At 1:00 AM two pre-rubbed 8.5 lb pork butts were placed on the new AmeriQue, thermometer probe inserted in the lower butts on the middle shelf. All instructions for setting the temperature for the smoker box (225 degrees f.)and thermometer probe set to 195 degrees were followed. It was noticed the probe temperature kept running up and down the scale on its own. I re-read the instructions and following the sequence inserted the probe into the cookshack control panel and sure-nuff the temperature settled to 45 degrees inside the cold butt, but moving the wire around caused the thermometer to go crazy. So! I stopped moving it around. Oh! Yes, the cook "TIME" was set to zero hours - a later check proved this setting to be a mistake.
Satisfied it would be no different than the CS55 with a polder thermometer I went to bed. At 8:00 AM a check was in order. First sight made my heart palpitate - the butt internal temperature was only 116 degrees and the box temperature was 148 degree "on HOLD." With the probe thermometer wire apparently still shorting out, it defaulted back to the ˜Time" setting where it was set to zero time and went into "HOLD" at 148 degrees for a box temperature.
At this point, but a couple hours later, I called one of our BBQ friends, a national BBQ competition cooker, and he recommended re-setting the AmeriQue to the "TIME" setting and the box temperature set to 250 degrees - which was needed to finished the butts for a 6:00 PM dinner for ten. He also advised me to cook the pork to 193 or better in case bacteria was present. The probe is still installed, but it gets moved around to get a steady reading and my trusty Polder is one inch away from the AmeriQue probe point on the lower butt.
I asked my wife why problems occur when company is due and I got a smart answer back "you only do something when you have company coming to eat BBQ." Now the moral of the story - don't use company to break in a new smoker/cooker or recipe and don't say anything to the wife even if you have to buy 10-12 lbs of BBQ from the local BBQ joint. The butts are not done and I'm out of here to buy BBQed pork and ribs.
Smokemullet