My $150 thermopen fell off my smoker and landed in the brisket drippings

I was checking temps on a pork butt last Saturday and my Thermapen slipped right off the magnet strip into the foil pan full of drippings. The screen went haywire and now it shows 212F when I wave it in the air. Anyone else ever fried a probe with hot fat?

3 comments

3 Comments

masonbell2mo ago

Marinate that thing in rice for a week. It probably shorted out the thermistor when the hot grease got in there. I'd pull the battery and let it dry out completely before you try anything else.

clairem472mo ago

Masonbell is acting like this thing got nuked. Rice is overkill for a little grease splatter. Most of those probes are sealed well enough to handle some kitchen mess. Id pull the battery for a day maybe, but a whole week in rice is just wasting time and rice. Unless you dunked it in a deep fryer, its probably fine.

charlienelson25d ago

Oh man, I gotta say I'm with Masonbell on this one but maybe not a full week. I had a similar thing happen with my wireless probe and some hot oil splatter. I popped the battery out right away and left it in a bag of rice for maybe three days, just to be safe. It felt like overkill at first but when I put the battery back in, everything worked perfectly no weird readings or anything. On the other hand I totally get what clairem47 is saying about sealed probes, mine is supposed to be waterproof but grease is a different beast. If you've got the patience, I'd err on the side of caution with the rice method. Better to waste a little rice than a good thermometer.