more thermometer questions

[Guest]

In preparation for a WSM purchase, I have been buying some accessories. This weekend at a nearby mall, I wandered into Lechters Housewares which is going out of business. I saw a Maverick ET-72 remote thermometer for $23. It works, but I have a few troubling questions since " all sales are final".
1) I have since found out that the new Maverick accepts more than one input/probe. This would have been far more preferable since I now now have to buy a second unit.
2)the FAQ's suggest using the Maverick or the Polder as a means of monitoring temperature. However, the probe cables are only rated for 200 degC. I believe most slow cooking is done at 225-250 degC. Am I missing something?
3) Furthermore, the new Maverick comes with 400 degC cables. Maybe, I rushed into this too soon.
I would appeciate any advice from all of you short of drilling a hole.
thanks,
Roy

 

[Guest]

There are two models of the Maverick. The ET-7 has two probes. The ET-72 has one probe. $23 is a good price on the ET-72, the cheapest I've seen is $49. The cheapest I've seen the two-probe model is $69.

On probes: The probes on all of these units will burn up at around 400 degrees Farenheit, including the probes that shipped with the Maverick I received a few weeks ago.

I just received two replacment probes from Maverick and these have MUCH heavier wiring than the orginal probes or than Polder probes. I checked with Maverick and these are the new 570 degree probes.

Burning up probes on these units is a serious problem and a frequent occurance. It's not as big an issue on the WSM because you are measuring temperatures away from the fire. What kills them instantly is to put the probe or the wire anywhere near the direct radiant heat from the coals on a grill. For example, the 400 degree limit means that you can't really use the probes on a Weber Kettle because only a second or two exposure to the direct heat will kill them. It could also be a problem if you were roasting at 350 on the WSM -- the heat of the boundary layer along the sides and at the dome of the cooker could easily reach 400 degrees if your grate temp were 350 degrees.

Anyway, the bad news is that you will probably burn up the probe on your Maverick sooner or later, just like practically everyone who has used a Polder has burned up a probe. I've killed two.

The good news is that when you order replacement probes from Maverick, you will get the new 570 degree version which should go a long way towards solving the problem.

Since this is a headache for all of the thermo companies and I sure causes a very high return rate, I suspect that Polder and everyone else will be switching to the high-temp probes, too.

Unfortunately, the probes don't seem to be interchangeable. Even though they are all physically identical, there must be some calibration issue. I tried my Maverick probes in my Taylor. They worked fine at room temperature, but in boiling water, they wouldn't go over 188 degrees.

One other tip: unravel your new probe and then store it hanging from a hook somewhere. Constantly rolling them up for storage just results in a tangled mess after a while as the wire "takes a set". Storing them unrolled and hanging makes the cords more manageable.

 

[Guest]

Webb,
I should have said 225 degF instead of degC. Big difference!
Do you have a contact number for Maverick?
I'm thinking of wrapping the cable in a high temperature ceramic braided sleeve that I have from Omega. I wonder if it might work.
roy

 

[Guest]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Roy C:
[qb]Webb,
I should have said 225 degF instead of degC. Big difference!
Do you have a contact number for Maverick?
I'm thinking of wrapping the cable in a high temperature ceramic braided sleeve that I have from Omega. I wonder if it might work.
roy[/qb] <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

The Maverick number is in the instructions:

732-417-9666

The probes are $12 each plus $6.50 shipping. The ones I received Saturday are the new high-temp versions -- I confirmed that today with customer service.

Your ceramic braid idea is a good one. Where did you find this stuff? I've been toying around with adding some sort of sleeve that sticks in from the side of the cooker for a few inches and protects the probe. Burning up probes shouldn't be a problem with these new high-temp models, but I think the hot air-stream rising up the sides of the cooker does tend to make the readings inaccurate.

I tried two probes the other day: one sticking in from the side and one placed on the grate in the same area. The one sticking in from the side read consistently 30 degrees higher for the first three hours. As the fire died down, the difference between the two declined.

The temperature measurement is taken at the tip of the probe, but my theory is that the metal shaft of the probe conducts heat well enough that heat near the handle causes the temperature at the tip to increase.

Where did you get the ceramic braid?

 

[Guest]

Webb,
Try www.omega.com
We use their stuff here at work to insulate sensitive wiring in burn-in ovens attached to electronic instruments. It works great.

 

[Guest]

Roy:

I cut open the lead on a dead temperature probe. It's no wonder these probes can't take any heat. The outer braid is one of the two conductors. The only thing inside the braid is a tiny, tiny wire with just the standard teflon insulation. Basically the same as one lead in a telephone wire. The insulation on this wire would melt if you looked at it sideways and, bingo, dead probe.

The new fatter Maverick probes are probably just a heavier gauge wire with thicker insulation. The new rating to 570 degrees is a huge improvement. Seeing as how you often measure temps of 350 to 400 degrees in a cooking environment, the old rating of 410 degrees was woefully insufficient. At least 570 degrees takes care of most oven/smoker situations -- although it will still fail if exposed to the direct heat from coals in a grilling situation.

I checked out the Nextel braided ceramic sheathing. That would be the ticket, for sure. It would be even better if they used it inside the probes, but then they would cost $100 instead of $10, I suppose.

A 2-foot length of that sheathing covering the handle end of the probe and the part of the wire inside the cooker or oven would make a huge difference in probe reliability and provide more accurate readings. You can usually manage to keep the tip in a spot that won't be excessively hot, but the wire running out of the cooker is sometimes hard to keep away from fairly high heat...particularly on a Weber kettle.

It doesn't appear that the stuff is terribly abrasion-resistant, but it's probably not a big deal inside a cooker.

Too bad the stuff has is so expensive! Maybe I'll see if anyone wants to split a 10 foot order.

The other product that looks interesting are the hard ceramic tube insulators. These would be just the ticket to mount inside the cooker and just run the probe right through them. I'm not sure that they make one that has quite enough inside diameter, though.

I use the same material for sharpening knives. The stones on my EdgePro sharpener are ceramic alumina oxide and solid ceramic rods are the best "steels" money can buy for routine touch-up. The white ones like omega sells are generally about 600 grit.

 

[Guest]

Roy:

Thanks for the tip on the Omega ceramic braid insulation. I received my order today and sleeved up three probes.

The 1/8th inch "nominal inside diameter" size worked fine for the standard probes and these new upgraded Maverick probes.

I sleeved up a couple to within two inches of the probe tip to use as grate thermometers sticking in from the sides of the kettle. Then, I sleeved one just to the curved part of the handle to use as a meat probe. I didn't go all the way to the connector, because you're always going to have a foot or more of wire outside of the kettle.

To deal with the fraying edges, I taped up the ends with self-stick aluminium foil duct sealing tape. This proved to be very handy! The frayed edges of this insulation are nasty like handling fiberglass, so you definitely don't want fraying edges near your food.

Anyway, thanks again for the idea. This stuff should save a lot of probes.

 

[Guest]

Webb, You're welcome. I'm a very green newbie. I'm learning a lot from you and others post. Let us know about the lifetime test results on this new sleeved probe.

Roy

 

[Guest]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Roy C:
[qb]Let us know about the lifetime test results on this new sleeved probe. [/qb] <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I used the sleeved probes last night, roasting a chicken with temperatures in the 365 to 375 degree range. I had one probe stuck through the side to measure the cooker temperature and a second probe inserted into the chicken. That kind of usage made me real nervous with the unsleeved probes because it's dangerously close to the 400 degree mark where the probe wires melt.

The probes worked fine and were easy to handle. The first lesson you learn with the metal probes is not to make the mistake of grabbing the end of it with your bare hand, because it's at the same temperature as the cooker and it will instantly burn the dickens out of you!

On the chicken probe, I had had sleeved just the short "handle" part of the probe. I was able to grab that with a bare hand and remove it from the bird. It was warm to the touch and I wouldn't have wanted to hold it for very long, but it was not uncomfortably hot. That's a good sign that the braid insulation works pretty well.

I actually found the sleeved probes a little easier to manage. The stainless braided cables have a mind of their own in terms of twisting and kinking. The sleeved cables were a bit more manageable.

The only downside is that I'm sure the sleeving will get smoky and dirty over time. Such is life in a bar-b-q grill. The regular probes don't stay pristine, either.