Notes On Operating The Flame Boss 400/EGG Genius
A few things we'll point out about using the Flame Boss 400 and EGG Genius controllers:
- 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. 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.
- 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.
- Alarms are communicated either via notifications or text messages. Alarm conditions do not show up
on the Flame Boss or EGG Genius App screens.
- While your Flame Boss 400 or EGG Genius controller is offline, it will still continue to control your cooker, using the
last known parameters. When the controller returns online, you will then be able to see it in the App or on the web page
and continue monitoring and controlling it from there.
- The Flame Boss 400 and EGG Genius controllers take about 15 seconds to connect to your network and the Flame Boss Cloud.
Generally speaking, communications between the controller, the Flame Boss Cloud and either the web page or the App on your
smart device are quite rapid.
- The slowest process we noted was the time to end a cook and start another, which was about 30
seconds before it appeared on the web page, but about 11 minutes before we were notified on the App that a new cook had
been started. Despite the 11 minute delay, we were able to start monitoring and control the controller after the 30 seconds.
- You can monitor a cook from the web page and a smart device at the same time.
- You can use either the Flame Boss App or the EGG Genius App to monitor either controller. Either
App can monitor multiple controllers.
Flame Boss 400/EGG Genius Open Lid Detect Results
How well do these two controllers handle opening the lid of your cooker? Since neither the
Flame Boss 400 nor the EGG Genius allow you to turn Open Lid Detect off, we conducted just one test for each controller.
We let the cooker get stable near 300°F and then opened the lid for 60 seconds
before closing it. Here's how the two controllers compared:
 Flame Boss 400 OLD Results |
|
 EGG Genius OLD Results |
As you can see, both controllers performed almost exactly the same. The two spikes were between 11 and 12 degrees above
the pit set temperature. The time it took to recover back to the pit set temperature was 8 minutes 40 seconds for the Flame Boss 400
and 10 minutes 40 seconds for the EGG Genius. These results are comparable to what we saw with the SMOBOT and CyberQ Cloud controllers.
Flame Boss 400/EGG Genius Control Results
How well do the Flame Boss 400 and EGG Genius actually control the temperature of your cooker?
Here are the results that we obtained when allowing the two controllers to control a large Big Green Egg at low, medium and
high temperatures:
| Target |
Accuracy |
Swing |
|---|
| Low |
+1.4° F |
±1.9° F |
| Medium |
+1.1° F |
±2.7° F |
| High |
+4.4° F |
±4.5° F |
|
|
Flame Boss 400 Results
|
|
|
| Target |
Accuracy |
Swing |
|---|
| Low |
+1.6° F |
±2.3° F |
| Medium |
+1.6° F |
±4.2° F |
| High |
+3.2° F |
±4.3° F |
|
|
EGG Genius Results
|
|
As you can see in the tables above, the two controllers performed comparably. Compared to all the other
controllers we have tested, the Flame Boss 400 and the EGG Genius are about in the middle of the pack.
Summary
Here is a list of Pro's and Con's we experienced during our testing:
| Pros:
Very good temperature control, far better than any indoor oven.
Contains all the basic temperature control features. Open Lid Detect, Keep Warm,
Learning Your Cooker, Text/Notification alerts, up to 3 meat probes (EGG Genius only),
Amazon Alexa/Echo enabled.
Monitoring and control possible with App or website.
More accurate Platinum RTD probes.
Having an integrated blower means one less wire to clutter your cooking area.
Flame Boss devices have always been of high quality, backed by first class customer support.
Multiple ways to connect to your controller depending on whether you have internet access (Cloud Connect), network
access only (Local Connect), or no network access (Direct Connect).
Low cost.
|
Cons:
With no display or keypad, you are obviously at the mercy of the Flame Boss server availability if you want full function. If the
Flame Boss server is down you can still use Local Connect or Direct Connect, but lose History and Account functions.
Having an integrated blower means you don't have the option of using a different blower, perhaps one that
has a damper.
Cook raw data could be formatted in a more human-friendly way.
Blower has no damper.
|
Flame Boss has provided, via the Flame Boss 400 and the EGG Genius controllers, a low
cost option for BBQ temperature control. Obviously not as low-priced as something like BBQ Guru's PartyQ, but these controllers
provide quite a bit more function for the extra money.
Which one to buy? They both performed equally well at controlling temperature and they both have the same basic features.
If you are satisfied with one meat probe, you can save a few dollars with the Flame Boss 400. If you
need two more meat probes, for an additional $80 you can get the EGG Genius, add two Y-cables and two more meat probes.
Whatever you choose, as long as you can live without an on-board display and keypad, you will find either controller a great
low cost choice for BBQ temperature control.
Availability
Flame Boss Products are available from their web site, eBay and Amazon. You can click on the following links
to make a purchase through our website, in which case, we get a small fee.
Contact Information
Flame Boss
325 S McGee Avenue
Suite 102
Apopka, Florida 32703
800-978-9078
407-442-2771
Web: www.flameboss.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/flameboss/
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