A.J. Crocker
TVWBB Member
I've been tinkering with my DIY temperature controller. The problem I had was that the thermocouple I purchased mounted through the side of my WSM. I found that since it was in contact with the body of the smoker, that it was receiving transferred heat from the smoker body. This was causing a reading that was 15-20 degrees higher than my et-73.
I recently purchased a new thermocouple for my homebrew controller that is similar in design to the smoker probe that came with the et-73. I slipped the probe into an alligator clip, bent the clip so that the probe was about the same height as the probe for the et-73, and fired up the WSM to smoke a couple of pork butts. This was my main reason for building the temp controller. So I didn't have to stay up all night or sleep lightly worried about the smoker temp and how my cook was going to turn out.
When the smoker came up to temp, I was pleasantly suprised to see that the new probe arrangement was causing the temp reading on my controller to MATCH my et-73 readings. I put the butts on at 11:15 PM and went inside. I monitored the temp on my maverick til about 12:45 AM and then went to bed. I woke up twice during the night and checked the reading on my maverick. I was happy to see it maintaining the proper temp. I slept through the rest of the night, not worried about the outcome at this point.
When I woke up at 8:10, I looked at the maverick and it still read 225. Relief. I went outside to check the temp on the controller and found that it too was reading 225. I took a few sniffs of the smoking pork and waited out the rest of the day till they got to around 190 degrees at 3:15 PM. I pulled em off, let em rest an hour or so, and pulled the meat. I gotta say, it's darn nice to be able to set the controller and forget it. Sure makes the process a lot less stressful, and I can do other things (like sleep) and not have to worry about checking the temp as often.
I recently purchased a new thermocouple for my homebrew controller that is similar in design to the smoker probe that came with the et-73. I slipped the probe into an alligator clip, bent the clip so that the probe was about the same height as the probe for the et-73, and fired up the WSM to smoke a couple of pork butts. This was my main reason for building the temp controller. So I didn't have to stay up all night or sleep lightly worried about the smoker temp and how my cook was going to turn out.
When the smoker came up to temp, I was pleasantly suprised to see that the new probe arrangement was causing the temp reading on my controller to MATCH my et-73 readings. I put the butts on at 11:15 PM and went inside. I monitored the temp on my maverick til about 12:45 AM and then went to bed. I woke up twice during the night and checked the reading on my maverick. I was happy to see it maintaining the proper temp. I slept through the rest of the night, not worried about the outcome at this point.
When I woke up at 8:10, I looked at the maverick and it still read 225. Relief. I went outside to check the temp on the controller and found that it too was reading 225. I took a few sniffs of the smoking pork and waited out the rest of the day till they got to around 190 degrees at 3:15 PM. I pulled em off, let em rest an hour or so, and pulled the meat. I gotta say, it's darn nice to be able to set the controller and forget it. Sure makes the process a lot less stressful, and I can do other things (like sleep) and not have to worry about checking the temp as often.