External Thermometers

Stuart,

What if you use it to check both the smoker temp and the meat temp like a Maverick ET73.

Not trying to be a trouble maker.

Many of us map our cooker shelves[i.e. the great job Smokin' Okie does] to know our different temp spots when we get the cooker.

My different Cookshacks ,and my different FEC s,are so consistent and so dependable that I never bother after the initial checks.

Like John,I also have a Maverick.

You can use it to check ranges,i.e. you have a raging grease fire,or cooker went cold.

He will occasionally use his to make sure we haven't lost power,or the cooker go out at cookoffs.

This gives us an alarm,when we are away from the cooker.

We use the meat probes,when we think we are getting to maybe the last 1/3 of a cook at comps to alert us to our target temps.

That said,it is nice to look over at the FEC,or the 160 and know about where the cooker is running.

At home,I fire them up at night and check the meats in the morning.

I will usually probe the meats in early morning,but the cookers are consistent enough that I don't need to temp check them.

Probably more than you want to know,but I don't think we need to focus on exact cooker temps,most of the time.

In over five years cooking on my smokette,I never missed having a cooker therm.

When I cook on it with my boys,now,we never miss having the therm.

Having watched the forum over the years,if folks have a therm,they spend all their time worrying about temp swings.

Just my $0.02

Happy holidays

Thanks to John and Tom, I have to restart my research... Actually I appreciate John reminding me that there is another answer.

Thanks,

Stuart I don't know about the cookshack but the fec100 you don't worry about the temp so much. You select the temp and quit woorying.My dad bought me 100 in August and I have only been able to use it five times but the last cook a Turkey to Somekin Okies 101 with only a cookshack chicken rub.Cooked at 180 for one hour and then at325 for 3 hours and let rest for 30 minutes. I was GREAT I was a 12 Pound Bird.

You know Chris, just when you stop worrying about the FEC, it might teach you a lesson.

I'm not trying to be a smart a$$, but when I cook at a contest, I don't like to tempt fate. I put the Maverick in and set a range for the smoker just so it will wake me up if for some chance it goes outside of that range.

While I will admit that the alarms to wake me up have been far and few between, it has helped a few times. In fact, I even use the Maverick at home.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my FECs. But if the electric goes off, a pellet jams the augur, etc., I want to know soon enough to try and recover from whatever is interrupting the cooking process.

Stuart,what would be the purpose of the therm on the cooker?[008 and 50]

If it is to check folks that use a remote meat therm,Smokin' has taught the forum to use a remote to keep from opening the door to use our instaread.

Seems that everyone here uses one ,as soon as
they are able to get one.

Sorry if this is long,if you are only trying to find a percentage that would find a builtin,or Cookshack provided external helpful



John,looks at it as an alarm/fail safe on the cooker.

Like all comp cooks,we have seen every type cooker have a glitch.[ grease fires to going cold]

When you have a couple grand on the line at a contest 1,000 miles from home,the smallest detail/risk becomes important.

Our Mavericks give us the alarm in the cook trailer,or a building.

Not that we have but a rare instance on the FEC s,but it is always possible.

So rare ,that at home,I just gamble.

The 008 and 50 used to merely have the dial and it was off,or on.

I tell him that because I get up about hourly,looking out the window at the cooker gives me something to do.

Sometimes, the smoke burns so clean that I step out and wave my hand over the vent hole to be sure it is running.

Of course,I usually have clear skies and room temps.

On the 008 s and the 50 s, often cooking on the back porch,with relatively small loads ,I'm guessing that the alarm need is almost non existant-after the first couple of cooks.

Now if it is for the cook to constantly monitor the cooker temps on the 008/50 ,it would be of no personal use to me.

Hope this helps a little.

I appreciate everones feedback. I find this interesting as I learned to cook on a Smokette without a thermometer and still rarely use one. However, I figured I was in the minority. Any way, I am just looking at some things we might offer as options and some type of a thermometer to check internal temperature of the meat seems like a good choice.

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and are looking forward to a Happy New Year.

Stuart, I use probe thermometers in both my 08 and 150 models each and every time I smoke meat.

I even probe my salmon to check internal temps as I pull my smoked salmon at 165.

Only time I dont use them is when im doing ribs or cheese FWIW.

Happy Holidays

Mike

I would say about every 10th post in the owners forum is about thermometers. I'd certainly say it's the most frequently asked question there, more so than just the basics.

However, the number one issue will be reliability.

Most of the store brands seem to have issues. Me? I have the polders I got 5 years ago and 1 probe has gone bad...but I take care of them, don't let moisture get in them AND I got luck I guess.

For CS owners, there are lots of questions about what "real" temp the smoke is at, so I would go for the 2 probe thermometer, one for me and one for temp.

Just an added note about a bad experience with the cheaper Thermoworks external thermometer. These sell for around $20.

I purchased one probably a year ago and used it a couple of times. And since I use my Maverick for most cooks, I let it sit for most of the winter. (outside but under cover)

I decided recently to use it again and found that when turned on, it read HI. Ok, maybe the probe went bad for some reason so I went and pulled out the NEW probe I had purchased at the same time. Stuck it in a snow bank to check on the temp (one feature of living in the cold) and when it got to a 33 deg reading, I figured that was close enough.

So I started the cook but I also put a probe in from the Maverick as a backup. When the cook was about finished, I found the Thermoworks reading 394 deg!! and the Maverick giving its usual reliable reading of about 120.

Tried the probes again ready for another cook. One still reads HI and the other reads 106 deg on a 36 deg day.

The Thermoworks goes in the trash... including the new probe.

Don't trash yet! I just had a probe go bad from leaving it in a foiled piece of meat during a weekend smoke. Today I put the probe in my toaster oven for 30 minutes at 350 degrees and now it is reading fine.

quote:

Don't trash yet! I just had a probe go bad from leaving it in a foiled piece of meat during a weekend smoke. Today I put the probe in my toaster oven for 30 minutes at 350 degrees and now it is reading fine.

Well I know about the 'boil in oil' and other tricks to bring a probe back. But if a probe goes bad on its first smoke, I don't think I care to revive it...

I have a whole lot of faith in the FEC-100 and it's ability to control temps.
There have been occasions where the fire has gone out, and I would have not known about it.
I now use the new ET-732 for monitoring both chamber and 1 meat. I still have my old ET-73 that I use for 2 additional meats or racks, if needed.

Yep Gunny,as the service taught"stuff happens".

All of us ,at comps will keep alarms in the chambers-for dead fires,or the really,really rare flash fire.Amazing how power will go down for your side of the compound,or somebody kicks loose the power cord.

Of course,we also learn to have alternative power for these occasions.