Pro tip: That $12 thermometer probe I almost returned saved my brisket at hour 11

Brooke Taylor · 2026-10-08T10:25:04.344594+00:00

I picked up a cheap dial thermometer at a hardware store in Amarillo last month because my digital one died mid cook, and I honestly thought it was junk when the needle barely moved for the first two hours. Around hour 11 on a 14 pound packer, it read 203 in the flat while my backup instant read said 189, and I almost pulled it early based on the cheap one being wrong. Turned out the backup probe was reading fat, not meat, and the $12 dial was dead on when I checked it in boiling water. I let it ride another 40 minutes, rested it an hour in a cooler, and the flat sliced clean with no crumble. Now I keep that thing clipped to the grate as a sanity check instead of trusting one probe. Has anyone else had a cheap tool outperform their fancy setup, or did I just get a lucky one off the shelf?

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Pro tip: That $12 thermometer probe I almost returned saved my brisket at hour 11 | BBQ Pitmasters - Vivisector