I received a smokebox for Christmas. First one came in with a dent in the top corner, would have not been an issue, but the seam separated and left a decent hole. RT quickly got a replacement sent out, but the probes arrived in similar conditions to nhraj's above pictures. I thought easy fix and...
I know I am about two months late to the thread but I smoked an entire deer "ham", bone out, over the summer.
We did brine this overnight before the next step. I believe it was just sugar and salt, just a random recipe I found online. With a larding needle I added a bunch of flavored butter...
I have the Thermopop and the Dot, their reasonably priced leave in probe.
From my experience, don't let the price fool you. Both are quality pieces and you can get both for under $100.