The Flame Boss App

In addition to the web page interface, Flame Boss has an App for iOS and Android smartphones. The application behaves very much like the myflameboss.com webpage. We have captured some of the screens below to give you a flavor of what the app is like. (There is also an App for the EGG Genius, but it looks virtually identical in most respects):

This is the App login screen.

This is the Home screen where you can see controllers known to the Flame Boss servers (Added Controllers) and controllers that have been seen on your local network (Local Controllers).

This is the Controller screen where you can set WiFi parameters, security parameters or remove controllers known to the Flame Boss servers.

This is the Cook History screen where you can view a history of all your cooks on all your controllers known to the Flame Boss Servers.

And this is the Pitmaster Profile screen where you can view and modify your profile information.

The most important screen, of course, is the screen that lets you monitor and control your cook. Below we have the screen on the left for the Flame Boss 400, and on the right is the screen for the EGG Genius. Really the only difference between the two is that the screen for the EGG Genius has entries for a pit probe and 3 meat probes, while the Flame Boss 400 screen has entries for only the pit and 1 meat probe.

The Flame Boss 400 Cook screen.

The EGG Genius Cook screen.

From these screens, you can view the temperatures, set pit target temperature and pit alarm, set meat alarms, view a graph of the cook, as well as name your cook and enter notes.

Amazon Echo/Alexa Support

You can use any Amazon Alexa-enabled device to use voice commands to control and monitor any of your Flame Boss controllers. Simply use commands/ask questions like "Alexa, tell Flame Boss, set the pit temperature to 250" or "Alexa, ask Flame Boss, what's the temperature of Food 1?" Alexa will interface with the My Flame Boss website to respond.

The procedure for setting up Alexa to do this is quite simple, so we won't show you how to do it here. Here are a few observations about using Alexa to work with your Flame Boss device:

• Alexa communicates with My Flame Boss, not with your controller. If you ask for the Food 1 temperature, you will get back whatever My Flame Boss is currently reporting, which could lag behind what the controller is actually sensing. However, we have found this lag to be minimal.

• If your Flame Boss 400 or EGG Genius controller is turned off, Alexa will correctly report that the controller is offline.
• Alexa only knows controller numbers, not the name you give them.
• If Alexa hears your controller number incorrectly, she will continue to use that incorrect controller number until you disable and re-enable the Flame Boss skill.
• Alexa appears to be able to communicate with only one controller at a time. To change from one controller to another, we found we had to disable and re-enable the Flame Boss skill.

Frankly, we don't see much value in using Alexa for this, but then again, you can purchase a refurbished second generation Echo Dot from Amazon for about $25, so if you are curious, it doesn't take a large investment to get started.

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