Attachable Grill Temperature Regulator TTT-02

Bought this to see how it stabilized temperatures on the Akorn, which is a steel kamado with great value but tends to be oversensitive and finicky about temperatrure control. I installed it with a plate hanger on top of the exhaust vent, pulling the red sleeve slightly off the base to form a better seal. Tip 1: the hardest thing about setting this up on the Akorn is trying to get the base to seal off the outside of the vent. It's almost exactly the same size, so a mm or two off-center will cause a top leak. Just watch the smoke when you fire it up and check for leaks.Temperatures held very well on my daytime test burns. I started my burns as follows: open the bottom vent, open the top vent, turn the TTT dial as open as possible. As the temperature rises, you will have to keep adjusting the TTT to keep it open. As normal, when you get to target temperature -100F, close the bottom vent halfway; -50F, close it to 1/4, and when you get close, put the bottom vent at your target setting as normal. Tip 2: with this thing you want to keep your bottom vent slightly more open than normal to compensate for choking off the top so your fire doesn't go out.Not much, maybe a few mm. At the target temp, I close the TTT to a small crack, then monitor temps to see where it stabilizes and adjust accordingly.Did some chicken recipes with it, holding around 375. I was worried that closing off the top would result in some nasty stale smoke getting on the food, but I didn't notice anything off on my chicken, and poultry is a smoke magnet so if anything was wrong it would have shown up.A couple nights ago I decided to try it on a brisket, putting it on around midnight and going to sleep. I set the Akorn stable at about 225-230, which is lower than I usually go but I didn't want to risk drying it out. Tip 3: The way the TTT works is by maintaining a delta between the grill temp and the outside temp. The outside temp dropped a lot overnight, and my grill went down to 208 and stayed there most of the night. This is below water's boiling point, so in the morning my bark wasn't set due to all the surface water. I managed to save the bark by cranking up my temps for the last part of the cook, but it's something to keep in mind.Overall I'm quite happy with this product, especially at its price point, although I can see the advantage of an electronic blower system that adjusts based on target grill temp. However, I'm not quite willing to spend almost as much money on a temp controller as I did on the Akorn.

I'm using the Tip Top on an Akorn with a plate hangar to hold it on. I'm not using the number system on it, but rather simply adjusting it as the smoker comes up to temp (making sure not to overshoot, basically keep slowly closing the damper as you come up to temp so that it is basically fully closed right at your temperature). Once adjusted, it holds the temperature very well. Note - I do have my akorn sealed very well with high temp gasket so it doesn't leak air (see mods online), and so I do keep the lower air intake slightly cracked open. Previously, even with mods, my akorn was fairly finicky and always seemed to need constant small corrections but this has eliminated that. My only complaint is that in cold weather, the condensate from the smoke builds up on the damper and it worries me that it will stick closed sometime (hasn't so far, but I still monitor the smoker with a bluetooth temp alarm, so not really that worried, nor is it really the Tip top's fault). Disclaimer: I shopped for and bought this with my own money, and have no connection whatsoever with the product (heard about it through online BBQ forums). Will update review should anything change.

I've been smoking meats on my BGE for a little over a year. The first few months, I would set alarms every one or two hours to check temperatures and the meat. And I would constantly be fiddling with the vents to try and get the temperatures right.To make it fit my older BGE, I had to get a 6" to 5" duct reducer from the hardware store and then cut it down with tin snips. But the homemade adapter has worked great and seals well.Now, I've been using the TipTopTemp for about six months now, and it's made my overnight cooks a lot easier. It does fluctuate some (15-20 degrees), and once I've woken up to a grill that's cooled down more than the top can compensate for, but for the most part it's been pretty solid. I've been able to set it and get the temperature pretty steady. Once it's approaching the target temperature, I close the vent down to about 3/16-1/8". It sets at temperature and automatically holds. I see it go up about +/-10 degrees around the target temperature. Most of the time, it holds for hours without any problem. I'm finding the more I "adjust" the grill once it's at temperature, the more problems I cause. If I leave it alone, I've had no problems with it holding for over 8 hours. After around 8 or so hours, I find the temperature usually starts climbing to the point I need to start closing down the bottom vent.But without question it's much easier to keep a temperature steady with the TipTopTemp. It's been a valuable and effective tool for my smoking. I still think one of the electronic devices would be even more convenient, and I one of these days I might still get one. But for now, the automatic damper on the Tip Top is sufficient for what I need and helps me get the job done.

Works as described