John Setzler Posted January 7 Share Posted January 7 I bought one of these new instant read thermometers made by Fireboard this week from Atlanta Grill Company. It's called the SPARK. It's $150. I am gonna make a demo/review video of this early next week and get it published as quickly as possible. This thermometer has a lot of cool features. In my initial toying with it, I did, of course, try to compare how fast it works as an instant read thermometer compared to my Thermapen ONE. I set up my unscientific thermometer testing lab with a sous vide bath set at 155°F along with a handheld stop watch. I timed the Thermapen ONE on about 5 different measurements from ambient to target temp. All of those readings were between 1.6 and 1.8 seconds. The same test with the Fireboard SPARK were all between 1.7 and 1.9 seconds. So yea.. it's fast. When I get the demo/review video made I'll come back to this post and add the video here ... PHEAD, jtemple and TKOBBQ 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtemple Posted January 9 Share Posted January 9 Looking forward to the review! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
len440 Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 Looking forward to it John This is a very important tool for BBQing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Setzler Posted January 11 Author Share Posted January 11 I added the video demo to the original post.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PHEAD Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 they kind of blew it with that pricing. the thermapen is ~$100 i dont see why i would spend $50 more on the spark? pairing it with the fireboard and the app is neat, but for me it wouldnt be $50 neat lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
byee Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 John, Great review! Thank you. I also have the FireBoard 2 Drive. Would you know if the Spark displays the temperature for all 6 probe ports form by FireBoard 2? Thank you! barry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Setzler Posted January 12 Author Share Posted January 12 8 hours ago, byee said: John, Great review! Thank you. I also have the FireBoard 2 Drive. Would you know if the Spark displays the temperature for all 6 probe ports form by FireBoard 2? Thank you! barry yes it will Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jark87 Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 I’m always interested in new gadgets, so thanks for the review! Glad to hear that your reviews will become a series. I’ve owned a Thermoworks Smoke for years, but would like to upgrade to something that has more probes and an app for true remote monitoring, as well as tracking cooking metrics. I’ve had my eye on the Fireboard, as well as Meater. I don’t understand what the Spark is intended for. If it’s meant to be an additional component to the Fireboard, it seems that all of the functionality already exists in the Fireboard, so what purpose does it serve other than a high-priced instant read device? Maybe as an portable display for the Fireboard? That seems redundant with the app, but might be a pricey convenience. If it’s meant to be an all in one device, thus eliminating the need for something like a Fireboard, it seems a little clumsy, especially if trying to use it as an instant read device while wires are connected. As a stand-alone instant read device, the fact that it requires re-charging vs. the always ready Thermapen is big negative for me. Between my wife and I, there’s already enough counter clutter with re-charging devices (phones, watches, tablets, earbuds - you name it.) I’d guess that most of the target market for the Spark already owns an instant read thermometer. Given that, it feels like the folks at Fireboard built a solution that doesn’t have a problem to solve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nobius Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 If I already have a FB2, will using the instant read thermometer log that temp measurement to the ongoing session I'm logging from the main Fireboard 2? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deity6667 Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 So they built an instant read thermometer which is slower to boot, slower to read temp, thicker and heavier than the class leading product and more expensive. Seems like they used a Technical lead design versus market driven. I’ve got an older thermapen which is acting up, just don’t think this nails the brief of an instant read as well as thermoworks does…the extra features don’t stack up for me. &roid 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PHEAD Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 3 hours ago, nobius said: If I already have a FB2, will using the instant read thermometer log that temp measurement to the ongoing session I'm logging from the main Fireboard 2? https://www.fireboard.com/spark/ FireBoard Spark FireBoard® Spark is a highly accurate and fast instant-read thermometer, combined with a leave-in probe port for longer term temperature tracking. Pairing your Spark with the FireBoard Mobile App keeps your temperature data available remotely everywhere you go. WiFi, Bluetooth, and FireBoard Cloud Connected. SyncModeTM is a powerful mode to track other FireBoard devices using Spark as a display. This powerful feature uses the FireBoard Cloud to transform Spark into a beautiful countertop device, making all your FireBoard temperatures available at a glance. i didnt catch the part about it having a port for a probe at first glance. thats kind of neat. if you didnt have a fireboard or a thermapen, it could do a little bit of both for you. but its not a full on pit controller like the fireboard can be. so i guess i can see why they didnt price it closer to the thermapen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Setzler Posted January 13 Author Share Posted January 13 11 hours ago, jark87 said: I don’t understand what the Spark is intended for. It's an instant read thermometer that also has the ability to connect an external probe that can be used as a leave-in thermometer. It's also wifi connected which gives you the ability to monitor it from your phone app. That connectivity also gives you the ability to have the SPARK show you a visual of what your Fireboard is doing. It's that simple. Lesta80 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtemple Posted January 15 Share Posted January 15 I'm pretty sure this will be my next grilling tool purchase. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nobius Posted January 22 Share Posted January 22 Found this review that answered my question.. Quote Using the same phone app – Android or iOS – that operates the original FireBoard or the FireBoard 2, you can configure the Spark to talk to your home router. Using this capability allows you to set temperature alarms and display temperature vs. time plots of the cabled probe. You cannot monitor the instant-read probe using the app. So I can’t save instant-read temp checks to my cook log. Boo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Setzler Posted January 22 Author Share Posted January 22 1 hour ago, nobius said: Found this review that answered my question.. So I can’t save instant-read temp checks to my cook log. Boo. I don't believe that's what this says. It says you can not MONITOR your instant read probe via the app. I DO believe that it logs instant read temps in the cooking log. I will have to play with it sometime and see. Just out of curiosity, why would you find that useful? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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