Flame Boss Reviews

I have owned a Flame Boss more than 5 years and the device itself works very well and does what you would expect. The servers that power FlameBoss on your device are not good. If you use your flame boss on most any normal day of the week it works just fine. When are there issues you may ask? Most any holiday like 4th of July, Thanksgiving, and Christmas to name a few. It is SUPER irritating to have this issue consistently every holiday and it has been that way ever since I bought the device, this has been an issue for MANY years. Even though I recently had to replace the fan and bought additional probes I think I’m done.

During troubleshooting, I always ask myself, what changed. After several updates, one would think the trending feature would have been fixed. Nope, it still zig-zags forward and back in time. Because, apparently, the dev has not completely undone whatever screwed it up to begin with. Instead, again, speculating, only debugging has been done and it hasn’t worked out. Additionally, I one makes a setpoint change locally at the this app device, one would expect these values to refresh upon app activation. Again, nope. One must quit FlameBoss and start it back up again in order for a re-query/refresh for these values. Only the probe temps refresh. Please fix.

UPDATE: In addition to forking out a few Benjamin’s for the device, NOW the Devs see fit to spam the user to death with ads AFTER we have already forked out the dough! SMDH!

Great idea and I’ve loved the Flame Boss since purchased. A few things about it have affected my rating. First, no one cares about sharing your cook and even if they did - public does not need to be the default option. Next, why the formality about starting cooks/ending cooks. I realize that it is important for long sessions, but app should have an override where you can just operate the fan manually without having to plug in all the info. For instance, if I want to do pizza - I’m gonna crank the egg up well beyond the maximum setting and I don’t want the fan cutting out because it thinks I’ve reached the desired temp. Other instances may want me to quickly adjust the fan on the fly without having to trick it through FlameBoss .

I have used this very regularly for the past 11 months. The load times in FlameBoss take awhile. if you click a notification it opens an extra screen in FlameBoss so you have to back out of that to get back to your cook and then hope you don’t have the spinny sign that something is trying to load. If you have the loading sign you have to go back further. It’s a lot of clicks to just stay up to date with your cook info.

Recently, the Apple Watch app stopped communicating with my iPhone. I’ve tried uninstalling/reinstalling without any improvement.

Here is a revision of my proir review advising how frustrating it was just to set up FlameBoss and get connected to wifi. After 3 days i finally got it connected. And yes it does keep the device stored in the main page as before i had to keep adding it. A funny thing is that it connected easier to the old iphone with wifi only that i use as a bridge for my meeter probe. Flsme boss also sent me an email on how to upload the newest operating system in which i have done. So now it seems to be operating as expected. 4 stars just because of the set up issues. Would still recommend to a friend.

If you sort by recent you may notice a number of reviews mentioning the addition of advertisements to FlameBoss . Since the Christmas decision of injecting ads into the mandatory app for the $200 grill accessory we bought FB has reversed course a bit and has relegated the presence of advertisements to just the History and Profile tabs. This isn’t ideal (ideal being no ads whatsoever) but their new limited presence is unobtrusive and largely inoffensive. It’s unlikely that we see them pulled entirely but this is a workable compromise for now.

Just used the Flame Boss device for my first cook and all I can say is this thing is pretty amazing so far. FlameBoss works pretty good and was able to keep me updated on my smoker while I ran up the road to run a few errands.

A couple of updates I’d recommend is an option to start/stop cooks so I can leave the fan plugged in without it running.

It would also be nice if you could zoom in and out of the graph view to expand/contract the time/temp to be able to analyze the cooks a little better. (Kind of like you can do on the igrill app).

I used the flame boss to smoke two 8 lb pork shoulders this weekend. This was the second time using it. The first time did not go so well. I needed customer service because it was not working. They were the best. Very helpful and explained what was going on. Turned out, the unit was doing an update through the wi-fi. They stayed in the phone to make sure the unit performed correctly. I was quite impressed at how well it worked. Target temp was 225 and the temp of the smoker was never more then 2 degrees higher or lower then target temp. After about 8 hours of that, I decided to change the temp to 250. I was at the community pool, about a mile away, when I did it. The flame boss had the Weber Smokey Mountain At 250 in less than 3 minutes. Between the flame boss’s performance, and the customer service last month, I have to say, getting the Flame Boss 400 was a great addition to my smoker and FlameBoss worked smoothly.

Let’s give credit where credit is due, the folks at this app listened to customer feedback and realized people are tired of being inundated by ads. Since the ads have been removed, restoring my rating to 5 stars. This is truly a great app and a great product. Glad that the stain of ads has been removed and I can continue using this product. Thanks!

*edit
Tried one more smoke session this afternoon, the controller updated its firmware and now FlameBoss and controller communicate properly. This brings all the features back together nicely and I'm not returning this product. Thanks for the update!

Purchased flame boss 500 a few weeks ago. I used it once and it worked well, but FlameBoss was constantly losing connectivity, so it made it difficult to track the cook.

After updating FlameBoss a couple days ago, Using for the second time tonight and it won't find my controller. The usefulness is still there with the controller keeping the cook at temperature, but the peace of mind one pays $350 for isn't there with the inability to monitor the cook.

If I can't find a solution, I'm returning this thing.

Still love it even thought mine is about 10 years old. Still works. Sometimes there’s hiccups with FlameBoss but it’s rare and my Humphreys smoker still works great without it. Maybe one day I’ll purchase a new and approved one but can’t seem to justify spending the money when my old one still works great. I’m just glad that they continue to allow FlameBoss to work with older models.

I bought this along with a WSM Smoker, and have used it about 8 times now over 2 summers. It works flawlessly, and I cannot imagine smoking without it. It allows me to exactly target specific temps, to see the trend of the meat temp, and to save successful cooks for future reference. I really can’t recommend it enough. Unless you are someone with the time and inclination to fiddle with your smoker all day, I think this is indispensable and worth the investment.

I’ve tried other monitors and apps but this one is by far the best. Very reliable and stable network connection. And if my phone loses WiFi and reconnects it seamlessly switches. Something none of the others I’ve tried handles well.

With the latest iOS having the ability to customize the Lock Screen it would be a huge improvement for FlameBoss to add one so one could check the temps without needing to unlock and open FlameBoss .

I have a Flame Boss Version 2+. Have had it for years. I can’t say enough about how great it works and when I need help Technical Support (Marcus) answers the phone right away and helps me out. That’s only happened a couple of times but it sure is nice to actually get someone I can understand and to have my little problem solved quickly. Keep doing what you are doing guys... When this one decides to die (nothing lasts forever) I’ll definitely buy another one.

I have been using my 400 for about 2 years. The old app was fine in terms of getting the job done, but, was not user friendly. This latest update changed all that. I fell in more love with my controller. This new UI is so much more user friendly, clearer to read, easier to navigate, etc. I love this gadget. It truly makes my Weber Smokey Mountain a true set it and forget it smoker. Today I smoked poor man’s burnt ends and chili. And ran errands. And napped. The temp through an 8 hour cook varied by 2° in that time. And their customer service is better than the product. I switched phones and routers in my house. Reached out after being stubborn with no results and Terry had me going in 5 minutes. Best accessory ever.

Have had my Flame Boss for a few years now and I have to say with internet connectivity it’s great. I have a a couple of other but only Bluetooth capable. This blows them away. The thermostat is accurate and the pit control works pretty well a couple of degrees either way. I use it in my BGE XL so the fit isn’t perfect and I wished they would have had a larger fan for start up, but in the end this is a great device for the backyard BBQ person.

Thank you to this app for hearing our feedback and removing the advertisements! I was genuinely getting concerned that things were going in the wrong direction. I am thrilled to see that you have made an amazing decision!

As a longtime user of just about every iteration of the this app products, I have witnessed the growth and development of this app personally. this app on my BGE has by far been the absolute best solution. Flawless everytime!
*I have also gifted many of these units as well and I still get Thanx and kudos from all of the recipients.

The this app App is always rock solid. The only problem that I have ever had with FlameBoss , were this blasted advertisements. (Aside from the thanksgiving overload many years ago lol. That’s a thing of the past, so no need to even sweat that!) Again Thank You FB for stepping up on this add mess. Bravo!

Just would like to sing some praises of my experience with Flame Boss.
I have three restaurants in West Kentucky. One of them relies on Smoked meats.
I was advised by the company that custom built my gravity feed smokers to use flame boss.
So I gave them a call and talked to a gentleman named Dave.
He was very informative and knowledgeable about his product and my smokers.
I purchased 3 flame boss 500s.
When I tried some test runs I had some questions and they are top notch with customer service.
When you use these on a daily basis and depend on them it’s great to know they are only a phone call away and always willing to help you solve your issues.
In my opinion they go beyond any company I’ve ever had to deal with in the restaurant world.
They go they extra mile.
I’ve had a few issues and they don’t hesitate they just send you a replacement. No argument no questions ask.
Wow never had that in life.
Very refreshing.
Thanks flame boss
Five stars on product and ten stars on service.
-George Manganaro

I have a background making things and i had an idea for making a smoker controller. No need! This works perfectly. Works better than anything i would have made. I don’t feel a need to share my cooks, but being able to access the cook while away from the house is awesome. Having a warming temp after meat temp achieved is great! Lid open/closed detection without a specific extra sensor??? Wow! Seriously. Great job

Wants: one or two extra meat probes and then control around the coldest one Or Bluetooth connection to another meat probe unit Adaptors for different grills. I 3d printed one for mine.

Also “no data collected”?!? Swooooooooooon

FlameBoss connects to your Fame Boss controller and allows you monitor your cook. I have owned the flame boss controller for several years but I had a problem with it connecting to the internet. Marcus from Flame Boss was able to fix the issue within minutes to keep my cook going. From what I understand he was able to contact both an engineer and the owner to fix this problem at 6 pm. Thank you Marcus and the Flame Boss team!