Meat probe

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cuse3378

Newbie
Original poster
Jun 7, 2012
20
11
Syracuse New York
I have been reading that if your probe touches metal it will short out. I have a new MES 40 and the clip to hold the probe is metal- so what gives,should i use the clip or go potato? Thanks
 
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What kind of probe are you talking about? I don't know where you read that but I've never heard it. I have a Maverick and I use the metal clip that came with it and I drilled a hole in the side of my smoker to get it in there so the wire is touching metal too. I have used it this way at least 30 times and have never had a problem.

Just so you know I moved this thread to "Smoking Gadgets and Tools", I think you will get better exposure to your question over here. "Roll Call" is really just for introducing yourself.
 
I personally own about six of these thermometers and have had great success with them for the most part. There are some things that you must know to keep your thermometers and probes working for a long time. Never let the probe touch metal objects.. this tends to short them out and they just stop working. You can purchase extra probes but why do that unless you have to?

To prevent the probes from touching metal, I leave them inserted in the meat at all times or if I am using the probe to show me the ambient temperature of the smoker, I stick the probe through a small potato and set the potato on the grate. This holds the probe up and away from the metal grate. You might even want to eat the potato when you are done.. smoky and delicious in my opinion.

Sorry for posting in the roll call. Oh by the way its the probe that comes with the unit.
 
There may very well be some types of probes that short if touching metal but if yours came with a metal clip, like the Maverick 732, you can be confident that it was designed to work that way. The MAV has one probe designed to sense smoker temp, short and blunt with a clip, and has a sharp probe designed for meat temps. My MES 40 has a built in meat probe that is stored in a metal sleave on the wall of the smoker. I frequently smoke ribs and don't use the probe for meat temp. It stays in the sleave and has never been a problem...JJ
 
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