Forgot to Calibrate - YIKES!

1voyager

I usually calibrate the dome thermometer in May and November. No idea why I forgot to do so this spring.

Anyway, we live at 6950 feet above sea level. Water boils at 198 degrees. I dipped the thermo probe into boiling water this morning and it displayed about 135 degrees!

If you haven't done so in a while, you might want to calibrate your thermo.

Foghorn

This is good advice.  I recently used a friend's smoker that I have cooked on half a dozen times previously.  I assumed the thermometers functioned how they had functioned previously.  I was wrong.  

Who knew a brisket could cook in 4.5 hours and still turn out pretty good - after 13 hours of FTC?

lousubcap

I'm a big proponent of believing your indications.  To do that you need to know they are at least good at the one point cal check.  I will check the dome thermos (L&SBGE) and instant reads before every high dollar brisket cook.  Takes the guesswork out of it.  
I even check the thermo on the stick burner if it's been a while since I fired it up.  FWIW-
Edit:  The analog Tel-Tru BGE thermos have always been within+/- 5*F when checked.  But I still check 'em...

1voyager

Messing up a simple cook is why I checked the calibration.

I usually smoke a slab of St. Louis ribs, 3 hours - 1 1/2 hours and 30 minutes with a dome temperature of 250 degrees. They always come out perfectly. Nice tug, never falling off the bones.

Last night, I opened the foil and the meat had separated from the bones, no need to bother with 30 more minutes. They were way over-cooked.