John C in Vegas
New member
With a few cooks under my belt on the top rack of the 18.5” WSM, I quickly realized that I was going to need/want a wireless thermometer to monitor the meat and grill temps. I had previously purchased a ChefAlarm from ThermoWorks. With an upcoming cook (yesterday) of two large pork butts on both grills, I wanted to be able to monitor two meats and at least one grill surface temp without being “chained” to constantly running outside to check on things… grill temp being the most critical to me.
Shopping around, I discovered that ThermoWorks was about to release a two-channel version of my ChefAlarm in late October. I was already impressed with the quality of their instruments and would have bought one in a heart-beat if they were available now, but my first big cook was coming up, so I bought an ET-733 ($59).
Yesterday’s cook setup was two large butts on two racks; the single-channel ChefAlarm monitoring the lower butt temp; and the ET-733 monitoring the upper rack and butt temps. (I’d love to post pics of the rig and the cook, but the forum won’t allow me to post pictures for some reason.)
In the box were two hybrid probes with two grill clips; a small waterproof transmitter with a somewhat chinchy clip-on stand; a single-page of instructions; four batteries; and a nice receiver module with a large, clear display.
The transmitter display was small, but more than adequate in that it displayed the readings from each probe in an alternating sequence… plenty if one is just walking by the smoker. Installing the batteries was a snap compared with the receiver. A simple clip opened the transmitter’s battery compartment, while the receiver required a small phillips screwdriver… poor engineering, that. The display and control panel on the receiver is nice and large… an improvement from the earlier ET-732.
The advertised range of this radio-frequency device was 300 feet. With the transmitter in my backyard, I went into every room in my house and even across the street to test it. There was no loss of signal anywhere… even in the bathrooms with the door closed. Very nice.
Syncing the two components is simple and well described in the instructions… receiver on first, and a simple button to turn on and sync the transmitter puts one up-and-running quickly. Again, nice and simple.
I had read reviews of ET-733 that complained about the provided instruction sheet. Having read it twice, I determined that Maverick hired Elmer Fudd to write the part about setting the temps, etc. However, YouTube videos to the rescue. I saw one with a Mavrick representative, and even he had no idea how to set it up. A second video yielded success, and I was off and running.
The larger screen would certainly have been enough to warrant the new model. However, the addition of about nine different kinds of meat and levels of doneness is downright unnecessary. Besides, if you’re going to cook a buffalo, it makes sense that you already know the temperature. Just a waste of firmware space in my opinion.
How did it work? Great! I completed the seven hour cook without even a hiccup from the device. The alarms, while not all that loud, fired off right on cue.
Shopping around, I discovered that ThermoWorks was about to release a two-channel version of my ChefAlarm in late October. I was already impressed with the quality of their instruments and would have bought one in a heart-beat if they were available now, but my first big cook was coming up, so I bought an ET-733 ($59).
Yesterday’s cook setup was two large butts on two racks; the single-channel ChefAlarm monitoring the lower butt temp; and the ET-733 monitoring the upper rack and butt temps. (I’d love to post pics of the rig and the cook, but the forum won’t allow me to post pictures for some reason.)
In the box were two hybrid probes with two grill clips; a small waterproof transmitter with a somewhat chinchy clip-on stand; a single-page of instructions; four batteries; and a nice receiver module with a large, clear display.
The transmitter display was small, but more than adequate in that it displayed the readings from each probe in an alternating sequence… plenty if one is just walking by the smoker. Installing the batteries was a snap compared with the receiver. A simple clip opened the transmitter’s battery compartment, while the receiver required a small phillips screwdriver… poor engineering, that. The display and control panel on the receiver is nice and large… an improvement from the earlier ET-732.
The advertised range of this radio-frequency device was 300 feet. With the transmitter in my backyard, I went into every room in my house and even across the street to test it. There was no loss of signal anywhere… even in the bathrooms with the door closed. Very nice.
Syncing the two components is simple and well described in the instructions… receiver on first, and a simple button to turn on and sync the transmitter puts one up-and-running quickly. Again, nice and simple.
I had read reviews of ET-733 that complained about the provided instruction sheet. Having read it twice, I determined that Maverick hired Elmer Fudd to write the part about setting the temps, etc. However, YouTube videos to the rescue. I saw one with a Mavrick representative, and even he had no idea how to set it up. A second video yielded success, and I was off and running.
The larger screen would certainly have been enough to warrant the new model. However, the addition of about nine different kinds of meat and levels of doneness is downright unnecessary. Besides, if you’re going to cook a buffalo, it makes sense that you already know the temperature. Just a waste of firmware space in my opinion.
How did it work? Great! I completed the seven hour cook without even a hiccup from the device. The alarms, while not all that loud, fired off right on cue.
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