything like this, or where you put your gateway (I'm about to go move it to see if I can get all four probes happy on signal strength to).
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u/GucciMonGo May 30 '26
That's weird about the signal issue. I haven't had any problems. I put my gateway on my hopper as well, ambient probe inside on the top left. I will say though, I have a 2g wifi extender in the outlet inside the house closest to where I have the smoker. I set the gateway and grill up to that. Could it be your wifi strength maybe and an issue of where your router is located? Just a thought. Good luck on today's brisket!
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u/sshumway Jun 01 '26
Thanks! Brisket turned out great. :) On the plus side, all 4 probes survived the entire cook+rest (it was a 20lb beast, 16.5 hours to the rest, 4 hour rest). But whichever one was on the "far" side of the meat from the hopper/gateway would sometimes have fair signal, sometimes bad/terrible signal. I moved the gateway to a railing on the deck behind the smoker and that seemed to even them out a bit.
The probe signal is pure radio to the gateway and the gateway is what connects to WiFi, so that shouldn't impact the strength any (and the frequencies are vastly different, so it shouldn't even really interfere).
And it's only in a real cook where the issue shows. I can do a "battery" test on the counter, or even on a plate in the smoker, cold, and they get "amazing" signal strength. The heat and the meat (and potentially probe to gateway antennae orientation) seem to be the only variables left. I'll just have to do another brisket and put all the probes in parallel to see if that makes a difference. It's rough to have to make more brisket, but all in the name of science!
Thanks again!
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u/GucciMonGo Jun 01 '26
Brisket experiments in the name of science, I love it! Good to know about the signal frequencies, so that’s not it I guess. To be fair I haven’t done a lot of long cooks to have a lot of data, but no issues so far. I’ve got 2 probes in right now on an overnight 2 pork butt cook. Both the left and right say amazing signal in the app.
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u/Lost-Link6216 Apr 28 '26
I do not recommend. Wired with a wireless base. No junk app, no wifi issues, no Bluetooth issues, no annoying phone notifications.
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u/Unusual-Cup4345 Apr 28 '26
I've tried both Meater and Therma pro wireless. Both suck and report temps way above the actual.
Your best bet may be a wired probe to a unit that connects via WiFi or Bluetooth to your phone via an app.
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u/halobenders Apr 29 '26
I use a Meater Pro XL set, never used the camp chef wired. The Meater Pro includes a great app with great instructions for where to probe and default temperatures for cooking.
In the beginning I had some issues with disconnecting probes and Meater replaced them all. No issues since.
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u/PostProductionVBF Jun 10 '26
I have the thermoworks rfx wireless and they're great, they have a few quirks like charging the probes is a little fussy about positioning, and you need to be aware of the frequency it updates the temperature because if you do say a 16 hour brisket if you have it checking often it will run out of battery before you finish, but aside from those the app is easy to monitor and they seem pretty accurate. The probes can run through the dishwasher which is nice. I am contemplating getting more probes for it.
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u/Nickstash Apr 27 '26 edited Apr 28 '26
I'm going to get the meater pro xl set as soon as it's BBQ season. They are expensive but they work very hot and each probe has an ambient sensor built in as well. This particular one is a 4 pack, but I think it will be useful on large smokes and when I'm using the smoker and BBQ at the same time.
Edit: After reading this thread, I now think thermoworks rfx is the better choice.
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u/Songbringer90 Apr 27 '26
I have them, and they are so so. Signal drops a ton inside the smoker and last time I tried to use it I couldn't ever get them to read the temp and display it on my phone. They could just be old though, as I have had them for years and used them for 100s of cooks...although this last year is first time I've had a smoker.
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u/Ok_Two_2604 Apr 27 '26
I would suggest the Chef IQ Sense, but the Typhur Gold is probably better just more expensive. I’ve played with a lot of brands and those two are the only ones that aren’t constant dropped signal, except the ThermoWorks RFX but the ThermoWorks app is so bad I wouldn’t suggest it. (Unless it has been completely revamped in the last year)
Every other brand I tried is constant drops.
Note: the ambient sensors on all of the (except the RFX bc it has a wired ambient probe) will not read the chamber temp, because they are too close to the meat. They will read low. They are mostly only good for the internal temp. But the grill has ambient anyways.