Best automatic temperature controller for a WSM

Personally I have never used one, I took my time to learn the smoker and went from there.

I have a PartyQ for my overnight brisket cooks on my 18" WSM and Love it! I do everything at 275*F. I set this thing at 275 the night before with a full ring of charcoal. When I awake the next morning, it's, not 274 and it's not 276. Always dead on. It uses batteries only. They make one that is AC powered but I get 4 or 5 good smokes from each set of AA batteries.















The PartyQ is the grey unit at the smoker intake. The red one is a GrillEye thermometer.


Good Luck!

BBQ Guru has worked great for me for a few years now. The WSM is quite stable by itself but sometimes it’s nice to have like an overnight cook and if you are going to be away for a while. There are others out there that work well too.

I have the PartyQ myself and it's always been a solid product.


I've heard good things about the new FlameBoss that can also be battery powered.


BBQ Guru and Pitmaster IQ always get good reviews along with the FlameBoss.

I haven't used my pitmaster iq 110 in a year or so but it was pretty good for controlling temps on smaller smokers. Not so much on my UDS

I've been using a BBQ Guru DigiQ 2 since they first came out (I think it was 2006?). Never had an issue and still using my original probes & fan. Holds temps rock solid as long as there is fuel to burn in the WSM. Now my WSM is a 2005 18.5" model which is a little stingier on fuel that the bigger 22" models (less air volume to heat), but with a clay pot base in a dry water pan I can run a whole pork butt smoke on a single load of charcoal. I have the 10cfm "pit viper" fan on mine. The Guru is about as close to "set and forget" as you can get with a WSM. No fiddling with vents, and really nothing to do except check to make sure you have enough fuel to burn for the rest of the smoke, and after a smoke or 2 you will just know where you are on fuel without looking. It's that easy.

One thing the Guru will let you do is get some sleep on an overnight smoke. As long as you are confident there is enough fuel to go the night in the smoker, I've never had an issue with the Guru failing or meat being ruined because the temps crashed. I would imagine this would be true of just about any brand of power draft controller, but I will vouch for the quality of the Guru units. The DigiQ 2 is a very solid metal box and is durable. If this one ever does fail, I will not hesitate to buy another to replace it.

I’ve got the DigiQ DX2 for my 22” WSM. Works great as long as you learn to setup your cooks before adding it to the mix. For instance, if you light a full chimney of coals to start, don’t expect the ATC to keep a steady 225. Love mine for long cooks.

Beer/Meat/Victory said:

I’ve got the DigiQ DX2 for my 22” WSM. Works great as long as you learn to setup your cooks before adding it to the mix. For instance, if you light a full chimney of coals to start, don’t expect the ATC to keep a steady 225. Love mine for long cooks.

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Spot on about the full chimney of coals. With the Guru there is no need to go that route and a minion method of a small pile works great. The Guru will puff the coals up if it needs more heat.


Another suggestion is run with water in the water pan the first couple of smokes. It will help moderate temp swings until you get the feel of the WSM and the Guru. If I'm running 4 butts in my 18.5" WSM I may run water, but most of the time I go with a clay pot base in a dry water pan for a heat sink. The clay pot does not deal with a temp spike as well as water in a pan would, but I've done so dang many smokes with the WSM/Guru this way, I rarely open the dome except to mop or spritz the meat, so there is a minimum of temp spikes if you are quick about it.


Again, this would be true of just about any brand of "power draft" which is what these really are.

I used a FlameBoss 300 on my 18" WSM. Worked brilliantly. Just pay attention to the top vent too. Still have and use it on the WSM and MMS G20.

I recently built my own from Auber parts. It seems to work fine. I watched it like hawk the first few smokes to figure out whether I trust it or not. I learned I had to close the top vent about 2/3rds in my 18” WSM.

For overnight I just need to load up on fuel before bed and it’s rock steady, no more creep overnight as the meat gets warmer. I find I can also run cooler...my smoker liked 260 and crept to 300 overnight.

I still use an iGrill next to my bed to warn me if fuel runs out or the controller goes rogue. Now I rest easier. WSM was easy. Now it’s ridiculous. It’s a charcoal based oven now.

There are a bunch of really good ones out there. One question I would ask is do you ever think you want to be able to see temps without having to go out to the cooker? If yes you have two opitions: Bluetooth or WiFi. Again, there are a lot of quality units on the market but you might find you have issues with Bluetooth range. I second the opinion on the dependability of the guru digiq if you just want the controller. If you want something to monitor temps on a phone then I would look at the fireboard or the smoke with the gateway.

Great thread here. The tuning I had to do with my PartyQ were:


1. Leave the dome vent open at 50%.
2. If I lifted the dome off the smoker to check, spritz, rotate etc., turn off the PartyQ. and wait 5-10 mins before turning it on again. Your introducing more air by removing the dome and the temp at grill level will rise.
3. Make Darn sure there is no leftover ash from a previous cook in the ash bowl. Got to have the airflow under for the coals to work right with a FULL ring of coals.
4. Placement of the WSM adapter deflector plate. I pointed mine at the 4 O' Clock position. This gives a downward spiral air flow and (for me) works perfectly to assure uniform burning of the coal.

Oh, and Flame Boss works seamlessly with Alexa. And it senses when you open the lid, so it stops the fan for a while to sort things out before starting up again.

Wifi is a bit of trickery to setup. But works brilliantly once done.

I haven't used other controllers, but this is all I ever hoped for.

Pete

I do not have a WSM but I really like the Guru and know a number of people who have a WSM and use the Guru too

Another vote for the flame boss. It connects much more easily to the internet than some of it's competitors. I use it on my LSG vertical cabinet smoker & cant recommend it enough. I have used several other brands & it is my # 1 recommendation.

Fireboard

Fireboard hands down..Great product and also great customer service...
Best $$ I've spent on BBQ stuff.
DanB
PS I also have the Digi Q .

Toast said:

I have a PartyQ for my overnight brisket cooks on my 18" WSM and Love it! I do everything at 275*F. I set this thing at 275 the night before with a full ring of charcoal. When I awake the next morning, it's, not 274 and it's not 276. Always dead on. It uses batteries only. They make one that is AC powered but I get 4 or 5 good smokes from each set of AA batteries.

The PartyQ is the grey unit at the smoker intake. The red one is a GrillEye thermometer.


Good Luck!

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I use the same one and never had any issues. Holds temps rock solid.