Tom,
I have checked the thermometers 3 different times, once before I did the brisket last week and they have been very accurate, but I was running to get everything going and didn't check before this cook. When I started in the morning I had the multimeter therm probe just above the ribs on the middle shelf. When I put them back in at 2330, I had that probe just above the bottom shelf and another one just above the top shelf, with the ribs on the middle shelf.
I didn't do the St. Louis cut because at the time, I still didn't understand what it was, but last night, while I was reading on the forum, I found a very good video that shows what it is and how to do it, so I'm going to give that a try next time. These were whole slabs, cut in half.
I also found a post from Smokin last night where he said that in the smokette, the meat on spares doesn't often pull away from the bone ends and that normally happens when done on a grill. so I may have been looking for something that just wasn't going to happen. I'm going to have to start making notes on where these posts are because now I'm having trouble finding it again.
Still wondering if having that big, thick roast on the bottom shelf may have had been blocking the heat to the ribs and if the internal temp should be closer to the set temp, or if the internal temps are normally lower than set.
When I did the initial break in, the smoker was set at 200 and empty except for a pan of water and it varied from 175 to 225, averaging 200. I'm wondering if having meat in the smoker is causing the internal temp to be lower. I think next time I do spare ribs, I'll just try setting it at 250 from the start.
Thanks
Pat