I would say save your money. I have several of these, but I'm finding them not to be too durable. Advice I've been getting is go for the Maverick ET-73. It's about 10 dollars more, but has the nice feature of being remote, so you can put your probes in the meat and cooker, and then go inside with the receiver.
I picked up this model a couple of months ago, and I have used it many times without a problem. However, there is a magnetic strip on the back of the unit, but I don't stick on the lid;rather, I put it on a small table that is next to the WSM
I have two of these and they are both about 2 years old.
I just checked them a week ago when I did a brisket by putting it in boiling water. It was off 3 degrees.
I still use them both. They measure identical when in the smoker. I don't rely on any one temp gauge. I use several different temp gauges at a time. I do like these.
-NOTE: They start to read very incorrectly when the batteries go low. Buy extra batteries. It sucks when you are 12 hours into a cook and the temp gauge reads internal temp 320!! hahah
I pull the batteries when not in use. Before a cook I put the batteries in and hang on the fridge for an hour or two for the temp to settle in. THEN stick in the meat. I find this works most accurately.
Before purchaseing this item. Search some other sites and look for reviews. I see no written review available. If I would have read the reviews first I never would have bought my first one, I will do some searching to see if I can locate the site I got my from. It lasted 1 cook and went hey wire. Nobody stood by there product so I was out the 40 bucks I spent.
While I have never used that product, I would recommend the maverick ET-73 as well. There customer service is top notch. My smoker probe burned out when I first received it (about 4 years ago) and they sent me a new one free and this winter my transmitter died and they sent me a new one free as well. What company backs up their product like that?
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by rich langer:
A while back, lots of folks here (including me) used them. Now most folks (including me) no longer use them
Whats that tell you? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
That tells you to save your money and not buy one. I second Rich. I haven't used my ET-73 for a couple years now. Once you get use to your smoker, it's pretty much set it and forget it. I don't even keep a probe in the meat any more. I pretty much know when it's done and then I start checking with my Thermapen (which is expensive but worth it).
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">That tells you to save your money and not buy one. I second Rich. I haven't used my ET-73 for a couple years now. Once you get use to your smoker, it's pretty much set it and forget it. I don't even keep a probe in the meat any more. I pretty much know when it's done and then I start checking with my Thermapen (which is expensive but worth it).
Posts: 1533 | Location: Monroe, Michigan | Registered: December 06, 2003 </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Yea, It all tells me to save my money. I have a thermapen also so I guess I can do the same; check with my pen when I think it is close to being done.
Thanks everyone for your input.