Why does nobody talk about how a $20 wireless meat probe can wreck your pork butt?

I dropped $20 on a no-name wireless probe off Amazon thinking I was smart saving money, but it read 40 degrees too low and I pulled my shoulder off at 170 instead of 203 - meanwhile my buddy swears by his $100 Thermoworks and hasn't had a single hiccup, so which camp are you in, cheap gamble or spend once and forget about it?

2 comments

2 Comments

simonmoore1mo ago

Yep, buy once cry once every time.

the_julia1mo ago

Oh man, I feel your pain so hard! I did the exact same thing with a cheapo probe last summer and ruined a whole brisket flat. The worst part is you don't even know it's lying to you until it's way too late. @simonmoore nailed it with the buy once cry once thing - I finally grabbed a Thermapen for instant reads and a decent leave-in probe from Thermoworks and haven't looked back. The difference is night and day, especially on long smokes where accuracy really matters. I'd rather pay $80 one time than keep gambling $20 every couple months on probes that might fail mid-cook.