Lets talk Thermometers

 In the Recipe book I stress the use of a meat thermometer. I can not stress this enough!!! You drive your car with a gas gauge right? Well I am asking, PLEASE use a meat thermometer. Why you ask? Because it takes all of the guess work out of cooking (smoking) meat. Have you ever had a chicken breast cooked so dry it felt like chewing rubber? A chicken breast cooked to 160 degrees is so juicy and tender you will not believe it. The juices run everywhere when you slice into it. The same goes for a whole Chicken or Turkey, 160 to 165 and you will not believe how tender it will be when you cut into it. Pork tenderloin cooked to 145 to 155 is absolutely amazing. A brisket slow cooked for hours to 205 falls apart. So please, do yourself a favor and invest in a meat thermometer. I have found the cheapest to be at Wal-Mart in the cooking utensils (where you would find egg timers and such). They run about 14.00 dollars for a thermometer with a probe. However you can buy a simple non-digital thermometer for about 6.00 and a simple digital for around 10.00. Anyway, if you are going to cook meat on our smoker or ANYTHING for that matter, please use a thermometer, you will not regret it.