Newbie question first smoke

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highseas4000

Newbie
Original poster
Dec 26, 2013
4
10
I just got a MES 30 the other day and the wife says why don't you smoke a turkey for supper on Christmas for your first smoke.  No pressure right??  Actually I read through a couple things online and got the turkey tasted great, 5 1/2 hours for a 12 pounder.  But I am having trouble with my remote meat thermometer.  I ran the smoker at 250 for a couple hours then down to 220 for the rest.  My thermometer kept reading very high, sometimes above the temp on the smoker.  I thought I had it in a good spot in the breast of the turkey, but I don't know.  I finally checked the temp with a regular meat thermo and the breast said 175 so I pulled it out.  At the same time the wireless said 250.  Any thoughts on this, am I just putting it in the wrong place, do you have to bury the whole sensor in the bird or just about half of it? 

The turkey turned out great, but I hated to keep opening to test the temp when I have a wireless one. 

BTW, after I took the bird out, I cleaned the thermometer and put it in boiling water and ended up at 210, so I seems to be working ok.

Thanks for any insights

Rob
 
My MES 30 temp probe does the same thing so I just don't use it I use another probe and send the kid up to read the temp for me when I want it.  That's my version of wireless.  These things are known for being off so I tried returning it and they replaced the entire unit at Cabela's just to have the same problem so I am living with it and it's really not a big deal any way for me so either way I am still happy with the performance of the smoker.
 
Little Smokey, After reading my post again, I was unclear.  I actually bought a separate remote thermometer as I had seen the MES 30 temp probes were questionable.  I may have to use your remote suggestion though, I have a couple kids also....
 
If I send the younger one who is learning numbers I provide a Ipod for picture taking purposes of the temp I also include a picture of the beer she needs to get while she is passing through the kitchen.
 
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