Is The Brand New Fireboard Pulse Worth It?

[@erichenberger]

I am eagerly looking forward to the head-to-head between the RFX and the Pulse.

[@ezmendez81]

Head to Head would be great. My 2 biggest issues in the past with wireless probes has been connectivity and range. This one seems to do well with both.

[@DGLJ]

You do not have to worry about distance when connected to a Fireboard 2 or Yoder Fireboard that are wifi connected. The Pulse will send data to those devices and then you can get your Pulse data via the Fireboard app anywhere as long as your devices are wifi connected. Its a great setup and very well thought out. I especially like the dual temp feature (Ambient) when using the Fireboard 2. Excellent work Fireboard!!!

[@RyanWadePhotos]

I bought my Blaze Kamado because of your head-to-head Kamado video. I would 1,000% love to see a head-to-head of all the wireless thermometers! Love the channel. You guys are awesome!

[@Just_the_Q]

How does it compare to the new thermoworks

[@2GUNMASTER]

We definitely need an in-depth comparison.

[@alanshenefield3695]

Agreed, as well as a TRUE max battery life time test. How long will the battery life in the probe truly last without needing a recharge or just dying.

[@emmgeevideo]

At 2:24 you implied that the insertion line is the spot where you have to insert the probe and implied that the portion of the probe between the insertion line and the ambient temperature sensor was exposed to the fire. Later you showed the diagram which indicates it is the minimum insertion point and further on you used the term as well. But I think it's worth emphasizing that this is the minimum insertion point. Depending on the size the meat, it is easy enough to insert the probe all the way. I would love to see you review the Combustion Inc products.

[@spidersgalore]

I always appreciate your product reviews. The attention to detail and the thoroughness of your reviews are fantastic. You frequently answer questions I hadn't thought about. Thank you. The Barbeque Lab rocks!

[@woodovenboston]

Great video brutha & thats a hard yes on the head2head wireless video 🍕🍕

[@praetorxyn]

Love the Fireboard and the Spark so I'm definitely eyeing this. There's a lot of competition in this space now, so a head-to-head round-up would be great.

[@W_T.F]

The only comparison I care about is to to the Thermoworks RFX

[@hanktrantham2641]

Thanks for a great review

[@bradgreenwood2588]

Been waiting for mine since September. If they aren’t stocking them then it doesn’t matter.

[@tikkin11]

I feel like Im cooking in the dark ages. No wifi on my grill and a 4yr old thermometer. Definitely going to keep an eye on this and the RFX.

[@jstones9872]

would love to see a comparison with the RFX by Thermoworks

[@mikesr3011]

From what I've seen my vote is for the RFX. My thought is they have a good point regarding the ambient temps. I would hope they develop and come out with a wireless ambient temp probe to compliment the RFX meat probes and sending unit.

[@cordelleandrews8872]

Thank you for doing this! Unfortunately I bought a meater block before doing this type of test! The meater block was a piece of junk, hopefully the next wireless probes I buy work better than the meater block!

[@TheBarbecueLab]

I think you’ll enjoy the improvements in this new generation of wireless probes.

[@SteelPastor]

Yes... Do a shoot-out of the top wireless probes (including ThermoWorks RFX). Thank you.

[@ApriliaRSV4F]

I have thew Fireboard Pro, so you could replace the wire probes with the pulse probes? Ignore this question, it seems obvious that they can. Probe life span would be interesting, but a bit early for that. I have been waiting for Fireboard to bring out a wireless probe so I will be getting some of these.

[@derekcharles3515]

Love my MEATER Block for features, but I’m ready for thinner probes. I do use a FB Drive for just about all my cooks, so I’m getting the Pulse so I can use it right with the FB2 Drive. All that said, the new Block and RFX may be in my future as well. I like options and this after all, is my hobby.

[@DomTullipso]

the $7 competition probes from fireboard are like IM needles. Perfect size, for anyone who hasn't tried them!

[@billsikes4007]

Do yourself a favor and upgrade to the Meater pro xl, pro duo, Typhur sync gold quad or duo. These are muuuuch better than the pulse and why would anyone even consider the RFX with one sensor?

[@katym2879]

Head to head would be awesome!

[@tjdavisbz]

What is the battery life? Will it last long enough for a 14 hour brisket cook?

[@showdawg3690]

What is the maximum amount of pulse probes on Fireboard controller at one time.

[@Smoke_N_EmbersBBQ]

@thebarbecuelab the review I've been waiting for although I already pre-ordered this since I have the @fireboard 2 pro and spark. Great review. The ambient range is acceptable and that put this above the thermoworks wireless in my mind.

[@radar3d479]

Can it withstand a deep fryer like frying a turkey like the MEATER +

[@Ron49x]

One question I have is whether the device holds its charge when not in use and stored in the case? Did you get a sense for that? My biggest complaint with my Twin TempSpike set is that the whole set discharges quickly in storage so I have to remember to recharge it before every cook

[@dmarkj22]

Please give us a head to head comparison between Fireboard Pulse, ThermoWorks RFX and Meater.

[@markpowers7197]

I noticed that you didn't mention the RFX in direct comparison, and I'm betting the Pulse can't be inserted when deep frying chicken in the hot oil. Don't get me wrong, I love the Fireboard in my LSG pellet grill, but I'm guessing the RFX will be the better of the two.

[@rickstevens3027]

#1 Can I rap it in several layers of thick foil and it send signal through lots of foil & grill (weber summit Charcoal). I have RFX. not having the best luck getting through foil, tin, and cambro. But it does great in the cookers. #2 the thinner the meat probe as not to put a massive whole in meat. my RFX meat is really good here! but hope they come out with a wireless needle probe. More like their wired needle probes. for chicken wings, fish, small steaks, & ribs. Doesn't need 4 internal sensors or Ambient or massive battery life. Just $50-60 with 2"-3" needle probe, 1 or 2 sensors, the high heat thing, & 15-24 hours battery, is fine for a wireless back up "wing" probe. Oh water proof is good too.

[@michaelelias1016]

Another good informative video David. I was wondering about the ambient capabilities (yes, there is a lot of chatter about this) also and it's interesting the the Pulse read 9-12 degrees low at that point of the cook. I would assume the meat which showed 170 internal was affecting the reading. I would have liked to have seen snapshots (pls share if you have these) of the Fireboard screen when the meat was cooler right after the cook started to see if that affected the Pulse ambient reading even more. Do you know if the Pulse can be submerged in frying oil and still work? Thx again to you and Melissa for your efforts and keep up the good (fun too) work.

[@TheBarbecueLab]

I'm working up another round of tests for the Pulse and the competition, and a frying test seems to make a lot of sense to include. As to the ambient reading as soon as I put the Pulse in, I would expect that there's a slightly greater variance at that point since the mass of the probe is much cooler than the new environment it's being placed in. For me, I'm good with a little variance at the beginning of a cook since that's not really when I need the information for what I'm doing. I can put a probe into a pork butt and know that it's 38 degrees and know that my grill is set to 225, but it's reading 180 because I just had the lid open. I guess I expect the grill, probe and meat to need another 10 minutes or so to settle in for a long 8-10 hour cook and give me accurate data when I need it. Maybe I'm missing something.

[@michaelelias1016]

@@TheBarbecueLab Sorry, it was just the engineer in me asking about any variance in the ambient temp not necessarily the cook. With all the conversation going with the probe folks and whether the meat and the evaporative cooling affects the ambient temp, does it really make a difference in my cooking experience (been doing this for 40 years) or accuracy? No, but it is a nice feature being able to read ambient from the probe but like with all of our cooking tools we need to understand the variables. Keep up the good work, thx again!

[@DomTullipso]

On the FB site it is mentioned as being safe for deep frying.

[@n2skiing76]

As far as I see you can’t pre order this yet. Just a pre order notification. I have the FireBoard 2 drive. But I’ve order the ThermoWorks RFX probes.

[@W_T.F]

The other problem with ambient temp sensors on wireless probes is they are slow to react to temp changes. This makes it difficult to control offset smokers and fans. While overall, this looks like a decent product t, I think the Thermoworks RFX has it beat. It can handle much higher ambient temos (direct flames from charcoal), is much cheaper to get into and add extra thermometers, and it can be used in deep fryers and sous vide.

[@greg2865]

I really like my Thermoworks products but I also like my Meater for its simplicity. I think I will be adding the new Meater Pro to handle higher temps and its other features. Disappointed that the Thermoworks RFX thermometer does not measure pit temps. Range is not a concern for me and if it ever is, I can always use an old phone to relay the Meater info.

[@erichenberger]

I don’t think any of the wireless probes measure ambient temperature well at all. They are too close to the evaporative zone which is traditionally much colder than the actual pit temp.

[@greg2865]

@@erichenberger Agreed. I am not concerned about the precise accuracy of the ambient temps though. The accuracy of the internal temp is far more important. Dome thermometers have always been inaccurate but we used them for decades. Heck, the temples of BBQ operate with far less accurate readings. I will trade the convenience of no cables for 5 degrees of accuracy every time. Personal preference.

[@Rickety57]

I’d like to see the head to head comparison thanks

[@hddm3]

Very nice.

[@Chriis_Perry16]

Are wireless probes like this capable of being used with a fan setup?

[@miles267]

Yes

[@DMIC4020]

if you have a fireboard 2 do you need the S1g antenna is the fireboard stays next to the grill?

[@samschorr4735]

No, the Pulse will use Bluetooth to connect to the FB2.

[@ScienceGuyRoy]

In your opinion and since you've compared both, how does the Fireboard Pulse compare to the RFX™ Wireless Probe by Thermoworks?

[@BluemoonGoldwing07]

What’s the distance of just the probe to your phone, without the board and extra cost antenna?

[@TheBarbecueLab]

It’s a standard Bluetooth connection without the S1G antenna. I think the Fireboard website says around 30 feet unobstructed.

[@2gnospam]

How does this compare with the combustion inc probes?

[@TheBarbecueLab]

That’s a great question. If we do a head to head, Combustion sounds like a contender to add.

[@gosman949]

When will the pulse be wifi ready so you can monitor when you are at the grocery store!?

[@TheBarbecueLab]

As long as you have it connected to the cloud with the Spark or the Fireboard 2, it is connected for when you’re away from the grill.

[@W_T.F]

$$$$$$$$$

[@jcbever1511]

The only situation where I think the Pulse would be nicei is when I'm grilling or smoking meats on my Weber kettle. I have the 70th Anniversary model, so I really don't want to drill a hole in it for wired temperature probes. This is where a wireless temp probe woudl be nice. But for my pellet grill, Hasty Bake, and WSMs, wired probes work just fine.

[@JCSteel2112]

My #1 need is reliability. And yes, please do a head to head

[@Rubiowner05]

My # 1 concern is warranty time !

[@beefuzzy310]

I almost feel bad for Fireboard. They drop the Pulse shortly after the RFX from ThermoWorks and it has worse stats across the board. I would assume if you are into the Fireboard ecosystem then stay, everyone else should go ThermoWorks for the higher grill temp, longer battery life, further range, better everything else. Interesting to see the head to head.

[@samschorr4735]

The RFX has one major flaw - the RFX measures AMBIENT temps using a WIRED probe that connects to the gateway. So the gateway MUST be next to your cooker. The supposed benefit of the wireless distance from gateway to probes is therefore immaterial. It also means the gateway must connect to WiFI next to the cooker. The Fireboard Pulse measures ambient as well as food temps - of course, there is the question about how accurate ambient temps are for a cooker when the probe measurement is next to the food where evaporative cooling distorts the cooker's ambient temp.

[@M4ttNet]

Great video. I've been torn between the Fireboard Pulse and the RFX Meat since I'm not happy at all with my Meater probes. I have a Meater Block and 2 Meater 2 plus probes (the ones that can take 1000 degrees on the ambient side) and I've been very disappointed with them. Neither have great connections through thick smokers at any reasonable distance though even worse the Block older probes are starting to fall apart (maybe 2 years into owning) and the new meater 2 plus probes have two problems. They (one in particular) random loses connects and won't reconnect even if I move the base right next to it. This happened with at least 1 of the 2 probes in the last three cooks I've done. Then this last cook I was started to get the overheat message which blocks out the whole screen of the app and doesn't even s how me which probe (though they were both in a prime rib at different spots). The meat temp was like 97 degrees and the ambient temp was like 225 when it can handle 1000 degrees. I had to take them out and move over to my wired Fireboard 2 probes to finish the cook. Basically these issues have made them useless in the last few cooks and I've never hit these issues with my Block probes (though they are falling apart now so not real winners either). So I've been very invested in watching the RFX Meat and Fireboard Pulse. I landed on and pre-ordered the RFX Meat 4 probe starter bundle. For the record I love my Fireboard 2. I think their software and experience is the best out there period, I had high hopes for the pulse... though I'm going with the RFX Meat for a couple reasons: 1) Pulse's exterior temp limit of Searing Max: 806°F (430°C) for 3.5 mins vs the RFX meat for 1000 degrees (haven't seen a time limit). The 806 for 3.5 minutes makes me nervous. What if it get there for 4 minutes (say a 2 minute sear on each side) etc... This seems behind the latest gen of RFX Meat and even the Meater 2 Plus which can go to 1000 degrees. 2) The Pulse only has one temp sensor in it's tip while the RFX Meat has 4 sensors spread out and the meater 2 plus has 5. The more sensors to identify the lowest temp means you don't have to nail the tip's point perfectly in the center and gives you a much better chance of seeing the actual lowest temp. Again this feels like this is targeting the previous gen as the new gen comes out 3) Cost... The Pulse is $150 per probe vs $90 per probe for the RFX. Yes this is likely due to not being dual band and having no ambient temp but I only want the low frequency radio no bluetooth and I don't care about the ambient temp. I already was using a separate Fireboard 2 ambient probe to monitor so the RFX Gateway system seems easier and interested in their future products here. I'd rather save the money on a per probe basis. 4) The color rings on the RFX Meat seem like a much more expandable and useful color matching feature In the end I really wanted the Pulse to be the choice since I love their platform so much but the RFX Meat just wins out in too many categories, including price. Really hope Fireboard makes a cheaper probe stripping out the bluetooth completely and makes it handle higher temps better.

[@johnburton9436]

I am a big fireboard supporter and have lots of equipment. not sure this Pulse thermometer is Worth $150

[@michaellatner2849]

Lost me at a max temp of 662°

[@surfingonmars8979]

I have a box full of crummy blue tooth/wifi thermometers that do not work. TWO different types of MEATERS. They suck. Range of about 4.5’. A cloudy day means it will not work. A sunny day means it will not work. Humidity? Fughedaboutit. The other blue tooth/wifi probes are no better…. I use my trusty Thermo pen. I gave up on these things.

[@TheBarbecueLab]

I hear you. When tech doesn’t work, nobody is happy. I think this current generation has made some great strides from earlier models.

[@surfingonmars8979]

@@TheBarbecueLab I will donate all my thermometers to Salv Army and try this one you reviewed. If it doesn’t work, I am coming to your home and will demand you cook me some ribs! LOL

[@Anteater23]

@@surfingonmars8979get the RFX instead

[@kesselrunheroj8497]

It makes me wonder how anyone ever cooked BBQ before they could buy a $200 thermometer - seems impossible