The first try went pretty good. I followed a chart found on the internet for venison and set the smoker at 225 deg. Internal temp we wanted to reach was 160 based on the chart. We started it 9:40 p.m. and took it out at 9:10 a.m. the next morning. The outside got a little dark and tough in some places. The inside was delicious. There was a small section near the bottom that was still not quite done. Otherwise we were pleased but think we should drop the temp to around 200 next time and maybe leave in a little longer.
I purchase the Maverick ET-7 temperature probe which came with two probes and remote transmitter.Followed Set up directions and 2 hours after we started the smoker the alarm went off stating the temp was at 160 already! I was surprised. I stopped the alarm and watched it for a couple of hours. It continued to alarm (in/out). I didn't think the temp would have gotten that high in 2 hours. We ended up turning off the maverick around 3:00 a.m. and left one probe in to monitor the meat. I'm not sure the Maverick is working properly. A little concerned as I read some blogs about this model with their probes. I plan to call Maverick some time this week. Regardless, ready to try something else this weekend. *A before and after picture shown below. I used two different rubs as I wasn't sure what would taste the best. One side was a greek rub and the other was a memphis bbq rub. We liked both of them!
Great first attempt...Your suspicion that the Maverick is not working correctly is a good one. Give Maverick a call.
Take care, John