Char-Broil SmartChef Smoker for Pc

If I could give this app 0 stars I would. Tried to smoke some ribs for my dad for Father’s Day with this smoker. Downloaded the app and followed the instructions to connect it to WiFi. The smoker appeared connected but the app wouldn’t do anything and stayed on the Setup Appliance/Help page. The Dado button stayed lit (without blinking) so the smoker appeared to be working fine but the app was not. I read the entire manual, rebooted the smoker, rebooted our router, deleted and reinstalled the app, refreshed the pages, watched instructional videos. No luck. So, I contacted customer service via chat since email takes 4 business days and when I called their support number it said they were closed. Luckily the chat support (which isn’t available on mobile, only desktop) is available 24/7. Talked to someone from their support team who informed me that they were having problems with the Dado network and there was nothing they could do. He also said that there is no way to use the smoker without the app. What a waste of time! Do NOT buy this smoker. I consider myself someone who knows a fair amount about technology and typically do not have problems with things like this. This app and smoker (plus their website) were the most frustrating user experience I have ever dealt with. Char-Broil successfully ruined my Father’s Day plans for my dad. Thanks a lot.

This version of the app, which replaced Smoker 15, brought serious flaws that have made the smoker unreliable. The old version was limited and not very intuitive. This version is mostly the same limited, unintuitive design with the added bonus of making the smoker frequently fail to fully cook/smoke food as programmed. Food frequently gets within 15-20 degrees of cooked when the smoker stops heating causing the food to cool before finished. Nothing corrects this problem: reprogramming, restarting, etc. when it’s done functioning properly it quits heating. What makes it more difficult to identify when it’s decided to randomly stop is the app continues showing cool temp and setting correctly - only food temp starts dropping. The smoker functioned fine until the old app was replaced with this app. Now, I have a garbage app and useless smoker.

The Smoker '15 app worked fine. Not very intuitive, but it did what it was supposed to do. The "new" app...more of the same. So, I wake up this morning to put meat on the smoker, open the app and get a message that states I must download this "new" app. Not an update, a whole new app. After wasting over 30 minutes downloading the app and resetting my password multiple times trying to get past the required login page. Another 15 minutes getting the new app to connect to the smoker and finally get started. Now lunch isn't going to be ready on time. I've had time to look through the new app and I can't find anything new at all in it. Nothing. 1. Why couldn't you just update the old app? 2. Why can't I use the app without being forced to log into an account that does absolutely nothing for me? Bottom line, I just want to smoke some meat. A regular smoker and a wifi or Bluetooth thermometer with some kind of temp alert would probably be a better choice for most folks. Unfortunately, most people will read the reviews on this app after they buy the smoker and go to download the app.

Thanksgiving Day...my 4th time using the smoker. Their servers are overloaded (according to their - 1-800 support). So I can’t smoke the turkey. I just wish they would update this app and firmware. This app hasn’t been updated since 2017, when they came out with a newer smoker, and then wrote a new app that isn’t backward compatible without Char Broil updating the smoker firmware.