I bought my Blaz’n Grill Works Grid Iron this past September. It had the standard Ortech controller. While there is nothing
wrong with that controller I was hoping they would come up with a digital controller so I can cook at the temps I am use to.
For instance I do ribs at 235 and with the Ortech controller I could only go 225 or 250. Again there is nothing really wrong
with that, but I guess I am a control freak when it comes to wanting my temperatures where I want them. So lo and behold
about 3 weeks ago I happen to be browsing a pellet board (most of you who own pellet grills know which one) and I saw that
Blaz’n Works was offering a retrofit digital controller. So I called Tim Mickey at Blaz’n Grill Works and ordered one for my Grid Iron.
What I understand this controller is manufactured by Roanoke Electronic Controls and it is the one that is on the Memphis and
the Rec Tec and possibly others.
I received it yesterday evening and today I took half a day off to install it and check it out. It actually only took about 15 minutes
to install as per the instructions. I fired it up and it took less than 3 minutes to start burning pellets. It is a real quiet controller.
The temperature range is 160 to 500 degrees which is good enough for me. I don’t usually go over 350 as I have my Performer
or my grill grates to do high heat steaks, etc. I set it for 180 and it took about 10 minutes to reach that temp. Once it was at about
178 degrees you can hear the fan winding down and starting to lock in the set temp. Once it hit 180 it stayed at this temp for about
30 minutes with no variance on the displayed temp. I will check out the rest of the temps this weekend to see how well they lock in.
Right now it reminds me of the Rec Tec that I cooked on at the Gathering. Another thing I like about this controller is a 30 minute cool
down period where it slowly goes down in temp and once it reaches below 130 degrees it shuts off completely.
Delivered
Initial Set up
Getting Ready to remove controller
Old controller removed
New controller installed
Initial Fire Up
After 5 minutes
Built like a tank
Door to remove pot (this was an afterthought photo as I should have pulled it out before taking the photo)
I really believe that Blaz’n Grill Works has stepped up their game and is going to be a force to reckon with since they are now
selling their units with this new controller.
