In previous smoking sessions, I have used my pyrex wired meat thermometer.
For Christmas I received a Maverick ET-72 and an ET-73. Sweet.
Wether or not I smoke 1 butt or 2, I only put the probe in one of them.
Today I decided to get fancy.
When I put the butts in this morning @ 0354 eastern, I put the ET-73 on the job. All seemed smokin' as usual. At 0830, I emptied and refilled the water bowl (I've had problems with the spent pucks stacking up and not getting dunked). I decided to hook the ET-72 up to the other butt. I gave it about 20 minutes, and discovered that I had a 20 degree difference between the top butt and the bottom butt. (Cheeks at this point ?) :-)
So I rotated the racks. The temps seemed to get closer but... the ET-72 one is still higher.
It's now 1538, and the Et-72 is 210 and the ET-73 is 183 - the ET-73 says the smoker is 236, bradley says about the same.
regardless, I'm going to yank them both @ 1600 and FTC them. I am going to check them both with my pyrex probe, will let y'all know the results.
I pulled them out, one @ 210 degrees, the other was 186. I put the probe of my pyrex in each (in the same hole) - same temps within a degree.
???????????
It seems not all butts are created equally! ::)
Some seem to take forever getting through the plateau and some are a little quicker. Although rotating racks helps I would monitor each piece you have in the smoker.
Mike
I will always try to put a probe in everything. Everytime I got a new one, my wife would ask if I was going to throw away an old one. Of course not! I have had a few opportunities to have every one of them going.
After 5 hours of FTC, they were still too hot to pull... The were both delicious...