Onoku,
I use one Maverick ET-73, the nice thing about it is it has two probes that measure different things and is also a remote so you will not be tied down to the smoker every minute during a smoke. One probe you hang inside your cooking chamber to monitor the cooking chamber temperature which is very important. The other probe is used after you get your meat through the safe meat zone which is from 40 degrees to 140 degrees in 4 hours or less ( you will want to read more about this in the food safety section of this site). You can insert this probe into your meat to monitor the temperature once it has been smoking for a while and then leave it in place to let you know what the internal temperature of your meat is thus knowing when it is done. It is much more important to cook your meat by temperature instead of time when cooking low and slow. The ET-73 is also a remote thermometer so you can hook your remote on your belt and go into your house and do other things within 100 feet of your Smoker, (give or take a few feet and depending on what kind of house you live in). This type of thermometer will run you between $30 and $35 dollars and if you take care of it, it will last a long time. I find that for my use this little jewel does the trick and I have not had any problems with the one I have now or the one I wore out (not completely it's 3 or 4 years old, but I need to get new probes and wires) on my smoker at my lake house. The reason I like this one, it's reasonable priced, it does what I need it to do, it does not tie me up to the smoker and it works well. I like it and it did not break the bank!
Another thing that was mentioned in all of the above post was that you need to make sure what ever you use is calibrated but it seems no one told you how to tell if your thermometer was right or wrong. It is easy, water boils at 212 degrees. So put a pot of water on the stove, bring it to a boil and insert your thermometer, it should read somewhere close to 212 degrees give or take a bit for minerals in the water, hardness of the water, suspended solids, city or well water etc. If it is reading correctly it will be somewhere around 212 degrees.
Now, you have a lot of information, check out some more information here and check the sites that sell different styles and types of thermometers look at what each one does and remember you need to know, one way or the other, what the cooking chamber temperature is and what the internal temperature of your meat is, with that in mind study, look, read and decide what will work for you. Onoku, we are so glad to have you with us here at SMF and we want to be of help but in doing so we do not wish to confuse you. Don't weigh what I say above what others say, find out for yourself and use us as information in making your decision.
If no one has mentioned it to you yet, please consider the FREE 5 DAY E-COURSE that is offered here on Smoking Meat. I had been smoking meat for about 6 years when I got it and I really learned so much from it, a lot of things that I had never even though about. All you have to do is sign up for it and it will be sent to you every day for 5 days, if it misses a day contact Jeff and he will see you get what you need. Another thing Onoku, the only dumb question that you can ask here......is the one you
do not ask. Let us know what you decide.
Your SMF Friend,
Barry
