Thanks much for the info guys. I guess I have to decide if I want to take the risk with the Maverick ET-73. I know this isn't a big purchase and maybe for some people it's not that big of a deal if they're one of the unlucky ones. But I'm one of those kinds that hates having to return something, or worse yet, just throw it away.
It's rare that I buy anything that has that many negative reviews as the ET-73 has on Amazon. For some reason it seems that just about any digital thermometer they sell has the same record of reliability as the Mavericks do. I don't think I've ever searched for a product where the market is flooded with so many hit-or-miss items. Are all of them just Chinese junk?
How hard is it to make one of these that don't have such a high percentage failure rate? You can buy a $20 cell phone that will last for years. I've used cheap probe instant read thermometers in restaurants and at home that are practically bullet proof. We had a baby monitor that would probably broadcast through a bank vault wall and it lasted through both of my kids. None of this is unusual. I'll bet if Fisher Price made one of these types of thermometers it would function flawlessly for years and cost about the same. Of course it would also have a picture of Mickey Mouse and Pluto on it too.
Here's what I have now.
http://www.kitchencollection.com/Temp_Products.cfm?sku=01060880&RankThis=Y&Searched=thermometer& It's $15. It's not a transmitter model and it only has a single probe but it's taken more than it's share of abuse. I even use it as a deep fry thermometer and it's been accidentally fully submerged in very hot oil. It appears to be virtually identical to the CDN model that I've seen for $25.
http://www.chefsresource.com/cdn-combo-probe-thermometer-timer-clock.html The only problem with it is that the base of the probe is crimped and won't quite fit through the eyelet. I'm thinking of attempting to either file it down slightly or maybe squish it in my vise a little bit. I suppose in order to make it a remote receiver model I could buy another baby monitor and duct tape it to the thermometer. That way I'll at least be able to hear the alarm when it goes off.
I dunno...Such a saga!
Bruce