Short answer: buy the BBQube TempMaster Pro if you want multi-probe temperature monitoring, phone-app control, and a sous-vide mode on nearly any close-lid charcoal grill; buy the Pitmaster IQ110 if you want the simplest, most affordable one-dial controller that quietly holds a pit temperature and nothing more. Both do the core job — keeping a charcoal fire steady for hours — so the real decision is how much visibility and control you want during the cook.
What does a charcoal fan controller actually do?
Every charcoal temperature controller works the same basic way. A probe clips to your cooking grate and reads the pit temperature. A small fan mounts over the grill's bottom intake vent, and the controller speeds that fan up or slows it down to feed the fire more or less oxygen. More air means a hotter fire; less air means a cooler one. The result: your grill holds a target like 225°F within a few degrees for 8, 10, even 12 hours at a stretch, without you nudging vents every 20 minutes. Both the TempMaster Pro and the IQ110 do this fundamental job well — that's why both have loyal followings among kettle and kamado owners.
How do the TempMaster Pro and IQ110 features compare?
The two units take the same job and solve it with very different philosophies. The IQ110 is deliberately minimal. The TempMaster Pro is built for cooks who want data and remote control. Here's how that plays out, feature by feature.
Probes and temperature monitoring
The Pitmaster IQ110 runs a single pit probe — it knows your grill's temperature, and that's all. If you want to track the internal temperature of a brisket or pork butt, you're adding a separate leave-in thermometer. (Pitmaster's step-up model, the IQ120, adds a food probe with alarms.) The BBQube TempMaster Pro is a multi-probe thermometer and controller in one, so you watch pit temperature and food temperature together from the same device — no second gadget on the counter.
App control and remote monitoring
This is the biggest practical difference. The IQ110 has no Wi-Fi, no Bluetooth, and no app — you set it with one dial, read the small onboard display, and check on it in person. The TempMaster Pro connects to a phone app, so you can watch your pit and meat temps from the couch, the hardware store, or your bed during an overnight brisket. If remote monitoring matters to you, this point alone usually settles the debate.
Grill fit and adapters
Both controllers attach to the grill's lower intake with grill-specific adapters, and both cover the popular charcoal cookers. The TempMaster Pro has adapters for the Weber Kettle, Weber Smokey Mountain, Big Green Egg, Kamado Joe, Char-Griller Akorn, and other close-lid charcoal grills. The IQ110 likewise offers mounts for common charcoal grills. Neither one is a pellet-grill controller — they're built for charcoal cookers with a lid that closes and seals.
Ease of use
The IQ110 is about as simple as automation gets: one dial, one display, plug it in, set your temperature. There's something genuinely appealing about that, especially if you don't want another app on your phone. The TempMaster Pro asks a little more of you up front — pairing the app, placing multiple probes — but pays it back in control, including a sous-vide mode that locks in exact temperatures for precision low-temp cooks.
Price
The IQ110 is one of the most affordable ways to automate a charcoal fire, and it's a long-running, American-built design with a reputation for reliability. The TempMaster Pro costs more because it does more: multiple probes, app connectivity, and extra cooking modes. Check bbqube.us for current pricing and the adapter that fits your grill.
Which controller holds 225°F more steadily?
Honestly, both. A fan controller's accuracy depends far more on your fire than on the electronics: light a modest, clean-burning fire (a half chimney poured over a snake or Minion-method pile), keep the lid closed, and set the top vent mostly open so the fan owns the airflow. Do that and either unit will hold low-and-slow temperatures within a few degrees for hours. What you're buying with the TempMaster Pro isn't a steadier fire — it's the ability to see that fire from anywhere, track your meat alongside it, and prove to yourself the pit never drifted while you slept.
Pitmaster habit worth keeping: a controller manages your fire's air supply, not your fire's size. Learn manual vent control first — it teaches you what a healthy fire looks like — then let the fan take over the babysitting.
Who should buy the Pitmaster IQ110?
- Budget-first buyers who want automatic temperature control at the lowest price that still works reliably.
- Minimalists who'd rather turn one dial than manage an app, pairing, and firmware.
- Daytime cooks — ribs, chicken, pork butt started at 7 a.m. — where you're hanging around the grill anyway and just want the temperature held while you relax.
Who should buy the BBQube TempMaster Pro?
- Overnight and long-cook pitmasters. A 14-hour brisket will hit the stall somewhere in the small hours; with app monitoring, you check temps from bed instead of doing 3 a.m. vent checks in a headlamp.
- Cooks who want pit and food temps in one place, on one screen, without a second thermometer.
- Kamado owners — Big Green Egg, Kamado Joe, Akorn — plus kettle and WSM owners who want one controller that moves between grills with the right adapter.
- Precision cooks who'll use the sous-vide mode for exact, low-and-slow temperature work.
- Anyone who values the lifestyle payoff: set your target, walk away, and spend the day with your family and guests instead of your vents.
Want a grill with the controller already built in?
If you're shopping for a grill and a controller at the same time, it's worth knowing BBQube builds the Temp