Maverick Industries ET-73 Maverick RediChek Remote Wireless Smoker Thermometer

There was recently a bad batch of ET-73's made their way out of the factory. Maverick is supplying outstanding customer support in replacing these units that are proving to be faulty in reception.


A must have for those serious about Smoking Meat.   August 13, 2009
Barry Hill (Patterson, NY)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful

If you are serious about your smoking, this is a must have device. It will simultaneously give you the temp in your smoker and the temp of the meat you are smoking as well as remind you to refill your wood box, etc. I found that the built in thermometer on my smoker was off by almost 50 DEGREES! Simply using this device has improved the quality of my food dramatically. Correct temps are King.

Many people have commented on the fact that the transmitter on/off switch is under the battery door. There is a simple reason for this. The transmitter is waterproof! This is very handy for smoking in wet weather. That's why there are rubber o-rings inside the battery door and on the probe sockets. It's a sealed unit! If the switch was exposed, rain could get inside and fry the electronics. And really, how much trouble is it to open the door? You don't need tools, in fact I just opened mine in under 5 seconds. I would rather have the waterproof-ness, thank you!

The probes have worked very well for me with no reliability issues, then again I am very careful with my electronics. I drilled a small hole in my smoker for each probe and carefully inserted them from the back. I wouldn't just crush them in the door. Also note that these probes are for SMOKERS, not for BBQ grills. If you put one in a 500+ degree BBQ, I would expect it to stop working. I have a one or two smoking friends who have had probe issues and were sent FREE replacements in the mail by Maverick, just for calling. One snapped off his belt clip...totally his fault. Yet he called and was sent a free replacement. Who does that these days? I have heard nothing but rave reviews from my fellow smokers about Maverick Customer Service.

True, the range is limited...do not expect it to work from your backyard to the opposite end of your home. There are instructions available on the internet however that will show you how to mod your transmitter with an external antenna which doubles or even triples the range. This isn't much of an issue for me as I like to stay near my smoker anyway.

It is accurate. I have tested both probes using the ice water / boiling water test and they are dead on.

All in all, I won't smoke without it and give it 5-Stars. It has already become the "must have" toy on all the meat smoking forums!




Only way to overnight for five years running   May 26, 2009
David Chandler (Atlanta, GA USA)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful

I bought this from Amazon five years ago, and have used it for 3-4 cooks each year over the last five years. It has performed flawlessly for the entire period and I can only recall having to change the batteries once in that time. When cooking a large brisket or pork butt overnight, I drop the lid probe in the open vent of my Weber smoker, hang the transmitter on a nail in my deck railing, set the low and high alarms in the receiver on my nightstand at 225 and 250, and go to sleep. Depending on how well I've judged the amount of fuel needed and set the vents, the receiver will beep me awake once or twice in the wee hours of the morning to make adjustments. That sure beats getting up every hour to check it before I got this little gem. I also use the food probe alarm later in the cook to let me know when it's done.

I hand wash the probes after each use to keep them shiny, and it continues to read as precisely and consistently as ever. My nightstand is only 10 feet from the transmitter, so I'm not exactly pushing the range (which is perhaps why I haven't needed many new batteries). But I'm pretty pleased that after five years, it works just as well as the day I got it, and has allowed me to get a lot more zzzzz's on the long cooks.


Must-have BBQ accessory   January 22, 2007
J. Deuel (N. CA, Bay Area)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

This unit is great for the low 'n' slow cookers. I wouldn't recommend it for the gas grill unless you're cooking turkeys and the like. I've used it a few times-once on a brisket, next on a 16 lb. prime rib, a couple of times on ribs (grill temp only), and last weekend on a couple of Boston butts. In each case, the thermo was dead-on and agreed with my Insta-Read. The prime rib was nerve wracking, because, at $240, it was the most expensive cut of meat I've ever cooked. Injected with 50/50 olive oil and Jack Daniels, it easily fed 12 people with leftovers. The alarm let me know when the internal temp hit 130, which was my time to pull it off the smoker.

As far as the remote goes, don't expect huge range out of it-maybe 30 feet through a single exterior wall. More'n likely, you'll be out checking the fire and grill temps anyway. What's great is not having to open the lid of the smoker to check temps. With the grill thermometer, you really start to understand how much the temp drops each time you open the lid, especially on cold days.

The investment in this unit will pay off in perfectly-cooked meats and avoiding the embarrassment of dry, overcooked Q.