Accessories — Included would ideally be additional food probes since most ATCs can track more than one food per session.

Although there are many, and more emerging companies that manufacture automatic temperature controllers, we will only focus on the 2 companies that are by far the most well established and successful, with universally agreed the best products. So, Roger partnered with his brother Michael for what would be their second successful business venture. It supports one pit probe, and one food probe, has the same online dashboard for graphs and history of your cooks, and alarms and alerts like its larger cousin, the 500. Based on the readings from the probes, the device directs the speed of the fan to control the ambient temperature inside the cooker, by controlling the amount of oxygen given to the fire.

Besides being connected to the probes, the ATC is also connected to or has an inbuilt variable speed fan that is firmly fixed to a bottom vent, to control the amount of air that can flow into the BBQ or smoker. About its business’ is our first impression of this controller, though it does sleeker and more ‘designed’ than its predecessor the flame boss 300. More on the solidly stable stand; it also allows it to be mounted by 4 screw holes, added for attaching it to a surface for permanency if desired. You may find better deals and have a teeny bit more consistency in temperature holding with the Flame Boss.

It plugs into an outlet and monitors the pit temperature, as well as a single probe for monitoring meat temperature, too. Based in Warminster, PA, BBQ Guru was founded in 2003 by Shotgun Fred Pirkle, founder of ThermoOmegaTech®, a manufacturer of control valves, thermal actuators, safety showers, and rail freeze protection valves. Flame Boss leads are bent, BBQ Guru leads plug straight in, needing extra space below the ATC, so the leads don’t pull on the plug. The fan speed will vary in response to the temperatures, fanning the flames higher or starving them lower, so the temperature remains consistent and food is not over— or undercooked.

Wouldn’t it be nice to have the stable temperature control of an indoor oven outdoors in your smoker? The joy of smoking can go horribly wrong if the temperature isn’t consistent throughout the smoking process.

So you set the desired temperature for the food(s), the temperature for the grill/smoker that the food should cook at, and the desired cook time. Easy to Control: Set and control the grill temperature and monitor up to three meat probes directly and power off.In the 2000s, the first automatic temperature controllers (ATCs) for BBQs and smokers were created to manage the temperature of both pit and food throughout the cooking process. If your interest is focused on a good cook, without too many bells and whistles, the basic models of both — the DynaQ and Flame Boss 400 — are sufficient. Help is needed for your smoker or grill to have the steady, consistent temperature required for consistent cooking, because temperatures can fluctuate by 10s or even hundreds of degrees, depending on the grill and the environment. Set and adjust temperature and time, monitor meat probes, and see the progress of your cook over time. It has a fully featured Smartphone app that you can use to monitor and control your cooks, save historical data, and share cooks with other BBQ enthusiasts.