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

1. You don't get a printed user manual in the box, but you can print off your own copy from the BBQ Guru knowledgebase. We recommend at least reading it online because you will probably learn a few things you didn't know. We did. Here's a link to the Knowledgebase article that contains the User Guide.
2. We addressed this in the section on temperature probe accuracy, but we will repeat it here. The DynaQ needs to warm up for 5-10 minutes before the temperature probes will give accurate readings. The probes will be off by 4-5°F at first, but then will slowly approach an accurate reading. This should only be of concern if you are testing your probes. You don't really need readings accurate to less than 4-5°F during the first few minutes of your cook, and it won't affect the DynaQ's ability to control your cooker.
3. Because of the heat that is generated by the LEDs in the light ring, turning the LEDs off causes the interior of the unit to cool down and turning the LEDs on causes the interior of the unit to heat up. The firmware in the DynaQ takes this into account and you will see the indicated probe temperatures either increase or drop about 3-4°F as the firmware adjusts for the change. However, while the firmware adjustment is instantaneous, the interior of the unit takes about 30 seconds to heat up or 90 seconds to cool down. So the indicated temperature will rise or fall back to an accurate value as the interior of the unit either heats up or cools down.
4. Although the BBQ Guru App warns you that "The factory restore of your device can take some time," it happens almost instantaneously and there really is no indication that it has completed successfully other than the display returning to the Grilling Dashboard. You may notice that all the target temperatures on the probes have returned to the default values, but that's all you will see that's obvious.
5. The frequency of temperature updates that you see are nearly instantaneous.

6. 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 DynaQ, 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.

7. 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.

DynaQ Open Lid Control Results

How well does the DynaQ 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 350°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.

The temperature spiked at 34°F above the target temperature with the OLD function turned off. When the OLD function was turned on, the temperature spike was only 16°F. In both cases, it took about 10 minutes to return to the original target temperature. As you can see, the DynaQ's Open Lid Detect does a great job of detecting and recovering from open lid conditions so it is worthwhile to leave this function turned on all the time to get the better results.

DynaQ Control Results

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

Target  Accuracy   Swing  Low +1.3° F ±5.5° F Medium -1.3° F ±3.1° F High +0.0° F ±1.0° F

DynaQ Control Results

As you can see, the DynaQ is quite good at keeping your cooker close to the target temperature. At low temperatures there is 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. And at high temperatures, the DynaQ is about as good as it gets with this type of device.

Problems Encountered

We did all of our testing on an iOS device (an Apple iPhone XS) running the latest firmware. We encountered no problems with connections or otherwise during out testing.

Summary

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

Pros: More than adequate temperature control. Near instantaneous temperature updates when connected via Bluetooth. Feature-rich. Contains most every feature you could ask for in a temperature controller. Open Lid Detect, Ramp Mode, Timer-based actions, 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. No dependancy on cloud servers to run your device. All you need is your smart device. BBQ Guru devices have always been of high quality, backed by first class customer support.

Cons: No audible alarm. Light ring is difficult to see in bright sunlight. You are limited to Bluetooth range for connectivity. Can't use the unit without a smart device.

The DynaQ is rich with features and does its main job of controlling the temperature of your cooker quite well. While we did experience more temperature oscillation at low temperatures than we would like, the DynaQ's control is still far more than sufficient for BBQ cookers. We wouldn't hesitate to recommend the DynaQ, 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 seen using the following links. (We receive a small percentage of any items sold through by Amazon through our web site.)

Contact Information

The BBQ Guru
353 Ivyland Road
Warminster, PA 18974

215-674-9992
800-288-GURU (4878)

Web: www.thebbqguru.com
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Email: customerservice@thebbqguru.com