Fireboard Lesson Learned...

[Deaf Arty]

Cooking a brisket today. Simple. Separate the point and flat and cook away. One probe in the flat, another in the point. Then a couple of hours into the cook, I notice the point at about 115 or so, and the flat at about 150. Odd. Typically the point comes up faster than the flat. I'm wondering what to do at about noon when the flat is ready, but supper is 6 or more hours away.... So I get my Thermapen out and check. The Thermapen reads about 115 right near the probe in the flat, while the Fireboard is saying 150!! Whaaaat? So I'm frantically switching probes, measuring with the Thermapen, and generally getting confused.

Then it occurs to me to trace the probe wires to the Fireboard itself. Sure enough, the whole problem was that the "operator headspace" was out of adjustment. I had plugged the flat probe into the port labeled "point", and the point probe into the "flat" port. Duh!

Simple switcheroo on the plugs and everything is wonderful! Lesson learned: be really vigilant at zero-dark-thirty when you start a cook, even with such a fine gadget as the Fireboard!

[kmhfive]

Yep. Been there; done that! It’s confusing as all get out until your brain kicks in and you go check! Especially if there are just two probes switched out of the six! Fun times!

[texastweeter]

Its usually the bourbon or scotch that gets me all SNAFU.

[Mr. Bones]

Done similar, plenty times!
Hope ya' love those Easy Fixes, I sure do!

[Deaf Arty]

Love 'em, Mr. Bones! I was beginning to panic over not having a reliable temp device. What a relief.😲

[HawkerXP]

I have a twist tie on the grate probe connector when using my DOT / Chief Alarm to prevent such a thing.

[Mr. Bones]

I've done this on speaker wires, to denote polarity, sometimes...
Mostly, use a Sharpie, nowadays...

[Deaf Arty]

Sometimes I can even mess that up. One of the probes has a number label still on it from a calibration test! Thanks for the tip, but it seems to be lost on me 🙄

[Spinaker]

I have done this as well. You are not the only one!

[Huskee]

How is my brisket at 240 already and my cooker is only at 40????

[Spinaker]

"We are sympathizing with you, Dude." Huskee

[jgreen]

Easy to mix them up. Have not done that yet but I am sure I will.

[Mr. Bones]

I categorize such things under, an' refer to 'em as 'Cerebral Flatulence'.

[Deaf Arty]

Exactly, Mr. Bones!

[EdF]

Sounds like a term right out of Firesign Theater!

[Mr. Bones]

EdF , miss that show!

[DogFaced PonySoldier]

Mr. Bones I know what you mean about speaker wire... in my vehicles I have advanced over the years from marking withL

1. masking tape - which ended up a sticky mess in the summer heat
2. special flexible plastic tape "tags" with marking spots for Sharpie pens - eventually faded to unreadability after a few years
3. Orange hard plastic tags on zip ties marked with Sharpie - these lasted for many years for all 4 stereo sets of speaker wiring as well as 4 sets of RCA cables.

All that dang wiring gets conf00zling! I've learned taking the time to be organized makes a YUUUUUGE difference down the line!

Now I need to take the time to do some high-level organization for my firearms parts and shelving and reloading stuff. <sigh>

[Huskee]

In most of my brisket cooks the point drags behind the flat. I end up taking my flat to ~200 and the point to ~193-197. I had one cook where it was the other way around. Of course, this is leaving them intact and cooking whole, and trimming 95% of the fat between the two muscles. This surely makes the point that much thicker and could explain it.

[shush]

I use colored paperclips wrapped around each end of each probe. They do not go 'in' the smoker, but get me close enough. I then used zip ties to bind them so they are in the same orientation each time. ( I have 3 probles done this way ) It keeps them together, and identifiable.

[Troutman]

I've found, in this modern day and age, that the electronic gadgets we now use really help in cooking consistency and avoiding those over cooked disasters. Now, having said that, I wonder if we are becoming too dependent on them. Oh my god my Thermopen doesn't agree with my Fireboard which doesn't agree with my Smoke and my Anova is going off when I know the bath is only half over, and.......

Back in the day (oh yea here comes the old man story) we here in Texas (and believe me a lot still do) would largely cook by the proverbial seat of our pants. I learned to cook brisket by the touch, probe and wobble method. Just slap that puppy on there until the old bi-metal gauge read low and slow then wait. Of course you had to be more vigilant but to be honest a lot of trial and error went into it. But once you got it, then you knew. Same with chicken, pork, fish, whatever.

I wonder how many would be backyard pitmasters would survive in a world devoid of gadgetry. (Of course I say all that sitting here waiting on my Fireborad to arrive in the mail )

[Deaf Arty]

Troutman I really understand what you're saying. I've learned to over-think anything, and I've gotten really good at it!

[NWDave]

Fireboard users, especially the ones who have the Drive Cable. Notice how the ports are poorly identified, especially in low light situations? I took a red paint pen and highlighted the 12 v port (both sides) with a dab of paint. Makes that chore less a problem. Same technique can be used on id'ing your probe wires to some extent. I put a dab on the pit probe plug.
My personal favorites are this line: https://www.diagraphmsp.com/gp-x-cla...ers-scollect28
mainly because of their endurance. Hey, when your mark one eyeballs are 73 years young, you gotta use every trick you can think of. And no, I don't have a color code system worked out yet for multi meat probes (haven't gotten that far into needing more than one YET).

[Donw]

When I was practicing we marked our instruments with colored silcone bands to identify use, sets, etc.. They were designed to stay on when the instruments were autoclaved. The ones we used were rated for 450 degrees plus. I’m thinking that a colored band on the probe, and one on the plug could help identify which plug goes to which probe when plugging in. Might make things easier in the future. I know they make them for dental and surgical instrument sizes.

[Deaf Arty]

Thank you all for the tips! It's also comforting to know I'm not the only one who messes up when using all the gadgets, or who sketches over the small stuff. In the end, it's all about cooking something wonderful that we enjoy. I'm thinking I'm beginning to get there as well, in spite of all the self-induced frustration!