OK, so I did receive the new Maverick ET 733 meat thermometer for Christmas
I cooked the WT breasts yesterday; 2 − 1/2s which was about 4 + lbs of meat. As per this earlier post I had done a 1/2 WT breast previously with very good results, smoked with 2 racks of ribs. That breast was removed at 2hr with thickest part of breast hitting 155F. I estimated then 2.25 or 2.5 hrs would have finished them (160-165 F).
The breasts yesterday were good, but
dryer than I wanted, and compared to the last breast which I did wout the thermometer. This time with the new Maverick, I set #1 and #2 probe for each breast at 160 F and set alarm. The breasts were positioned over each other using top two shelves of #2, smoked at 240F with beer used in foil dish next to wood box. As before, the breasts were brined for 4 hrs in fridge, and in fridge with a rub for a few hours before smoking etc. The #2 was sealed, and I waited trusting the Maverick.
Just before the 2 hr mark the Maverick alarms chimed with temp around 151 F which I think it's supposed to do (win 10 F of set temp). I wanted to wait for Maverick to hit 160 F before peeking/removing. Not long after the alarm a max temp in 1 breast reached 156 F. Thereafter the breast temp's started to decline not rise to the 160 F mark. Eventually nearing the 3 hr mark with breasts showing 151 and 149 on the Maverick I pulled them. As above the breasts were absolutely edible and nice tasting, but I felt they had been in too long re: dryness, yet the 160 F temp. was never obtained on the Maverick.
Thoughts/comments … why did breast temp go down, why were breasts dryer than anticipated wout a temp of 160F reached on Maverick?
Thanks, G28