Thermapen VS. Maverick ET73?

MemphisJ

Hello....I'm a new Egghead with about 7-8 cooks under my belt. I'm trying to decide which of these two makes more sense for the kind of cooking I do....steaks, chops, ribs, chicken, burgers, etc.

The Thermapen seems slick but don't you alter or slow down your cook everytime you open the lid to check meat? It seems to me that you may need to check 2-3 times before meat is right and this can let good flavor and heat escape. Would the Maverick make more sense for the kind of meats I cook so I don't have to open top as often? Lastly, how much large is the Maverick probe and does it let juices escape?

Thanks...John

Unknown

the thermapen works instantly, the Maverick is leave-in. designed for two different tasks (when a hot/fast cook is in order). you can't really leave it in when cooking a steak, or the probe is toasted.

when you get a few more cooks under your belt, you won't be opening and closing the lid very often, even for steaks.


the maverick works great for low and slow cooks, and roasting. the thermapen is best for hot and fast stuff.

most of us have both.

you will too.

gdenby

They are 2 very different products. I bought the Maverick early on, and it really helped me understand the difference between grate and dome temperature, and offered a good look at how the meat internal temperature was going. Doesn't cause much of a juice leak, the juices usually seal around the meat probe. I still use it sometimes for over-nighters. I keep the remote near my bed, and crack my eyes open every 3 - 4 hours just to check the temps. But it was never a necessity.

I bought a Thermapen not too long ago, and have found it to be one of the best buys ever. I use it for everything in place of my old dial therms. The response is so quick, you hardly loose any dome temp. Really, maybe 5 seconds open. I've even used it to test the temp of warm water used to start sourdough culture. Extremely convenient and accurate.

AZRP

Unless you need the ability to monitor your meat temp from inside your house, I would say skip the maverick and get a cheap digital remote thermometer. I got mine at Target for about $15. It does the same thing but you have to go out to the Egg to check it.

As for the Thermapen, I have two of them just in case something ever goes wrong with one of them, they are that indispensable. I use it for checking meat temps, baking breads, oil temps when deep frying, and I can even see if the little balls of raw sausage I put on my pizza got fully cooked. -RP

MemphisJ

These replies are really helpful. Based on what I'm hearing, it sounds like all I need or want right now is a Thermapen. At least until I decide to start slow cooking turkeys, hams, shoulders, etc. I stay pretty close to the Egg...usually with a libation in one hand and a cigar in the other.

What is difference between dome and grate temperature? Also, isn't there a big performance difference between the accuracy and read out time of the Thermapen and the lesser priced ones? That's what I seemed to gather from the searches I did. MemphisJ

lowercasebill

as above....these are two different tools.. cooking to temperature instead of time [i.e. 15 mins per lb] will make you better cook.period. egg or oven ,,, even baked potatoes [210]. if i could have only one eggcessory it would be the thermopen [and, in fact it was my only for the first two years] i have a maverick but so not use it that much...
when i bought my egg ,at a fest, the guy i shadowed all day was a competition kcbs egger, been on tv etc.. his advice
"buy a thermopen" was good advice imho
bill

AZRP

As far as I'm concerned there is only the Thermapen, I haven't seen anything else that compares. As far as grate versus dome temp it varies throughout the cook. It will be much cooler at the grate when you just put 16 lbs of cold meat on but as the meat warms up so will the grate temp. I think it is much easier to maintain a constant dome temp an not try to chase the grate temp. Most recipes you see here give the cooking temp as dome temp. -RP

Salguod

I'll just pile on here because I have both. I really NEED the Thermapen. I use the Thermapen for a final check to make sure the meat is done. It is simple to check multiple items and/or multiple spots very quickly. Nothing else can do the job of the Thermapen because nothing else reads that quickly.

The Maverick is a "nice to have". The Maverick monitors things so that I know when food is getting close (and it is nice to be able to do that from inside the house). The Maverick keeps me from opening the egg too early and/or too often. But honestly, with a little experience you can do most of the Maverick's job with a clock. I ALWAYS do a final check with the Thermapen regardless of what the Maverick is telling me.

So it is nice to have both, but if you can afford only one, get the Thermapen!

Grandpas Grub

For me the value of the ET-73 is the ability to monitor the food & pit temperatures of the egg for longer timed cooks. Usually for anything longer than 3 hours.

The remote has alarms for over or under pit temperatures (or dome temperatures) if you connect the probe to the dome thermometer.

Even when I use the ET-73 I still use the Thermopen to final check the food.

The Thermopen is a great thermometer and worth every penny. It made a huge difference in the quality of my cooks, taste & texture. Don't get anything that imitates or claims to be just as good as a Thermopen.

Congratulations on getting an egg and welcome to the forum.

GG

Misippi Egger

John,

Welcome to the Egg Cult, from one a little south of you.

Great advice here. I have had a Maverik for 2 years and use it on most cooks. As stated above, on hot cooks, I learned one can toast the probe (have bought 2 new ones). I use it though on steaks after the initial sear and during the roasting part of the cook. That way I can go indoors with the remote and do other things until the temp is close to where I want to pull it off the grill. Also great on chicken, pork loins, etc. for the same reasons.

For low, slow cooks, like overnight, you need to look into getting a DigiQ 2 system. I have the precurser - BBQ Guru - and it is the "only" way to go IMHO for butts, ribs, etc.

I have a Thermapen on order, but anticipate using it for final checks as mentioned above.

Enjoy your new way of cooking......

mojo

Another newbie here, with a question about thermometers ...

I have been reading a lot of recipes that recommend a Polder, but not much Polder discussion going on here on the Forum. Has this been replaced by the Maverick as the thermometer/probe of choice? Also, I was browsing the Mavericks and came across the Maverick ET-7 (without the -3), and this looked like a good unit but again, it's not discussed here. Is there a particular reason it is omitted? So I'll assume that if one were to recommend thermometers/probes, then the Thermapen and the Maverick would be the units of choice by Eggheads??

Thanks, and hope I'm not hijacking this thread.