A couple weeks back I posted an initial review of the ThermoWorks Smoke X4. That review was just based on some marketing materials and information I received from ThermoWorks. I didn’t have my hands on one of them yet but earlier this week I got my X4 in the mail.
My Smoke X4 was ordered on March 13th and it was quickly delivered on March 16th as is usual for ThermoWorks. They have always shipped products quickly and everything always arrives in perfect condition. ThermoWorks also includes a bag of Jelly Bellys
I am of the opinion that nothing will improve your ability to properly cook meat than a good, accurate thermometer. Thermoworks makes dozens of different thermometers but for cooking multiple pieces of meat I think the Smoke X4 is the best unit they currently have.
Disclosure: This post is monetized with affiliate links. If you buy something through them I earn a commission which helps support this site and lets me buy more meat so I can write about it.
What’s Included with the Thermoworks Smoke X4
The Thermoworks Smoke X4 ships with the base unit, the remote unit, a lanyard for the base unit, 1 air probe, 3 meat probes, one grate clip, and some colored silicone rings so you can keep track of which probe is in which channel.
There are no real extras you need to buy to use the Smoke X4. Everything you need is included. If you want to use the Billows Fan Controller you will need to buy the Billows Kit for the X4 but since I already had the Billows from when I got my Thermoworks Signals I didn’t need it.
One feature Thermoworks added on the Smoke X4 that they didn’t have on the original Smoke is magnets on the back of the remote unit. You can see in the pic below many of their other products have magnets for mounting somewhere on the grill, on the stove, or on a metal pegboard like I use. This is a feature you don’t think about but shows the attention to detail that Thermoworks puts into their products.
Using the Thermoworks Smoke X4 for a Reverse Sear
The first test for the Thermoworks Smoke X4 was a reverse sear with some nice bone in ribeyes:
Quick explanation of a reverse sear: Cook the steaks indirect at a fairly low temperature until they come to about 5-10 degrees below the desired finished temperature than then sear them over super hot direct heat to finish them off.
I got the steaks positioned with the bones facing the heat to give the steaks some thermal protection. The probes went in to the middle of the meat. I got the grate clip and air probe in the middle of the grill and it was time to cook.
My Weber 26″ kettle was humming away at around 250 (246.2 to be exact) and wanted to cook the steaks until they were right around 115 degrees. I set the high and low alarms on the Smoke X4 and let them cook. Getting three steaks all the same thickness and size can be tough and each piece of meat cooks at a different temperature. Measuring the temperature of each piece of meat is vital to getting a great finished product. As you can see above there was over a 10 degree difference between the steak with the top probe and the one in the middle. By using the Smoke X4 I was able to pull the two steaks that cooked a bit quicker off and give the other one a few more minutes to get up to the right temperature.
Once all the steaks got up to right about 115 degrees it was time to give them the heat. I loaded up my Slow N Sear XL designed for the 26 inch kettle with some hot coals. I flipped the steaks every 15-20 seconds to get some good color and a nice crust on each side.
These ended up pretty much perfect and the Smoke X4 was a big part of that. Being able to track the temps of the individual steaks was very helpful. I usually cook three steaks when I cook for the family (1 for me, 1 for my wife, 1 for the kids to split) so having the 4 channels is perfect for me.
Using the Thermoworks Smoke X4 for Low and Slow
Next up for the Smoke X4 is a low and slow cook. Since we are sheltering in place now three pork butts would give us a great dinner and plenty of leftovers.
I set my smoker temperature probe to go off if the temperature got below 225 or above 300. I try to run around 250 but don’t worry too much if the temp goes a bit higher or lower. Around midnight I put the pork butts on. I was able to get some sleep once the temperatures stabilized. I rested well knowing that the alarms would go off if the temperatures got outside my desired range.
Luckily all three pork butts finished at the same time 13 hours later. They were all within 1 degree of each other. That was about an hour after the above pic.
Since we all love pics of meat here is another picture of the pork:
Again, measuring the temperature of all three pork butts at once was great. I could track each individual piece of meat to see how it was doing. If one was cooking much faster than another I could have moved them around. I didn’t have to do that on this cook though. $199 might seem expensive for a thermometer but the extra hour or two of sleep I could get knowing the alarms would go off if anything got out of whack is well worth it.
I didn’t mention (or need) 1+ mile range of the remote unit on these cooks. A couple days later I did go for a walk around the block to test the range. It never lost contact with the base unit even at about a half mile away. There were also a lot of houses, trees, and hills in the way. I don’t know if I will ever need that 1 mile range but with my regular Smoke it would lose contact if I went to the garage. Not so with the Smoke X4.
All in all the Smoke X4 performed just as expected on both test. It worked flawlessly. Like all Thermoworks products it is also very easy and intuitive to use. $199 is an investment. If you regularly cook multiple pieces of meat you will definitely see the value though. Order your Thermoworks Smoke X4 today.
And those pork butt leftovers? I cooked up some tater tots, threw on some cheese, pork, and queso, and had some pulled pork “totchos” the next day:
If I can’t go anywhere I sure as heck want to eat well!!!
