Here's a list of some things we'll point out about using the DigiQ DX3 controller.

1. A frequently asked question about temperature controllers is whether or not you should leave the adapter installed all the time and if so, how do you control air flow when you aren't using the unit. In the case of the DigiQ DX3, you probably don't want to leave the blower installed all the time. Installing it on your cooker is relatively simple, as is removing it.

2. Placement of the pit probe can be important. There are two schools of thought. One is that you want it located near the meat so that the controller is controlling the temperature at the location of the meat, not somewhere else. However, the probe must not touch the meat and should be at least an inch or two from the meat. If the meat influences the temperature of the probe (especially when the meat is first placed in the cooker and is cold), obviously the controller will be sensing a false low pit temperature and will therefore compensate by overstoking the fire. The other school of thought is that if you are used to cooking by dome temperature (meaning as measured by the thermometer sticking through your dome), then you may wish to place the pit probe on the stem of your thermometer to control the temperature measured at that location.

3. Another debate that often occurs is how to start your fire using a controller. Some feel it necessary to bring their cooker up to operating/target temperature manually and then turn on the controller. The theory is that this minimizes overshoot. However, this is unnecessary with most controllers. First of all, the overshoot, if any, is minimal and short-lived. It will have no effect on your cooking results. In addition, waiting until the cooker is at the target temperature before turning on the controller means that you are depriving the controller of the opportunity to "learn your cooker" during bring up. Many controllers adjust their temperature control parameters as they "learn" the cooker. This allows for better control. So, we recommend that you let the controller start the fire and bring it up to the target temperature for best results.

4. Start with a small fire and let it build up as the controller sees fit. Starting with too large a fire ensures that it will take significant time for the controller to get control.
5. Make sure you have a good seal on your cooker. Make sure there aren't any significant air leaks around the blower attachment. Also make sure that you have a reasonably good seal with your cooker's gasket. Don't allow the wires entering the cooker to create a gap that will let air in. The only way the controller has of bringing the temperature down is to stop the blower. At that point, any airflow into the cooker has to be small enough that the fire begins to cool down. If you have trouble with the temperature rising above the target temperature and staying there, or even continuing to climb, the problem is always too much airflow. Also be mindful of the damper setting on your blower if there is one.

6. As we previously covered, there is a "Snap To Set Point" feature which automatically "snaps" the displayed temperature to the set point when the cooker's temperature gets within ±5°F of the set point. Don't worry if you see the temperature on the display jump five degrees. It just means that your cooker's temperature is near the set point.

DigiQ DX3 Open Lid Control Results

How well does the DigiQ DX3 handle opening the lid of your cooker? We conducted two tests, one with Open Lid Detect turned off and one with Open Lid Detect turned on. We let the cooker get stable at 300°F and then opened the lid for 60 seconds before closing it. Here's how the two tests compared:

Graph of recovery with OLD off. Graph of recovery with OLD on.

OLD Status  Temperature Spike   Time To Recover  Off +13.4° F 8:15 On 0.0° F 6:15

DigiQ DX3 Open Lid Detect Results

As you can see, the DigiQ DX3's Open Lid Detect does a great job of detecting and recovering from open lid events so it is worthwhile to leave this function turned on all the time to get the better results.

DigiQ DX3 Control Results

How well does the DigiQ DX3 actually control the temperature of your cooker? Here are the results that we obtained when allowing the DigiQ DX3 to control a large Big Green Egg at low, medium and high temperatures:

Target  Accuracy   Swing  Low +1.0° F ±4.0° F Medium -1.0° F ±3.6° F High -1.0° F ±3.6° F

DigiQ DX3 Control Results

As you can see, the DigiQ DX3 is quite good at keeping your cooker close to the target temperature. There is slightly more oscillation than we would like to see; however, this is still well within any reasonable requirement for keeping your cooker near a target temperature.

Problems Encountered

We did not encounter any problems during our testing.

Summary

So to try to sum all this up, here is our list of Pro's and Con's for the BBQ Guru DigiQ DX3:

Pros: Good temperature control. Contains most every temperature control feature you could ask for in a controller. Open Lid Detect, Ramp Mode, Adaptive Control. More accurate Type-T thermocouple probes. Excellent blower and an incredible array of mounting adapters to fit almost every kind of cooker. Runs off of 12V DC, so it can be powered by a car battery or other 12V DC source. Highly visible LED display. No dependancy on cloud servers or phone apps to run your device. BBQ Guru devices have always been of high quality, backed by first class customer support.

Cons: No Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, connectivity, cloud support, App. Only one food probe.

The DigiQ DX3 has almost all the basic features for controlling temperature you could ask for in a controller. It does its primary job of controlling the temperature of your cooker quite well. It's simple, it's basic and it's built like a tiny tank. We wouldn't hesitate to recommend the DigiQ DX3, just as we have recommended every other BBQ Guru temperature controller that we have ever reviewed over the years.

Availability

BBQ Guru products are available for sale at their web site and in many BBQ stores. They are also available on Amazon and can be purchased using the following links. (We receive a small percentage of any items sold on Amazon through our web site.)

Contact Information

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