Electronic Thermometer w/ remote $16

Bought one and it broke the same day. Hopefully you won't have the same experience.

Bought the same model at Target (brick and mortar) marketed under the Weber name I believe. It looks EXACTLY like the one at CC. Lasted 2 smokes or so.....wouldn't buy another.

Still searching for the magic bullet of thermometers here.....

Good luck,
C'Nooga

what was it that broke on yours? I found that they must both be reset within a minute of each other.....perhaps that is your problem. I have cooked two briskets and one pulled pork with one of mine and used the other to monitor the temp of the smoker four times, twice with brisket and twice with ribs. So far they work just great. Perhaps you need to specify what actually broke on yours. Also the probes appear to be the same as I have seen on several other models i have looked at.

No pilot error here, both of the ones I've owned stopped working. Quickly.

Radio Shack used to carry these. They dropped them because of reliability problems.

Well, based on what i have read here, many of the thermometers have been unreliable. I was hoping that this one was decent because of the low cost and my so far, my good luck.

Bought the same unit a few months ago at the local Ace hardware when my Taylor digital remote went into hiding as I was preparing to smoke something. Goes under the name "Weber Style".

My observations....

1. At 1st, I thought it was broken due to the lengthy start up time. Have to depress the power button for several seconds before before the unit kicks in.
2. Temp readings consistently run high when compared to a regular oven thermometer, my Thermopen instant read, and the Taylor, which I later found.
3. No temp program mode (my biggest complaint). Just meat modes (pork, beef, etc.) with the manufacturers pre-set temps.
4. The unit's remote receiver starts beeping for no apparent reason, even when you're far from the pre-set cook temp.
5. The probe insert to the sending unit is a very poor fit and slides out with any minor amount of movement, including a little bit of wind.

I still have the unit and use it only as a backup and double check to the Taylor, understanding its limitations. That said, I would never buy another one.

I will keep everyone posted on my experiences with this thermometer.

The reason for the beeps is beeper will beep at 5 degree intervals, which I have found to be ok by me. All and all, it beats having to insert and take a reading....because to do that you must open the smoker.

I just felt that this was a great alternative to the Maverick (which I have thought to be the cadillac of therms based on my readings at this site) which runs $75 and also has been known to be rather unreliable.

A maverick ET-73 dual probe can be had for $39.88 plus shipping. Amazon price is $49 IIRC.

http://www.ekitchengadgets.com/maresmth.html

Here is the best bet. You don't need 2 probes. You test the oven for proper operating temps when it is empty.

http://www.ikitchen.com/maroalovroth.html

That one seems like a good deal too. I guess it all depends on which one you get and how long it lasts.
I wonder why so many of them crap out so fast though. I am gonna ride the ones I have until they drop and then make my evaluation from there. I had seen several Maverick thermometers at Amazon and the one Joseph listed is the one for smokers.

Hippie- I've had one of those for years, and it has performed flawlessly. I've been looking all over for it, as mine was a gift and marketed by "Williams- Sonoma". Have you used the ikitchen store? I don't do alot of internet buying, so I'm still a little leery of most.

No, I haven't used that particular site. I have a probe set like that I got at one of the little outlet stores in Branson a few years ago. It still works great.

They wanted $10.00 for shipping! Finally went to Bed, Bath, and Beyond. They had a Pyrex model for $19.95. Similar features to the one I'm using now, I'll provide "consumer report" as used.

The best online deal I've found for a Maverick remote 2 probe thermometer is at Overstock.com. It's $42 including shipping.

I ordered one a few months ago. It arrived poorly packaged ... the thermometer package thumping around in a larger box, with nothing but lots of air in between. So it wasn't a big surprise when it was DOA and didn't work at all. I returned it (Overstock paid the return shipping), notified the company of the poor packaging, and they shipped me a new one, packaged the same way. However, this one survived the shipping and worked. But it didn't work well (it had no range and kept losing the temp reading) until I replaced the cheap batteries it came with and put in regular alkaline batteries.

Now it works fine, although the signal doesn't travel that well through multiple walls. So you have to be careful where you set the receiver.

I think it is nice to have two probes, one for the meat on the top rack, and one for the meat on the bottom rack.

I have read here that none of them travel well between walls. One guy even posted that his smoker is on the other side of his pantry and the canned goods play havoc.
That said...... I hope the Maverick works well for years to come.

KCAL

I have a Pyrex from Bed, Bath... It works fine in my indoor oven but gives nothing but faulty readings in the smoker. Go figure....!!!

I have 4 taylor remotes. All have worked fine until the probes went out. I replaced the probes with polder probes from Amazon.com. The darn things all registered 50 degrees too cool on the taylors. I have been afraid of polders due to reputation on reliability. I just wish whoever makes the Taylor remotes would sell replacement probes. Even if you had to buy a dozen at a time. Is anyone aware of availability of replacement probes other than polder? Keep stokin the fire.

I e-mailed Taylor about replacement probes and this is the reply I received....

Taylor Model #1470 additional probes are available at the listed
price of $5.00 each. Taylor does not take credit cards or Cod, personal check or money order will do. Please when ordering please write the part number (#1470RP) somewhere on the check or money order. Please make out to the following;

Taylor Precision Products
2220 Entrada del Sol
Las Cruces, NM 88001
Attn: E. Salas

Once your letter is received an order will drop for your new probes.
Taylor will handle shipping and there is no taxes, each probe is $5.00 even. I
hope this information proves to be helpful to you.

I just ordered three. Expect delivery next week........Don

--------------------
......Don

OK... I'm not an opportunist, but...it shouldn't be too hard to make a dependable therm...consistent and reliable...a small niche market, but PEOPLE WANT THEM!!!

Just so everyone knows....I have used the NexxTech� Remote Barbeque Thermometer (631-3011)seven times now and have no complaints whatsoever.... So far I am seeing good bang for the buck.

Our Maverick we got at overstock is still working just fine. It does lose signal thru the walls on remote occasionally but still works just fine.

Howdy Tony,
Just wanted to put my .02� in the jar. I got one of the Oregon Scientific thermometers for Christmas and it lasted to the first weekend of January. Luckily it was purchased at Costco. Just cannot beat those guys. It is a pleasure to do shopping with those folks. They still believe in customer service first! I have been using a NU-TEMP remote thermometer and so far so good. I seriously believe that you get what you pay for.

Smoky

I am a firm believer of getting what you pay for. But I have to tell you I have used one of mine 8 times now and so far so good. I just used it on a Prime Rib (Choice)which I got at COSTCO. Had to cut that big boy in three to get small enough portions and still had two meals for the four of us. I did get it at Circuit City though and if I have a problem with it I will take it back for a full refund.
Initially I was looking for a Maverick but was unsuccessful locally for what ever reason and I ended up online and got these two.
I will continue to keep ya'll updated.

Just an update on my Thermometers. Still going strong. I did have to reset one the other day after I replaced the batteries. The batteries were not dead though. I just needed some fresh ones for my camera and figured they were not very depleted. Actaully I had got the batteries for the thermometer out of the camera over a month ago. Being that they were the lithium type I just decided that it was overkill for the therm anyway. Haha!!! So I went to wallyworld and got the wallyworld brand and put them in. .98 cents for 4 of them. vs $10.00 for the 4 lithiums.
I was curious as to how long batteries last in these things though. They are digital and I cant imagine they draw too much. That said, I have had TV remote controls using cheapo chinese batteries last many years and these thermometer remotes mostly resemble a TV remote. As I said I will keep you all posted on my progress with the thermometers.
A previous post stated that they beeped too much. I have found that beep reassuring. It will beep 5 degrees prior to hitting your set temperature and then every 5 degrees after that until you shut it down. That said the set temps are not programmable, you get what you get. Not an issue though for me, they both just keep on ticking and reading accurate temps.

I've seen one bad review above regarding the Pyrex model sold at Bed Bath and Beyond. I think Q'n Mike may have a defective one. I use the same one at our restaurant, and we generally get about 2 to 3 months of use out of them before the probe croaks. This is using it twice a day, everyday. I could order replacement probes, but I always forget to order them BEFORE it goes bad. Since we rely on them so heavily, I just run to Bed Bath and Beyond and pick up a whole new unit. The "electronics" part of the unit usually still works, and being in a restaurant, they get beat around pretty good.

As for accuracy, I test all of our thermometers once a week. It seems that when the probe does fail, it usually fails BIG, not just a few degrees.

The built in timer comes in pretty handy sometimes too.

Of course, as with anything, YMMV!

I've had both of theese, about a year ago I bought the Weber version and while it worked it was great. But the probe went bad after a month or two and since I cant find replacement probes it went into my junk drawer. Last month I saw this thread and bought one of the NexxTechs hoping for better luck this time, instead it crapped out after 2 smokes! Plus I found out that the remote display only reads to 199 and the max setting is Turkey at 180, not good for doing brisket or to monitor the CS cooking temp.

Had the Pryex, $9 at Wallmart, the alarm crapped out but the probe still worked for about another 6 months.

Oppinon: probes will always fail and cant stand up to the BBQ & grilling use/abuse

I just bought a dial model to monitor the temperature in the hole of my smokette. Checking it with one of my two Costco business (same china model just a different stencil on the name) my smokette always ran low, but one of the probes crapped out and new units were $14 today and the dial was like $2.50. I decided to make it work someway work in the smoke hole.

Doing a search at the ekitchen link above I found the below for $10.99 minus 5% through Sunday for their St. Patrick's Day sale. I might give it a shot and order a number, but I haven't checked the shipping charge yet. Seems to be an east coast outfit but maybe they dropship. http://www.ekitchengadgets.com/chinac00prdi.html