Maverick ET-732 after 9 months

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deltadude

Master of the Pit
Original poster
OTBS Member
Jun 3, 2008
1,529
37
Sacramento Area
I luv my Mav ET-732, it really reduces the number of steps I used to walk from inside the house to outside cooking area just to check temps and or a smoke.  My normal routine is start a smoke in the MES then go inside and either watch TV or hang out on the computer, of if I have projects or chores go to the garage.  All used to require walking back to the MES every 20 - 30 minutes to add wood chips and or check temps.  Well the AWNPS solved the adding wood chips every 30 minutes, and the ET-732 solved the temp check.

When I first bought the 732 I did a freeze ice check (placing probes in crushed ice with water), yep both probes read 32º fairly quickly, wish I would have kept notes on the time to read from room temp to substance being checked.  I think it was 30 seconds or less when new.  The the boiling water check.  The way I do it, is microwave a bowl of water for 1 min then check temp , cross checking with a Cooper calibratable analog dial stem thermometer, take the reading for both 732 probes / cross check, then microwave the water for 2 minutes, do same procedure then microwave water for 3 minutes.  At 3 minutes I pour the water into a sauce pan and put on stove burner and set stove to keep the water at a simmer.  When new the 732 probes read temps the same and achieved the readings at approximately the same rate.  When testing the boiling water at 212º when new both probes read 212º.

It has been almost 9 months and a few nights ago I was cooking Tri Tip, in the broiler ( I know  why not smoker or BBQ, I was just too busy to do the prep necessary for smoker or BBQ).  The process was to get a crust on both sides under the broiler then oven cook at 350º until temp hit 138º.   So after broiling each side for 10 minutes, I turned the oven from broil to regular oven cooking, inserted the 732 meat probe, I knew the temp should be around 90-100º, but the meat probe kept showing something close to room temp and only climbed a few degrees after 3 or 4 minutes.  I removed the meat probe and inserted the BBQ stubby probe, and it quickly jumped to 100º.  I then cross checked with the recently calibrated Cooper which agreed with the 732 BBQ probe temp +/- 1or2 degrees.  I used the BBQ probe + reinserted the 732 meat probe, and returned the Tri Tip to the oven.  It took at least another 5 minutes for the meat probe to come up to temp.  When meat was finished the both read the necessary temp and cross checked with the Cooper +/- 2deg.

It appeared that age and use has affected the 732 probes.  Note I am careful when cleaning (never submersing the probe or elements in water, and never getting the connection of the probe & wire wet).  I only clean the probes and do that with a damp cloth using tiny amount of dish soap then again with a little 50/50 water/ammonia, then rinse wipe and dry wipe.

Today I tested both probes as per above methods.

Results:

 ice water =  meat probe 34º,  bbq probe 34º,  response time  60+ seconds

boiling water = meat probe 214º,  bbq probe 214º, response time 15-25 seconds

The cooper analog was check at same time, the temps were DEAD On, and responded faster.

Cooking in most instances is NOT an exact science, I can live with a +/- 2 deg accuracy, however I am concerned that the life of Maverick probe may only be 12 -15 months with only nominal usage.

I will have to keep an eye on the 732 probes/reading, and will report back 6 months from now.
 
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I had one meat probe go out after just a few smokes.  Bought a replacement from Todd and it has done well for over a year now.

I had a bad habit of leaving my pit probe in the pit and only cleaning occasionally.  One day I got some weird readings from it.  Now I clean the pit probe after every smoke and store it indoors with my meat probe.  No problems since I started doing that.

Good luck and good smoking.
 
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I'll be interested to see how long it lasts as well. I was a little disappointed at the build quality, and one of the probes only works if you wiggle it around a bit to find the connection point. But once its there, it definitely gives a lot of convenience.
 
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