Pit Boss Website & App - a horrific introduction to the company that made my new smoker

[diversification]

In their defense, they did not make the Smoke-It app. It is a third party. They are the ones responsible for it not operating properly. As for the website having issues, I believe (but not certain) it was a cyber attack. Down a month is nothing uncommon. My company's site and all networking was down for over 3 months due to a cyber attack.

As for me, I have 2 PB smokers and both are awesome. Yeah, sometimes things go wrong but that could happen with anything. I am not interested in an app for my phone anyway so that is something I would never use. I am more interested in the app for my temperature probes so I can check temps and get alerts when I hit 165 internal. If I set my grill on 250 there's no need for me to follow that on my phone.

So I've had some time to use my Laredo 1000 at this point. Unfortunately, my experience has not been great. The issues with the app that everyone talks about are very, very real. I've explained the issues in detail in this post, so I won't repeat myself in this thread. While you may not care to use the app, I am someone who would much rather use phone than go physically screw with the smoker. Additionally, with regards to your comments about the app not being the fault of Pit Boss themselves, although Pit Boss may not be the developer sitting behind the code, they certainly are responsible for the actions of a developer that they continue to use. They advertise these grills as Wifi / Bluetooth units, and use that as a selling point, so it's on them to make sure those features work properly -- right now they've failed miserably at that part. Regardless of whether they're a 3rd party being contracted or an entity owned by Pit Boss, they need to hold the developer accountable for the terrible app, or find a new developer -- until they do, they should really pull these units that use the app off the shelf, or remove advertising about the Wifi / Bluetooth / app from the boxes. How would you feel if you booked an vacation home that advertised both AC and a hot tub, and when you got there, the AC only cooled the place as low as 80 degrees, and the hot tub was broken? If you booked it with those criteria in mind, you'd be furious; same situation here.

Third, this grill pretty clearly has heat issues. After following the advice of experts on youtube, recipes, and in forums like this one, this smoker has still overcooked and dried out brisket, chuck roast, tenderloin, pork shoulder, and several other cuts. It did a good job with a few pieces of meat, but the majority of what I've attempted has been cooked too quickly by the grill. I see other reports of PID issues, so perhaps I need to get that unit replaced. I suppose I may also have to try the mods like the additional heat shield and / or the additional metal piece where the deflector sits. I tend to think that the need for these addons indicates design flaws -- hopefully they'll get it right in the future.

One thing I will say in favor of Pit Boss is that their service team that handles the grills themselves is exemplary -- they were quick to ship me silicone caulk when I noticed a very messy application, and they also sent new grates due to chipping. They were even ready to send me a new firebox when I mentioned several large rust spots on the inside until someone explained to me that rust is going to happen anyway, and to just season over it and the first cook will seal it all up (it did, so that part was fine.) That's not really typical for a lot of service centers who fight tooth and nail to avoid replacing parts, so kudos to them on that bit.