Smoking Gone High-Tech

At this point I continue to add new things to my grilling/smoking wishlist.  The one thing I have been waiting to purchase is a wireless meat thermometer.  This gadget allows you to monitor the internal temperature of your meat (and also your grill/smoker) up to 300 feet away.  It will alert you with beeps if your temperature goes beyond your programmed settings.  Set it and forget it!  I will no longer have to constantly check my smoker temp or (heaven forbid!) open the lid to check the meat temp every few hours.  If you're lookin....you ain't cookin!

After reading numerous reviews I settled on the Maverick ET-733.  This item is well worth every cent after having used it twice now.  I have used it in both a pork butt and beef chuck roast.  I simply program the device to alert me when the smoker temperature falls below 225-degrees and exceeds 275-degrees.  I then choose a desired meat temp. (usually 195 degrees for pulled meat).  I set it to alert me if the meat is finished or my smoke temp fluctuates too much.  That's it....quite easy and painless!

meat probe

grill grate probe

I have been getting better and better with my smoker temps not fluctuating so much.  But it's so nice to be alerted by a BEEP from this digital thermometer rather than constantly running out to the UDS every 30 minutes to check the gauge.  I'm certainly not lazy....but the older I get the more I value my time.  This device saves me lots of that (while working on other projects around the house) and will also allow me to look pretty damn cool during family cookouts!