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I always seem to place mine in the center of the smoker, toward the back, so food is not directly over it. Honestly, the positioning may make your therm off by 10-20 degrees tops which I have learned does really not make a difference for hot smokes. Food may be done a little earlier, or later but when its done its done. I used to always stress about maintaining temperature and not having any fluctuation, but I gave up on that after a few smokes where the temp was up and down maybe 30 degrees and the food still turned out great.