Why spend the money?

[bmudd14474]

Interesting Title, Huh?


What makes a good pitmaster?

• Skill?
• Recipes?
• Smoker?
• Experience?
• Wisdom?
• Community?
• Money?

There are a lot of possible answers. But I was always taught to KISS — Keep It Simple, Stupid. With all the gadgets out there today, it’s easy to overcomplicate something as pure as barbecue and cooking.


So where am I going with this? Great question. Let’s get into it.


When I first started taking cooking seriously, it was with baking, and I quickly learned that the small things matter. Later, when I got into BBQ, some of the old guard — bbq bubba , cowgirl , richtee , pineywoods , richoso1 , ronp , and others — drilled one thing into me: know your pit temperature above all else, and know how to use the equipment you have, even if it’s the cheapest thing on the market.


From that point on, pit temp became my biggest focus — and it still is.


Fast forward to today, where we’ve got fancy pellet smokers with digital controllers and built-in probes. A lot of newcomers wonder why so many of us still use secondary thermometers, or even spend good money on them. Some just don’t see the point.


But here’s the thing: I’m not saying you need to spend a fortune. Get a cheap one if you need to — just calibrate it, and make sure it’s giving you accurate temps.


Why is this important?

1. Food Safety – Nobody wants to make people sick from their BBQ.
2. Saving Money – Overcooked or ruined food is wasted time and money.
3. Consistency & Learning – Knowing exact temps helps you understand how meat muscles and ingredients react, so you can improve as a cook.

Now, why am I bringing this up?


Recently, I grabbed some pork butts on sale and fired up my trusty pellet smoker. Set it to 250, tossed in the meat, and had an extra probe hooked up to my Fireboard2. After a while, I noticed the Fireboard was reading around 180 while the smoker claimed 250. No big deal — I like it a little cooler at first for more smoke flavor. I bumped the pit up to 280, but the Fireboard showed just 210–220.


“Maybe my probe’s bad?” I thought. So I added a second, brand-new probe — and it read within one degree of the first.


Well, damn. Looks like the smoker’s built-in thermometer was way off.


No worries — I can work with a 60–80° difference. But it really drove home a point: this is exactly why so many people end up with cooks that finish too fast, too slow, or even make them sick.

At the end of the day, we all want the same thing: to enjoy this craft, not waste food, and definitely not get sick. You can invest in all the knowledge in the world (and you should), but if you do nothing else, invest in a good, reliable thermometer.


There are plenty out there: ThermoWorks , Fireboard, Tappacue, Inkbird, ThermoPro, Meater, Taylor, TelTru, and more.


Happy smoking, everyone.

 

[ifitsdeadsmokeit]

Word. I completely agree with everything you said. I use the same thinking and always use a good secondary thermometer when smoking.

 

[Gonna Smoke]

Great writeup Brian...

 

[Jim_C]

I completely agree.......................

In the relatively short time I've been smoking I have discovered the better we manage the temperature the better the outcome. So....temperature first.

Second....providing protection from the elements; wind mostly, so as to maintain a more consistent temperature without the need to be jerking around with the heat source all the time to try and hit a mark.

I do not rely on the thermometers mounted on or in the grill or smoker. I use a three probe thermometer and love how it keeps me informed as to the temperature inside the cabinet, and inside whatever it is I'm cooking.

I cannot afford most of the rigs I read about on this site, so it pushes me to work hard to make sure the basics are adhered to.

Thanks for the post. It grounds us and reminds us that the basics are important.

 

[processhead]

Wise words from the O.P. Keep a few good thermometers around. Cross check them against each other often.
Managing temperature and time are the foundation of good food prep.

 

[mcokevin]

When I first started with my Masterbuilt 1050 I always had an external probe in for this reason, but I've gotten lazy and have been relying only on the internal probe recently. I stopped because the internal was accurate - just because it was accurate then doesn't mean it's accurate now.

Good reminder!

 

[Winterrider]

Good write up. Also key, with the factory probes in the smoker, need to keep them clean or they can become errant. I always use a secondary.

 

[Smokin Okie]

I'm currently playing with a Pit Barrel cooker that I found on sale at Academy for $150, the PBX model. I've made some great ribs and yardbird with it. I like it, a lot. Drum cookers have got a thing, IDK what that thing is, but they've got it.

But the way its designed and how most run it, is to light some coals using the Minion Method and let it run at whatever temp it wants to go to. There's very little way to control the cooking temp.

I'm having a problem with that. I gotta know what my cooking temp is gonna be and have a way to adjust it.

 

[texomakid]

Excellent post & info!