Thermoworks RFX Review – Wireless Meat Thermometer Made for Serious BBQ
The RFX is the perfect wireless thermometer.
It’s rugged and reliable enough for professional barbecue.
It’s simple enough for backyard and home cooks.
And it’s precise enough for the professional kitchen.
At $265 the 2-probe starter bundle, it’s also affordable enough for the home cook.
Quick Verdict
I’ve been using the ThermoWorks RFX for more than a dozen slow cooks now, plus a handful of reverse-seared steaks, and it has quickly become my favorite wireless meat thermometer.
More importantly, it’s the easiest wireless probe system I’ve ever used.
The RFX meat probes are accurate enough to match my Thermapen and surprisingly fast for a leave-in wireless probe. Each probe has four sensors spread out in the tip to get more accurate internal readings.
The Thermoworks RFX system has been easy to set up, easy to use, and generally stays out of my way while I’m cooking. The wireless probe system has been nearly perfect.
Troublesome connections and tedious configuration seem to be things of the past with the RFX. The Thermoworks RFX and the RFX Meat probes just work. Flawlessly.
It’s not perfect on a Weber kettle, though. My two biggest complaints are very Weber-specific: the ambient pit probe is still wired, and there’s no particularly good place to stick the magnetic Gateway.
Those annoyances aside, the actual wireless meat probes are fantastic. I find myself leaving the gateway stuck to a completely different grill and I ignore the pit probe.
Buying Options
The RFX is a modular system. The app will support multiple Gateways and more than 50 RFX Meat probes at a time! Imagine reverse searing 50 steaks and knowing every single temp.
| Product | Includes | Price |
|---|---|---|
| 6-Probe Starter Bundle | 6-Probes + Gateway | $519 |
| 4-Probe Starter | 4-Probes + Gateway | $389 |
| 2-Probe Starter | 2-Probes + Gateway | $265 |
| 1-Probe Starter | 1-Probe + Gateway | $179 |
| Single Probe | 1 Probe | $99 |
| RFX Gateway | Gateway | $89 |
RFX Video Review
Table of Contents
Why You Can Trust This Review
I’ve been a professional reviewer since 1999. I only focus on categories I’m passionate about and I take an objective and honest approach to my reviews. I founded the Weber Kettle Club in 2012 and have 20 years of experience testing barbecue thermometers.
I’ve been testing this one for 18 months and have intentionally pushed it to extremes.
What Is the ThermoWorks RFX?
RFX is a wireless temperature monitoring system for food. It’s made for meat and it’s on every backyard BBQ guy’s Christmas wish list – guaranteed.
Here’s a breakdown of each component:
- The RFX Meat Probe – stick this in your meat and leave it there while cooking. This stays in its charging dock when not in use and will pair with the RFX Gateway through the app.
- The RFX Gateway – this connects to all of your active RFX Meat Probes and transmits their temperatures to the cloud. It connects to the internet via Wi-Fi and uses Bluetooth to setup.
- Thermoworks App – Manage it all with your Android or Apple iPhone. It has all the alarms and options built in. It even tracks your cooks and graphs them out. Pretty rad!
Using the RFX is simple: stick the RFX Meat Probe into your meat, put it on the grill, and monitor the temperature remotely without running a probe cable out from under your lid or through a vent.
RFX Meat is great for low and slow barbecue or hot and fast grilling, it’s incredibly useful.
The Gateway hangs out near your grill or smoker. It needs to be within 1500 feet “line of sight”.
I keep mine stuck to a neighboring grill often 20ft away and have never had a problem.
The Gateway also connects to a traditional wired ambient probe for monitoring the temperature inside your grill or smoker. The app has customizable temperature alarms for the pit probe and each RFX Meat Probe.
The pit probe is essential for pitmasters using charcoal or wood fueled smokers, especially for all-night cooks. I just wish the pit probe was wireless, too.
Setup and Ease of Use
The first use will be the most complicated. You’ll need to download the Thermoworks App and create an account. With Bluetooth enabled, use the app to connect to the RFX Gateway.
The Thermoworks App makes configuration easy. You’ll need to know your Wi-fi password so the Gateway can connect to the internet.
Once the RFX Gateway is connected to your Wi-fi you’ll be able to give it a name and start adding probes. The Thermoworks App lets you customize the names of each device and can control 50+ devices at a time.
Don’t pull the Meat Probe from its dock until the app instructs you to do so!!
What Problems does the RFX Solve?
Barbecue meat thermometers have always been a tangled mess of steel-meshed wires attached to awkwardly-long probes. The delicate wires get damaged from crimping or tangling, or heat, and the expensive probes need to be replaced often.
Tangled probe wires SUCK. Cleaning wired probes and their wires sucks more.
RFX probes are completely wireless. They’re rated to 1000F.
And each probe has four sensors to provide more accurate readings.
The RFX Meat probes connect to the gateway using a powerful industrial strength sub-Ghz connection and the gateway uses your Wi-fi to relay its data to the internet. Your data is accessible via the app or even with your web browser through the Thermoworks Cloud.
RFX Meat probes and Gateway connections have been bulletproof. I set them up once and haven’t had a single connection issue. This is a HUGE relief. My previous wireless probes were constant problems.
Cooking With RFX on a Weber Kettle
Most of my testing has been exactly what you’d expect from a site like this – on a variety of Weber charcoal grills. The Weber Kettle is one of the most popular backyard grills and this portion of the RFX review is specific to cooking on a Weber charcoal grill.
I’ve done more than a dozen slow cooks with the RFX at this point, along with several reverse-seared steaks. I find myself neglecting the pit probe, leaving it completely disconnected.
The luxury of wireless probe has made the wired pit probe an instant sore spot.
I refuse to modify my kettle to run a pit probe for a system capable of controlling 50+ wireless probes.
I want a wireless pit probe.
I know this is a bit “first-world problems” – but this is a genuine room for improvement.
A hot Weber kettle has no place to safely put the RFX Gateway.
It needs a companion cart or neighboring grill to magnetically stick to if you plan to use the wired pit probe in your Weber.
The Weber kettle gets too hot for the RFX Gateway, and its aluminum legs aren’t magnetic. I often skip the pit probe and stick the RFX to one of my other kettles on the other side of the patio. I’ve even left it inside the house – it still worked fine.
RFX Shines with Reverse Searing Steaks
Reverse searing is all about temperature control. I’m slowly bringing the steak up toward my target temperature before finishing it over high heat, so being able to watch the internal temperature climb without constantly poking the steak brings a new level of perfection.
The Meat Probe is rated to 1000F so there’s no worry about burning them out. You can even put your steaks directly on the charcoal for the caveman style sear and the RFX will tell you when you need to pull the steak!
The RFX Pit Probe is not needed for reverse searing steaks, but it’s not completely useless if you’re doing a lot of steaks with multiple kettles.
With each steak cook using the RFX, I found myself getting better and better. I’ve also found myself buying higher quality steaks to use with the RFX Meat. This thermometer gives me more confidence.
Click Here to buy an RFX Meat starter bundle.
They start at just $179 for the single probe version.
RFX Low & Slow BBQ on the Weber
Aside from the Gateway placement challenges, the RFX is the perfect for long, low, and slow cooks on the Weber charcoal grill. The pit probe wire is long enough to let the Gateway sit on the ground or reach a neighboring piece of magnetic material.
The alarm interface in the app is easy to configure, making it easy to do other things while the Weber does the cooking.
I configure the pit probe to have both low and high temp alarms. This let’s me go to sleep on an overnight cook and the app will wake me up if my pit temp falls below 220F or rises above 340F. With the right configuration my 26″ Weber can go unmanaged for 12 hours in that range.
RFX Accuracy vs. Thermapen
I’m a longtime Thermapen user. It’s the thermometer I trust and the one I reach for when I want to know what temperature something actually is. I have four or five of them and I even keep one on my desk to test non-food things.
So naturally I’ve been checking the RFX against it.
My RFX meat probes have been as accurate as my Thermapen.
I’ve double-checked pork shoulders and briskets with my Thermapen and the RFX Meat probes were exactly the same reading as the Thermapen. I’ve tested using the ice water bath as well as boiling water, too, all four RFX Meat Probes read exactly the same as my Thermapen.
Even more surprising is how quickly the RFX Meat probes respond. They’re not quite instant-read probes, but they’re faster than the traditional meat probes. I’ve stuck the RFX Meat probes into late-cook meats and watched the temp readings settle in within a few seconds.
The RFX Meat hasn’t replaced my usage of the Thermapen completely, but it has made my Thermapen less needed. If I could only keep one – it’d still be the Thermapen!
What I Like
- Extremely easy to use
- Accurate enough to match my Thermapen in real-world testing
- Surprisingly fast temperature response
- No meat-probe wires running out of the kettle
- Excellent for long cooks
- Great for reverse-searing steaks
- The system generally stays out of my way while I’m cooking
What I Don’t Like
- The ambient pit probe is still wired
- The cable still gets pinched under my Weber lid
- No good mounting location for the Gateway on a Weber kettle
- I’d like something besides magnets for mounting the Gateway
- AAA Battery instead of USB charging
Is the ThermoWorks RFX Worth It?
After more than a dozen slow cooks and several reverse-seared steaks, the RFX is the easiest wireless meat thermometer I’ve ever used.
That’s really what it comes down to for me.
The accuracy is there. The speed is there. And most importantly, I haven’t found myself fighting with the technology when I should be cooking.
My complaints aren’t really about the core RFX Meat Probes. They’re about how the rest of the system integrates with a Weber kettle. I want a wireless ambient temperature solution, and I want a better way to mount the Gateway – even if its an upgrade.
Those are legitimate annoyances, but neither one changes how much I’ve enjoyed actually cooking with the RFX.
The RFX Meat is a life-changer for backyard grillers cooking steaks, especially expensive steaks.
Backyard barbecue guys happy with a wired thermometers may not appreciate the RFX as much. But if you’re ready to ditch the wires running to your meat and want something that’s accurate, fast, and refreshingly easy to use, ThermoWorks RFX is damn good.
How Many RFX Meat Probes do you need?
While testing I realized that I typically only need one or two meat probes at a time.
If I’m using the pit probe, I probably only need one meat probe.
If I’m not using the pit probe, I usually use two meat probes. Even with four thick pork chops, I probed the biggest one and the smallest one and assumed the other two were going to be somewhere in-between the two I probed.
| Food | Probes Recommended | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Pork Shoulder / BBQ | 1 Meat + Pit | |
| Beef Brisket / BBQ | 1 or 2 Meat + Pit | 1 is good enough for brisket |
| Chicken | 1 Meat | maybe 2 for large birds |
| Turkey | 2 Meat + Pit | 1 for thigh 1 for breast |
| Fish | 1 Meat per fish | Only for BIG fish? |
| TriTip | 1 Meat + Pit | Can skip the pit probe, too |
| Steaks & Chops | 2 Meats if small family 4 Meats if large family 6 Meats if you’re serious | How many *perfection-needed* steaks/chops will you cook at a time? |
| Whole Hog | 4-6 Meats | You’ll know where they go |
I have four Meat Probes and will use them all at the same time – but it’s a rare occasion.
I could definitely get by with two – but I’d rather have 6 just in case.
The 6-pack turns enables an impressive cooking skill.
Click Here to buy an RFX Meat starter bundle.
They start at just $179 for the single probe version.
