I just purchased a new maverick ET-7. I used it while smoking 2 racks of ribs. During the smoke the ther. temp consistently read approx. 15-20 degrees lower than the DBS readout. That, I gather, is to be expected.
What surprised me was that the ther. transmitter and the remote receiver consistently displayed different temps. (usually about 2-3 degrees apart. Why would this be? Shouldn't they read the same temp. at all times.
Any ideas?
Roget
The ET-7 is designed for IT of 2 pieces of meat.
Not saying it can't be used for cabinet temps.
The ET-73 has one probe for meat and one for cabinet temps.
The DBS thermo is on the back wall where alot of heat is rising.
If you are monitoring with the ET-7 on the front of your racks there will be a difference.
Buy you some good batteries and throw them ones that came with away or save them for
that old transistor radio.
You will get quicker response times.
I realize the ET-7 was designed for 2 meat temps, but read about a lot of people using one probe for cabinet temp. Also I think the ET-7 has more features than the ET-73.
I had the probe positioned toward the center of the smoker so I hope I was getting the best representation of the true temp.
I wonder how accurate the ET-7 actually is.
I was using the supplied batteries, so I will take your advice and replace them with "good ones" and see if the temps match (on the two ther. components)
Thanks
Roget
If the transmitter read higher than the receiver, it was probably the lag between updates.
As Gus mentioned the difference between the two readings is due to a lag in transmitting the data. I believe the transmitter sends a signal every 20 seconds.
As for the difference in temperature that is to be expected when you have a load. If you tested with the cabinet empty the ET-7 and the Bradley will be very close in their reading. If you had the probe that was monitoring the cabinet temperature too close to the meat, that will give you a lower temperature. This is because when meat cooks it expels moisture. This moisture will turn into steam by the process of evaporation. Evaporation in turn cools the temperatures around the meat. Some sources report that at the beginning of the cook the temperature difference can be as much as 40°F, near the end of the cook the difference will be much less.
If you want to test the ET-7 for accuracy the following link may provide some help. When testing make sure you keep the end of the probe that is attached to the wire out of the water. If water seeps in it will ruin the probe.
Test for Accuracy (http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/thermotest.html)
Boiling Point Calculator (http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/boilingpoint.html)
I like that boiling point calculator. Thanks!