Alas my trusty old Maverick smoker temp guage bit the dust. I think in the end the grime and dirt just clogged it up.
I went on to Amazon to buy a new one and found that they were priced around the £45 mark but there was a new one around the £70 mark.
I then searched on ebay for a second hand one as they are quite flimsy and didn't fancy spending that much. In my search I cam across the Pit Master Senior which was being sold by the inventor direct from China.
The difference from the Maverick to the senior was major. The pitmaster is a full on smoker control unit with fan.
I was a litte sceptical as was being shipped from China and the sellers english wasn't amazing. After a bit of research which found there was a reseller in the USA who had better operation instructions I took the plunge and bought a Pit Master Senior through ebay.
Including shipping + the ungraded fan + the WSM interface which also fits my pro Q I think I spent around £130. Well, it has changed my smoking life forever and I have only scratched the surface of its ability.
I tried it out on a whole shoulder of pork. I set the senior to bring the smoker temp to 225 and keep it there until the pork reached 190 (i think) then for it to keep the temp of the pit at the riquired temp to keep the pork at 190. i.e. the temp of the meat then takes over. You have the ability to programme the unit to 4 steps which is all a little complicated for me a present but will be used in the future.
Usually smoking is more sleep depriving than a new born child but in my first smoke with it I lit the fire at 2130. put meat on at 2200. Didn't go to bed until 2400 as wanted to check was all working fine with new toy. Got up at 0630. Temp was just under 225 as was running out of fuel. Refueled and went back to bed. Pork done around 1500. I only had to mess with the smoker once!!
If you are going to order I would also order with the weatherproof kit. I am going to try and back order this now as intend to use my pro Q much more in the future.
Search ebay for the seller trustedinventer. He doesn't appear to be listing on the UK ebay site at the moment as i think his business is taking off in the US. Have a look at the story of this gadget on BBQ Bretheran forum. If you find the seller and then email him I am sure he will be able to help or PM me for more info.