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[Canadian John]

 The original meat probe, VG0956, started giving out erroneous readings the last time I went to use it. The readings were all over the map..The probe had only been used 3X, all for  22+HR, low temp cooks.

 It never got wet. Was coiled up gently and stored hi + dry in the house...I checked it using an ohmmeter and found the readings varied immensely w/ the probe being @ a constant temperature...A replacement

was out of the question w/ the Canadian cost netting out close to $150.00 and lasting 3 cooks. Too bad as it appears to be so well made. To make matters worse, a replacement warranty is 90 days..

As I had nothing to lose, I  partially removed  the armored casing and cut the wires off at the probe end then tested it. A SOLID 1,077.9 Ohms! The problem was not in the probe end. Completely removed the

armour after cutting the plug/jack off. The wires were 100%, as new. The problem was the jack/plug, an intermittent open circuit. If I had slept at a Holiday Inn Express the night before, I would have started at

 plug end. Although it would have looked worked upon, a replacement 3.5MM/1/8" jack would have put me back in the game. So if you have a Memphis meat probe failure take note.

 There is an alternate affordable meat probe. I do not wish to disclose the information presently as my testing is incomplete and I do not want to mislead anyone..If it works I will start a new thread with all the

details that should make purchasing and using it an easy task.

[Bentley]

Now this is some great input!

[scdaf]

Very interested in your results.  My one and only beef with my Memphis is the price of the probes vs the length of warranty.  Fortunately, I got a Thermoworks Smoke with 2 probes and a decent warranty for about the price of 1 Memphis probe.  (Much less down here in the states.)

Will be keeping an eye out for your new thread.

[nhoeger]

(First post/comment alert, probably also a thread hijack to boot) I haven't had any probes fail on my Elite, but I discovered that one of my probes was reading about 10 degrees low compared to my Thermapen, while smoking a prime rib of all things. Is probe accuracy an issue or concern for anyone else? Should I be less trusting of these? I've had the Elite for 2 years, and the Thermapen for 2 months and never paid much thought until recently. $120 prime rib and $160 prime tenderloin will do that I guess.

[Bar-B-Lew]

I have not been satisfied with my probes for the controller on my Elite and on my MAK2 for the same reason you mentioned - significant variation from my Thermoworks probes.  Thus, I don't use pellet grill manufacturer probes any longer.  In fact, I should probably send mine to Canadian John.

[Canadian John]

 First off: Welcome nhoeger on your first post, and welcome to Pellet Fan.

 As for probe accuracy. For me it is not a problem as long as I know how much the probe is off..I never trusted any probe to judge the meat as done, rather as a guide. Why? The probe is inserted into ONE

LOCATION that may or may not be the same temp as other parts of the meat. When the probe reading is close, I measure in a few different locations using an accurate/fast acting thermometer, IE Thermapen,

to establish  a true temperature reading.

As far as testing meat probes, stay tuned. It will be part of my next thread.

[nhoeger]

Thanks, and I'll be looking forward to that as well. I always assumed the variance in temps due to probe location, but then I freaked myself out when I started sticking the Thermapen trying to get a comparison with the Memphis probe and couldn't get anywhere close to the same temp as the controller. On butts and briskets it's not as big of a deal, but it was a good lesson to learn on nicer cuts that from now on I'll be relying on the Thermapen when approaching finishing temps.

[bregent]

(First post/comment alert, probably also a thread hijack to boot) I haven't had any probes fail on my Elite, but I discovered that one of my probes was reading about 10 degrees low compared to my Thermapen, while smoking a prime rib of all things. Is probe accuracy an issue or concern for anyone else? Should I be less trusting of these? I've had the Elite for 2 years, and the Thermapen for 2 months and never paid much thought until recently. $120 prime rib and $160 prime tenderloin will do that I guess.

Have you tested both with ice and boiling water? As John suggests, temperatures within a roast can vary widely.