BBQ Guru Reviews

I have been a longtime fan and user of BBQ guru. However, the ultra Q and BBQGuru are pure trash. If you want an exercise in frustration trying to keep the device connected to either Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, BBQGuru and device are for you. Despite using this brand for over a decade, it is time to start looking elsewhere.

UPDATE 1 Jan 24: Still absolute garbage! Not only does the devices bluetooth and wifi not work with BBQGuru or online, the company “updated” their platform and users lost everything to include most cook history and recipes stored in their online feature website. Not even a warning, just gone! Now stuck with this expensive garbage product and non-functioning app. Stay away.

I bought an UltraQ strictly because of its remote access capabilities, as I already own a DigiQ The WiFi never works in BBQGuru . The purple light shows on the device, but the share my cook option is not showing on BBQGuru — yes, I am logged in. This makes me think the remote connectivity issues are software or cloud related, but, after speaking to someone around a month ago, it seems that the customer service has disappeared. I have been calling and emailing for a week with no response. When I spoke to someone a month ago, who was super sympathetic and helpful, she suggested some troubleshooting and call back if this did not solve the problem. Once I got around to trying her suggestions, I found the the problem still persisted. Now the company provides no response, as if no one is there. When you call, the message used to say something along the line of please wait while an available customer service agent can help. Now it just says that they cannot take your call. Maybe they have packed up and left town.

I like the Ultra Q new design pretty much although it seems very light and flimsy compared to my Cyber Q. I had to send the 1st controller back as it would not see any WiFi networks and the assistance from support amounted to a bunch of emails telling me the steps that were already documented in the manual. I was sent a 2nd unit and it connected right up so that is good. The software however is horrible. Aside from the drops and and multiple lockup’s requiring me to kill the software and reconnect, it has some pretty serious usability issues. The software does not work in landscape mode so when running on my iPad I have to deal with the screen always being sideways or remove the iPad from its keyboard. Also when attempting to use it on a mobile phone screen, all the text is jumbled up on top of each other and some of the fields needed to type in are off screen and inaccessible. I would give the unit a much higher score if the application was better

This is a great controller minus the Wi-Fi feature which is worse then useless. The one time was able to log in it glitched during a two brisket cook and ruined the meat. If you are new to this controller use the Bluetooth to set the cook and let it run if you are just shopping go with the digiQ manual only model. You or someone around the grill will need to keep tabs locally, don’t risk destroying expensive meat using the Wi-Fi set-up.

Yes, I have tried the recommendation of turning off Bluetooth. Since the latest firmware update the unit will not log into any Wi-Fi. Connection lights purple indicating a connection is established but screen says connection failed.

Spent $100 more then the digiQ which is basically what I have since the Wi-Fi does not work. Be warned, based on the number of complaints I doubt you will get one of the ones which seem to work.

I have been a loyal fan since the CyberQ first came out. I would always use PitPal with the CyberQ to monitor my cooks while I was away from home. When BBQ Guru made the switch to cloud service, PitPal no longer worked for me. So I decided to make the switch to the UltraQ when they first launched it. App works great while you are on your home WiFi, but as soon as you leave the UltraQ drops offline and you are no longer able to monitor your cook. Customer Service is terrible all they tell you to do is reset the device, we have a new firmware out. It’s been a year and I’m still having the same issue. Stay Away from BBQ Guru if you need to monitor your cooks away from home!!! I work 12 hours shifts and usually start my cooks before going to work, and then when I get there I have no idea what my Green Egg is doing or if my meat is overcooked.

Struggling to understand how BBQGuru adds any value. The handoff to WiFi is awful and doesn’t stay connected. As well, there’s no way for me to monitor and record my cook progress with reliability. My first cook I was able to leverage a 3rd party to record my cook, but for some reason that’s not available within BBQGuru interface any longer (even when connected to WiFi). Speaking of which, I was cooking a brisket this weekend and connected to WiFi because I was leaving my house to do some shopping with the wife. During the cook the application must have crashed while I was out and the ambient temp dropped to close to air temperature before I realized and destroyed my cook. I’ve done four cooks in the past week and I have to same issue with the WiFi connectivity and app constantly crashing. MAJOR BUYERS REMORSE.

They will stop supporting your device without warning and make you buy a new device which will still have problems with sharemycook. I have a cyberq cloud which still works fine manually. I didn’t have a problem when their mobile app ceased to support my device because they said I could use sharemycook. Then they changed that to a much worse interface that claims to record my device buts it’s inaccurate and has a terrible display. You can’t control any settings remotely anymore. I will never buy anything from these guys again. And it’s not just my device. They stop support on several other versions as well. Blatant money grab and waste creation.

Tons of issues with BBQGuru over the last several years. I’ve tried to be patient through updates but I just don’t trust this system any more. Sometimes it works great sometimes it doesn’t work well at all. Never know how the cook is going to go, which completely negates the whole reason for having one of these systems. Latest firmware update has the hardware malfunctioning - fan stays blowing 100% far past the set pit temp or not at all when the temp falls way off. Pit temp shown sometimes locks in place even though it’s actually rising/lowering in the pit. Constantly have to unplug and plug in the unit to try and have it start working again. Just one problem after the next.

This product is close to outright fraud. The Bluetooth works okay, but if you set it up and then leave range it gets flaky and glitches. The Wifi doesn’t work. This should not be an issue in this day and age. Literally everything else on the planet connects to Wifi, and I haven’t had trouble connecting anything for at least 10 years. The WiFi is the only reason I purchased this controller.

I understand that Flame Boss has acquired BBQ Guru. Hopefully this will improve support for the Ultra Q, but they probably will just shut it down because they have a much better product already.

In summary, don’t buy this. Get something else.

Have used over a year. Bluetooth range is poor and BBQGuru constantly needs to be closed and opened as it looses connection with device (even is 10-15 ft away outdoors). Makes for a more labor intensive process than should be. Great promise but BBQGuru needs alot of work.

Male clearer description of the features. Some are not intuitive and the instructions online are lacking.

The device itself works well (i have the DynaQ) but this control app is not ready for prime time.

High expectations for this not certain why after the 1.9 review approval.
I’m having stability issues with connection to Wi-Fi. I follow the email from the factory and have succeeded in connection. However, I still have stability issues. I have great Wi-Fi signal on my iPhone 4 feet away from the controller but unreliable connectivity to the control. Utilizing the chart feature requires connecting to the cloud and manual log on each time. The control functions well on standalone and Bluetooth holds temperature within 2° of target. Perhaps the antenna for the Wi-Fi is lacking. Going to search Google for alternative Controls.

I bought the ultra q with hopes of Wi-Fi control. I have done everything BBQGuru tutorial said to do, however BBQGuru does not work as the video shows. I bought this specifically for the Wi-Fi capabilities and have been dissatisfied since I took it out of the box. I have several other controllers that are from other manufacturers and they work all the time as intended. I am a busy person and being able to rely on information being pushed to me as intended is important to me. I would like to see continued work on this device to make it as it was supposedly sold to me.

I bought the UltraQ for my Kamado joe. The biggest driver to choose this was the ability to connect to my cell. My app does NOT show the option to connect to ShareMyCook. It’s not even present in the options.

The other issue is BBQGuru has “Smart Cook Settings” 1 thru 4 option, but nowhere does this say what any of them actually are.

And finally, as a beginner, I had no clue where the pit probe needed to be placed. The 1st time I put it in the coal basket. The manual could use some (or a lot) of work to make it clear to learn how to use this thing.

That if you spent the money for the BBQ Guru, which by the way is a great product that they would spend the money and effort to ensure supporting components were of the same quality an functionality. Alarm fails to make an audible tone when time elapses. App fails to support Apple Watch . Now one might think that these are simple mindless features, but for the user I should be able to set a timer in BBQGuru and get notified. It is the 21st century so working with the watch would be novel to boot.

My first time using BBQGuru, I could get wifi connection and it worked pretty well.
This time, the cooking timer is not working at all, I cannot connect to wifi and cannot configure anything.
As much as I like the concept, your app needs some serious adjustment and your knowledge base articles have completely been emptied and are useless now making it even harder to try and fix the issues.
You can really do better than this.

After additional feedback from the developer and additional fiddling/testing after my initial review it worked. I still lost my cooking session as BBQGuru toggles between wifi and Bluetooth but at least it connected.
The cook timer on BBQGuru is still not running.
I do appreciate the response from the developers though. That is positive and engaging.

Update: I sent an email to BBQ Guru and got a very quick response. Apparently BBQGuru doesn’t like both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi on at the same time. They told me to connect to Wi-Fi and then select Disconnect from Bluetooth in BBQGuru . I did that and it is rock steady. It no longer drops Wi-Fi. I’m changing my review to 4 stars. Why not five? Because it’d been nice to know before I ruined a brisket. I was informed an iPhone app update is soon to be released. Hopefully it’ll address this. I have version 3.5.4.

I’ve got a brisket on as I type this. First cook with the UltraQ. The Wi-Fi connection has dropped off 3 time, temperature has dropped off twice and what should be a breeze per advertisement has become equivalent to babysitting a 2-year old. You never know quite what the errant child is going to do next. The temperature profile looks like the California crashing surf. No, the dampers are not to far open. The interface looks fancy but don’t waste your money.

I decided to finally add the UltraQ and wow was that a good decision. I downloaded the iPhone app and a quick firmware update later I was ready to start smoking a pork shoulder. I connected through Bluetooth at first and then connected via WiFi to monitor my cooks while away from my home. No issues at all and it maintained a consistent temperature during the initial 9-11 hours of cooking. I used this device for various cooks since and I have not been disappointed. While the display may be difficult to see during bright daylight, this is not an issue since I prefer BBQGuru and its dashboard as I rarely stand next to my cooker. When at the cooker the large display is very easy to read. Additionally, I like the color ring for quick viewing during he night, as I can see this from many of the windows in my home. This is great feedback as going about my nightly business and I can see simply by looking out a window.

As with all new capabilities and technology there is a learning curve for the user and an evolution of the product. But at this point the product and app meets my needs for consistent cooks with quality food via consistent temps.

Bryan

I just upgraded to the UltraQ from my older cyberQ and BBQGuru is such a great benefit to the new temperature controls compared to the old WiFi only connections. Right out of the box it asked me to update the firmware which took only a couple of minutes. Connecting through Bluetooth was quick and easy and the option to record your cook over WiFi was another great addition to monitor my cook. In my excitement to get started I forgot to plug in the fan and got a friendly alert on my Apple Watch that there was a fan malfunction, saved me a big headache when getting started. No bugs or issues during my 9 hour cook on my Big Green Egg. BBQ Guru has made it a lot easier for me to get the perfect cook.

Had a couple problems, made a complaint here. I followed up with a phone call-a great very knowledgeable man listened to the problems I was having. Without any hesitation or question sent me a brand new unit-I shipped him mine back. (I included the probes which I had to rebuy as they didn’t send me new ones and I didn’t ask for them) I was more than happy to pay again as BBQ Guru was so nice to me and prompt.

The new unit does everything right, all the bugs, glitches, errors the other unit was doing are gone.

Temps are accurate, Bluetooth is functioning properly, syncs up to my phone in a couple seconds (was 30 seconds to 5 minutes in the first one).

The first one did do a perfect job of keeping the pit spot on-everything else was a mess.

The replacement one I will be using tmr for the first time but it tested and worked perfectly when I tested it. It read the temps faster, connected super fast.

I think I just had a bad unit, this is a great product. I’ve read that many times and was just unlucky. However with customer support like this-I’d recommend to anyone over any other brand

Great people, good product and over time I’m certain the bugs will be worked out. I’d buy again over any other brand.

My cooker is a 42” Komodo Kamado which is a serious cooker and we have the budget for only the best. BBQ Guru is the best!

Thanks very much

Eric Petersen

It is a huge improvement. Most of the bugs i was facing have been resolved but There are still some kinks to sort out. And if devs keeps working on it those should be resolved soon as well. I was giving 4 star initially but was so happy with the update that I ended up giving 5. I hope devs take it as proper encouragement and work on BBQGuru further.