Maverick Remote-Check Wireless Thermometer With 2 Probes

I've been learning how to smoke this summer and have tried quite a few different kinds of meat but the first few were not that great. On the early ones it was a guessing game as to how long to cook before checking the meat temp and some of them were over cooked, plus every time you open the smoker to check you loose heat. I tried a Taylor remote thermometer first but it would shut off if the temperature didn't change for 30 minutes and some smokes can stay at the same temp for some time. I called their customer support and they told me the unit wasn't made for smoking and you can't get around the auto shut-off feature.I returned it and after some research I decided on the Maverick ET-7 with the two probes and I will say I'm very pleased at this point. My first smoke with it was a 13lb. turkey which I brined and rubbed. It was nice being able to put one probe in the breast and the other in the thigh since the breast cooks faster. I plan on using the second probe to monitor the smoker temp on subsequent smokes.I found the instructions and controls to be straight forward and it definitely takes the guess work out of the whole process. The range for the remote(which will toggle back and forth between the 2 probes) is adequate for monitoring from my kitchen but I lost the signal a couple of times when I took it into the living room. It might have been because of my wireless laptop, so I decided just to leave it in the kitchen.I would have given it 5 stars except for the distance limitation, not sure how much time I'm going to get out of the probes either.

I purchased this ET-7 several months ago hoping to use it to monitor my grill from inside my house. My grill sits about 20 feet from the back of my house, so I figured the advertised 100 foot range of the ET-7 should be more than sufficient. Unfortunately, the actual range is only about 25 feet with no obstructions (measured by walking away from my house and grill into the back of my yard until the antenna icon on the receiver stops flashing), and the receiver barely works if I am standing just inside my back door with the door open, but loses signal if I walk any further into the house or close the door.Despite being disappointed with the range, I decided to keep it anyway. I like the ability to monitor two things at once without buying two separate thermometers, and I like the fact that it beeps to alert me when the temperature reaches the set point. I am able to use it to remotely monitor food in my oven from my living room (even if I can't use it to remotely monitor my grill), and it is nice to be able to read the temperature of meat on the grill without opening the grill lid (even if I still have to go outside to read it). However, after using it a number of times, I recently had a big flare-up in the grill due to a fatty piece of meat and the flames burned up one of the probes. Rather than buying a replacement probe for the ET-7, I decided to try the ET-733 instead.When I originally bought the ET-7, I had considered buying the ET-733, but the two looked almost equivalent, and at half the cost, the ET-7 looked like the better deal. However, after trying both, the ET-733 works much better for me, and is worth the extra cost.Things I like about the ET-733 over the ET-7:- The ET-733 has much better range. With the transmitter on my grill, the receiver works throughout my house. It seem to have a range of about 100ft with obstructions or 150ft without obstructions.- The ET-733 receiver beeps if it has been out of range of the transmitter for 4 minutes. For grilling, this is actually too long, and I would prefer if it started beeping within about a minute of going out of range. However, the ET-7 doesn't beep at all (the antenna icon simply stops blinking and the temperature display stops changing), and any alarm (even if it takes a little longer than I would like) is better than nothing. Given that I am expecting the receiver to start beeping when I need to pay attention to the food, it is really bad for the ET-7 receiver to remain silent when it is out of range and doesn't know whether the food needs attention.- The backlight on the ET-733 is very helpful when grilling at night. The ET-7 doesn't have a backlight.- I like the option to turn off the temperature alarm on the ET-733. I occasionally want to do a quick check of the temperature of something other than meat, and while I can silence the alarm on the ET-7 by increasing the temperature set point above the measured temperature, it is convenient to be able to hit one button to turn off the alarm.- The ET-733 transmitter seems more sturdy and waterproof than the ET-7, and the ET-733 receiver is more compact and has buttons that are much easier to clean than on the ET-7. Due to the extra waterproofing on the ET-733 transmitter, the battery compartment does require a screwdriver to open, which is an annoyance (the ET-7 transmitter battery compartment simply slides open), however this seems like a reasonable trade-off for the extra waterproofing.Things I like about the ET-7 over the ET-733:- The ET-7 receiver has a clock and timer function, while the ET-733 does not. This occasionally comes in handy, and it would be nice to have on the ET-733. However, the power switch on the back of the ET-7 receiver has three settings: One to turn it on, one to turn it off but leave the clock running and save any memory, and one to shut off the clock and erase the memory to save battery. Unfortunately, I found it hard to turn the ET-7 receiver on and off without accidentally flipping it momentarily to the position that erased the clock and memory, and this made the clock on the ET-7 almost useless (it was not worth the effort to reset the clock every time I accidentally erase it). While this three-position switch is an interesting feature in theory, in practice it was annoying and I would rather simply have a two-position switch and be required to remove the batteries if I want to stop the clock to save battery.- The ET-7 receiver has a plug on the side which allows one probe to be connected directly to it without using the transmitter. This is useful when I don't need to separate the receiver from the food (like when I'm cooking in the oven and am not planning to leave the kitchen), so I don't have to waste the transmitter battery. However, it would be nice if there were two plugs on the ET-7 receiver so I could connect both probes directly to the receiver if necessary. There is no plug on the ET-733 receiver.A comment about the probes:- The L-shaped probes on the ET-7 are slightly easier to insert into and remove from food than the straight probes on the ET-733, because the L shape acts like a handle. On the other hand, the straight probes on the ET-733 are slightly shorter and sometimes work better because they take up less space in the oven or grill. Unfortunately, the ET-7 and ET-733 probes do not seem to be interchangeable (both the ET-7 and ET-733 read very incorrect temperatures when I connect them to the probes for the other model), otherwise I would simply switch between them as needed.

I bought one of these at least a year ago and have used it for steaks, roasts, loins, but so far not for fish or chicken. If the meat is thick enough to allow me to place the end of the probe pretty precisely in the middle of the cut, the thermometer assists in getting great results, without having to lift the lid on the pit and cause the temp to fluctuate around the meat. I especially appreciate the remote readout (which a lot of competing products do not have) so I can remain inside on very hot or very cold days and know precisely how the meat is doing. Other members of the family have noticed the consistent results, so I recently bought a second Maverick to use as a gift.

I was hesitant to buy given some of the reviews, but it seems to work well. Temps from the two probes are within 1-2 degrees of each other, and the signal gets through to the receiver which is about 40 feet away inside the kitchen. I thought at first it wasn't working, but it seems as if the unit only transmits when the temperature changes. So if you are testing it and it's just sitting outside and the temperature is stable, it looks like it's not working. It does occasionally miss a transmission, so the receiver might be a few degrees off from the transmitter, but then it seems to catch up on the next transmission ten or twenty seconds later. This is not the best way to design this, but it seems to work well enough. The controls are a little clunky, hence the 4 stars, but it does seem to work for me. Also, you can customize the settings for doneness, despite reviews to the contrary, but you have to read the instructions and realize that there are two temperature tables -- actually it's quite flexible. It does lose all the settings including the time of day if you turn it off, but there's a standby mode that only runs the clock. Again, not the best design, and they could probably have made it more robust for another $5, but it works well as a basic temperature monitor, and is sure beats running in and outside all day to monitor the smoker temperature.

Signal dropped continually within a short range. Very frustrating. Returned to Amazon.

Cheap, wish i could give it a 0. Stopped working 3rd cook i used it.