For me, the Maverick is a great learning tool. I have only owned my Weber Kettle for 4 weeks, and this is my first real experience with smoking. Through using the Maverick, and keeping a log of the time and temperatures, I am learning what works for settings on the vents, amount of charcoal to use, etc. As Johnpv has said, what works well on a day when the temperatures are hot and the sun is shining, does not work the same when it is cool, cloudy, and windy. I have gotten to the point already where I can set the up the kettle, set my Maverick alarms for 215F and 250F and go about other things. I also like knowing the internal temperature of the meat without having to open the kettle to probe it.
As MacEggs stated, outdoor cooking should be fun and easy. However, I chose a Weber kettle over a pellet BBQ because I did not want it to be too easy. For me the fun is in the mastery of the kettle, the art of BBQ. If all I had to do was pour in the pellets, set the temperature to 225 and press START, it would loose most of the satisfaction. I like to tinker and feel like I have real knowledge and control of the whole process. Of course, part of my enthusiasm is due to how new this is for me.
The picture that 1buckie posted makes me think of the COS I bought about 7 years ago when I first wanted to learn how to smoke. It had all kinds of gaps and holes and leaked smoke and heat EVERYWHERE, and caused me so much grief, I gave up on it. Oh sure, it would sometimes work out okay in the end, but the results were inconsistent both for the time it would take and for the quality of the food at the end of the cook. It was neither easy or fun. By comparison, my Weber is a dream machine. Easy to set up and easy to make adjustments to during the cook. However, I do rely on the Maverick to tell when I need to make those adjustments!
Thanks for the feed back DirectDrive. I am also worried about the silicone grommets during grilling, even though I use the two zone method and could put the grommets away from the coals, it still does get pretty hot. I thought I might be worrying about this over nothing, but having you voice a similar concern is giving me reason to reconsider this option. I tend to overthink decisions like this, but in the end it never hurts and often saves me from making a big mistake.
CharliefromLI, I went to Home Depot and looked at the service connector and I am not sure, but I have my doubts the Maverick food probe will fit through it. The length of the connector seems to long for the 90 degree bend in the probe.
Right now, I think the method with the lamp nipple used by jdefran seems to be the most appealing. Can you confirm that you are using the bent Maverick food probe in your solution?
Oh, and thanks to everyone for the advice on using the unibit (step bit). I would not have thought of that, and it really seems like the best way to go.
Thanks to everyone for your patience with me and all the great advice. You have all been very helpful.