Maverick ET-73 vs. MES thermometer

[kryinggame]

Yesterday, I smoked a 4 lbs brisket. I had the oven set for 225 degrees. And it held at 225; however, my Maverick ET-73 (which was placed on the second rack below the meat) was registering 189 degrees. That's a whopping 36 degree difference.  I really can't believe that my MES would be off that much.

I've previously did the boiling water method with the Maverick and it registered at 212 degrees. 

Let's say that the Maverick is correct and the MES is wrong. Using my scenario, would I increase the temperature of the MES an additional 36 degrees to be at 225?

 

[scarbelly]

Smokin Husker Fan had posted that hers is off by as much as 50 * so this is not too surprising. Now that you know you can adjust and use the ET 73 as your guide. Glad you figured this out. Many struggle because they have not taken the time to check.   

 

[kryinggame]

Thanks Scarbelly,

Man, there's always something new to learn.  So this is a possible reason for why that 4lb brisket took so long, I was undercooking it.  Wow!

 

[sound1]

I too had the crazy temp readings in the MES. The temp differential seemed to change from run to run which made it frustrating until I realized it was how I was loading it up.

If you look at the back right, about a third of the way up from the bottom you will see the MES temp probe....Right above the heat source. It may be seeing the 225 and turning off as you told it to do. Set it to 275, it will see that direct heat and short cycle the element and your unit only gets to 250. To add to the confusion,  when you load it, you might be unintentionally deflecting this direct heat and the reading might be closer to your other probes ere reading. 

 I wrap the water/drippings pan in foil like in the pic below, then place the pan in the unit, with the foil "wing" pushing up against the back wall between the heat source and the MES probe,  this directs the heat to the center of the unit. The temps are much more consistent between the probes and throughout the unit.

Hope it works for you. 

P8060017.JPG

• sound1
• Aug 6, 2012

 

[smokinhusker]

Gary is right. Mine has been cooler by as much as 50* and that is a major pain. Obviously I'm not smoking anything at 275* because that's the max the set temp will go to. Usually mine is about 25* off depending on what temp I'm smoking at.

I have a friend with an MES30 and his runs hot...wish I had that problem!

 

[sound1]

Gary is right. Mine has been cooler by as much as 50* and that is a major pain. Obviously I'm not smoking anything at 275* because that's the max the set temp will go to. Usually mine is about 25* off depending on what temp I'm smoking at.

I have a friend with an MES30 and his runs hot...

I would be interested to see if the foil trick works for you as well, I can actually hit 273 (by the ET mounted in the center) if needed, much closer than the 35+ degrees that it was off before.

 

[kryinggame]

I would be interested to see if the foil trick works for you as well, I can actually hit 273 (by the ET mounted in the center) if needed, much closer than the 35+ degrees that it was off before.

Sound1, so you mount your ET in the center of the oven? I usually keep it closer to the front door. I'm going to experiment tonight when I get home.

This has been a very informative posting.

 

[sound1]

Let me rephrase...in the center of the product being smoked. Generally I don't use the bottom shelf for food so the foil thing really helps distribute the heat.

In the Pic below, the ET oven probe is mounted in the center of the bottom of the second shelf.

Being the first smoke with this much meat I was curious about how even the meat would cook.  I put the MES meat probe in the left piece third shelf and the ET probe right piece second shelf. every 3-4 hours I checked the other pieces with an instacheck probe. My thinking was that the bottom would be much hotter so I placed the larger cuts lower. Surprisingly, all the cuts were within 5-10 degrees of each other throughout the cook.

P7210012.JPG

• sound1
• Aug 6, 2012

 

[kryinggame]

Okay gang, here's an update.  I wanted to see what went wrong with my brisket yesterday regarding the temperature.

I did the boiled water test with my ET-73 and Taylor 1470. 

The Taylor registered at 210 degrees. On the ET-73, the meat thermometer guage registered at 210, while the temp. gauge registered at 208 degrees.  What's even more interesting, while I was waiting for the MES to fully heat up, I had the ET-73 programmed and It showed a temperature of 75, I was wondering what that represented. Then my girl friend told me to check the temp. of the room--it was exactly 75 degrees--Impressive.

After the MES got up to 275 degrees, I put the ET-73 inside. On the meat thermometer side, I had it inserted into a potato. While on the temperature gauge side,I had it sitting in the middle of the second rack. I'm shocked that the ET-73 read 305 degrees??? How is that possible on a MES smoker???

At this point, I'm confused.  Yesterday, I had the MES set at 225 but the ET-73 was registering at 189 degrees. Today, I had the MES set at 275 but the ET-73 was registering at 305. So that's a +/- 30/36 degree deferential. 

Earlier today I called MES and told them of my problems of the inconsistency of the temperature. Now this is a problem that I've been having since purchasing the unit--they've agreed to get a new smoker sent to me. They said 10-15 degrees differential is normal but 30+ means something is not reading properly.

I'll say this, despite having quite a few issues with my smoker since purchasing it last December; I have been able to produce some dang good BBQ.  I'll give credit to MES because although I might have a bad unit, they really stand by their product.

Once I get my new unit, I really need to learn how to cook a dang brisket cause the one I did yesterday was embarassing.

 

[kryinggame]

Hey Sound1, are those Boston Butts you got in your smoker? I never tried smoking them that way. I usually will have 1 butt on a rack. I never considered keeping it on an aluminum pan--that is, if I'm seeing a BB in your picture. 

Thanks!

Let me rephrase...in the center of the product being smoked. Generally I don't use the bottom shelf for food so the foil thing really helps distribute the heat.

In the Pic below, the ET oven probe is mounted in the center of the bottom of the second shelf.

Being the first smoke with this much meat I was curious about how even the meat would cook.  I put the MES meat probe in the left piece third shelf and the ET probe right piece second shelf. every 3-4 hours I checked the other pieces with an instacheck probe. My thinking was that the bottom would be much hotter so I placed the larger cuts lower. Surprisingly, all the cuts were within 5-10 degrees of each other throughout the cook.

P7210012.JPG

• sound1
• Aug 6, 2012

 

[sound1]

Okay gang, here's an update.  I wanted to see what went wrong with my brisket yesterday regarding the temperature.

I did the boiled water test with my ET-73 and Taylor 1470. 

The Taylor registered at 210 degrees. On the ET-73, the meat thermometer guage registered at 210, while the temp. gauge registered at 208 degrees.  What's even more interesting, while I was waiting for the MES to fully heat up, I had the ET-73 programmed and It showed a temperature of 75, I was wondering what that represented. Then my girl friend told me to check the temp. of the room--it was exactly 75 degrees--Impressive.

After the MES got up to 275 degrees, I put the ET-73 inside. On the meat thermometer side, I had it inserted into a potato. While on the temperature gauge side,I had it sitting in the middle of the second rack. I'm shocked that the ET-73 read 305 degrees??? How is that possible on a MES smoker???I have seen overshoot with mine when testing and the oven empty. When the element clicks off, it is glowing bright red and still producing some serious BTU. Meat, sand/water in the water pan buffers this effect..At what actual (ET) temp did it turn off?

At this point, I'm confused.  Yesterday, I had the MES set at 225 but the ET-73 was registering at 189 degrees. Today, I had the MES set at 275 but the ET-73 was registering at 305. So that's a +/- 30/36 degree deferential. 

Earlier today I called MES and told them of my problems of the inconsistency of the temperature. Now this is a problem that I've been having since purchasing the unit--they've agreed to get a new smoker sent to me. They said 10-15 degrees differential is normal but 30+ means something is not reading properly.

I'll say this, despite having quite a few issues with my smoker since purchasing it last December; I have been able to produce some dang good BBQ.  I'll give credit to MES because although I might have a bad unit, they really stand by their product. Yes the do. 

Once I get my new unit, I really need to learn how to cook a dang brisket cause the one I did yesterday was embarrassing. This smoking thing is an art and not a science. Embarassing...Really??..The so called experts have bad batches as well, they are just too proud to admit it...look at the fun you had and what you learned...it's all part of the smoking addiction.

And yes those are butts and I have done it both with and without them. Link to original post on this cook.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/125358/butts-vs-the-mes