A.J. Crocker
TVWBB Member
Have you ever used a tube of caulk, capped it off and put it away, and then went back to use it a couple of weeks later only to find that it had hardened? Well, that's where my idea for a probe holder came from.
I use a Maverick ET-73 and an automatic temperature controller so I have two smoker probes to hold.
My idea was to mold a probe holder out of some high temp silicone I had left over in my shed. Here's what I did:
The idea I had in mind was a piece of the high temp silicone held about an inch above the cooking grate with holes in it for the probes to pass through. Here's a picture of what I ended up with:
When sitting on the cooking grate, the probes are parallel to the grate and about one inch above it.
Here's what I used:
High Temp Silicone, a piece of 3/4" pvc, petroleum jelly, a 90 degree angled piece of hardware with threads on one end (the one I actually used is shown in the next picture assembled), an alligator clip, and a band clamp (the one I used was much smaller than the one in this picture).
Here's the assembled hardware with the silicone removed:
Here's how I made it. First, I took the 3/4" pvc and cut about 1/3 of it off lengthwise in my vise like this:
When finished cutting the pvc, it looked like this:
I then applied a light coating of petroleum jelly to the inside surface of the pvc and taped off both ends with painters tape to form a rough mold for the silicone.
Then I filled the mold with the silicone and continued filling it over the top of the opening. After that, I let it sit for a few days to let the silicone harden.
After that, I removed the tape and slid the molded silicone out of the pvc.
My next step was to create the holes for the probes to pass through. What I did, was heat a sharp object (nail) with fire (torch) and forced it through the silicone. I must say, this is really high temp silicone as the nail had to be literally red hot to penetrate it.
So, then I assembled it and put it to use. It may not be pretty, but it didn't cost me squat, and it serves my purpose. I've used it about ten times and it works great. I'd mold another in a second if I had more probes to hold.
I use a Maverick ET-73 and an automatic temperature controller so I have two smoker probes to hold.
My idea was to mold a probe holder out of some high temp silicone I had left over in my shed. Here's what I did:
The idea I had in mind was a piece of the high temp silicone held about an inch above the cooking grate with holes in it for the probes to pass through. Here's a picture of what I ended up with:
When sitting on the cooking grate, the probes are parallel to the grate and about one inch above it.
Here's what I used:
High Temp Silicone, a piece of 3/4" pvc, petroleum jelly, a 90 degree angled piece of hardware with threads on one end (the one I actually used is shown in the next picture assembled), an alligator clip, and a band clamp (the one I used was much smaller than the one in this picture).
Here's the assembled hardware with the silicone removed:
Here's how I made it. First, I took the 3/4" pvc and cut about 1/3 of it off lengthwise in my vise like this:
When finished cutting the pvc, it looked like this:
I then applied a light coating of petroleum jelly to the inside surface of the pvc and taped off both ends with painters tape to form a rough mold for the silicone.
Then I filled the mold with the silicone and continued filling it over the top of the opening. After that, I let it sit for a few days to let the silicone harden.
After that, I removed the tape and slid the molded silicone out of the pvc.
My next step was to create the holes for the probes to pass through. What I did, was heat a sharp object (nail) with fire (torch) and forced it through the silicone. I must say, this is really high temp silicone as the nail had to be literally red hot to penetrate it.
So, then I assembled it and put it to use. It may not be pretty, but it didn't cost me squat, and it serves my purpose. I've used it about ten times and it works great. I'd mold another in a second if I had more probes to hold.
