New remote thermometer shopping. Smoke better than Maverick ET-732?


 

W_Stewart

TVWBB Fan
I'm on my 2nd Maverick, the first one lasted about 4 years and recall having to replace at least one probe. My second one (ET-732) was purchased 3 years ago and I'm buying my 2nd or third replacement probe now. And the latest probe issues have me slightly suspicious of variability between which port the probes are plugged in to (bbq vs food). So I am comparing the cost of yet more replacement probes to just buying a new unit. I'm also not beating up on the ET-732 - it has gotten me through a lot of cooks and I'm happy with the features (aside from the probe games).

So all that said, I'm going to get a new unit. Are the Smoke probes holding up? I would pay more for the Smoke if it was better. I don't need the wifi gateway but it is an interesting feature I would likely buy after the sting of the higher cost Smoke wears off a little bit. I can also buy another ET-732.

Thoughts?
 
I've got both and I love the smoke. The probes are so far holding up well. I've kept my ET-732 as a backup. The cost of new probes if they did wear out somehow on the smoke isn't bad. compared to the maverick. The only annoyance I have with the smoke is that you have to set alarms on the base unit. Other than that, no big deal. I'm hopefully getting the wifi unit for Christmas.
 
I've got both and I love the smoke. The probes are so far holding up well. I've kept my ET-732 as a backup. The cost of new probes if they did wear out somehow on the smoke isn't bad. compared to the maverick. The only annoyance I have with the smoke is that you have to set alarms on the base unit. Other than that, no big deal. I'm hopefully getting the wifi unit for Christmas.

"...Ditto..."
 
I've had the Smoke for almost four months, maybe a dozen cooks. I'm happy with it. My only real complaint is the size and shape of the remote. It's rather thick and has a rounded bottom that makes it virtually impossible to stand it up where you might be able to read it from a distance. The thickness makes it rather bulky in a pocket. I've also found I keep inadvertently depressing the button when carrying it in a pocket. But these are not huge issues. I prop it against something or just lay it on its back and try not to carry it in a pocket any more than I have to. On the plus side, the size makes it feel almost indestructible.

My only issue with the probes is the armored cable tends to kink due to the initial bends that were put in it in the packaging. I've taken to winding it around my fingers and only securing one side of the cable when putting it away, so it's in a circle rather than bending back on itself. I'm hoping this will eventually smooth out the kinks and make it easier to handle. Aside from that the cables seem well made and have stood up to more tugging than I probably should have done with them. They're a bit of a tight fit through the silicone grommet on the WSM, but they do fit with a little encouragement.

Everything they sell seems to eventually go on sale and they're pretty good about alerting existing customers to the deals, so if you know you want the WiFi Gateway you can watch for a sale. They also have open box sales a couple times a year and some good bargains are available that way. That's how I got my Smoke. Saved $20.
 
Here's my solution for the SMOKE's remote not standing up.

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That's just nutty that the remote doesn't stand up on it's own. I wonder what they were thinking from a design perspective?
 
Here's my solution for the SMOKE's remote not standing up.
Yeah, I think I've seen that photo or one very similar in another thread. Thing is, I walk around the house with the remote. Sometimes I'm in the kitchen. Sometimes I'm on the computer. Sometimes I'm in the garage. It's enough carrying that thick remote. I don't want to have to cart around a ceramic bowl as well.
 
I have one, and it is designed with a lanyard to hang around your neck, so you have two hands free. I do not use it and wish it could stand up. Other than that I really like it.
 
It was mentioned you set the alarms on the base unit. Can you silence the alarms on the receiver when they go off, or do you have to go out to the xmitter and do that?
 
Are you sure about that, Dustin? The last time I used it I recall having to push the button on the base unit to get it to shut up. I'm fairly certain I had already silenced the remote.

Hmm.... I couldn't swear by it, but I think the remote button shuts off the alarm you hear from the remote. However, it will still be making noise on the base unit, so I think you are right. That however, I think, can be turned off. You can set the alarms but have them not go off on the base unit speaker. I set my alarms pretty loosely so if its going off I'm pretty much going to the base unit. For instance, for an overnight cook I'll set it to 215 to 265 and hopefully will be riding around 225 to 240.
 
I confirmed today that you have to acknowledge the alarms at both the base and the remote to get them to stop beeping. I smoked some almonds and pecans today, and then put on a pork loin since I already had the fire going. When the pork loin hit the target temp I acknowledged on the remote but didn't go outside right away. A couple minutes later the base unit was still beeping away.
 
I never had a Maverick but I do have a Chef Alarm, Smoke and a Dot. The Chef Alarm I`ve had for 2 yrs very happy with it. Still using the same probes that came with it. The Chef Alarm was good for monitoring grate temps. Good for chicken but not so good for long smokes as you had to keep running outside to check. Bought a Smoke no longer have to babysit watching the kettle. The Smoke has alarms which can be shut off at the base unit. Very easy to use. Comes with a lanyard to hang around your neck. Never thought it was a big deal the remote didn`t have a stand. The base unit does stand alone and also has magnets on back.
 
I have purchased and used the Following over the last 08 years: Maverick ET-732,Maverick ET-733, Thermoworks "Smoke" and "Chef Alarm". For me the big winner was the Thermoworks "Smoke" for ease of use and accuracy. That said, both of the Mavericks served me well.
 
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I'll agree with Richard -

I had a single-channel Maverick. It worked pretty decently for what it was

But I'll give a big "Heck Yeah!" on the Smoke being better

My new Smoke supports dual probes
-The User Interface (controls) is stupid simple
-All components build quality is clearly superior to Mav
-Range is substantially better than Mav
(my Maverick would occasionally lose the connection when I wanted to monitor from my bedside table on overnight cooks - Smoke is Rock Solid at same location)

My Maverick was a gift that I used until the probe wire started to give-out
Around then, there was some buzz on this forum about the Smoke, and I already had my ORANGE THERMOPEN, which from experience was a quality cooking tool. I BOUGHT my smoke with my own money (even with permission from SWMBO)

If I were buying my own new - hands-down I would spend a few bucks more and get the Smoke.
 
I used the smoke on my prime rib cook. I got the wifi adapter for Christmas and cooked the prime rib that day. It worked out pretty well. You can set separate alarms on the phone app that are independent of whatever the base unit is set to. I also verified that you can mute the alarms at the base and they will still sound on the receiver.

One huge bonus for me on the smoke is how often the receiver updates compared to the maverick and how much more accurate the smoke is. It's way more responsive when changing the vent settings to see what's going on. I still have my maverick though and will probably continue to use it in certain situations. I occasionally use my Igrill2 as well.
 
You can set separate alarms on the phone app that are independent of whatever the base unit is set to. I also verified that you can mute the alarms at the base and they will still sound on the receiver.

One huge bonus for me on the smoke is how often the receiver updates

Thanks for sharing these pieces of information; the earlier alarm behavior discussions turned me off on the Smoke. And I had not thought about sample rate differences between the Maverick (which I use) vs. that of the Smoke.

Does the Smoke offer a count-up timer? I thought I may have asked elsewhere but cannot locate it. For some reason I've grown accustom to using a count-up timer, especially for logs that I keep.

Thanks!
 
I have had a few different thermometers including the Mav and Smoke. I really like the ease of use on the Smoke but I wouldn’t overthink it. Both are great!
I do truly like Thermoworks’ Customer Service.
 

 

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