Using a Digital Multimeter for the first time

W.>I was measuring bias using a DC VOLTS scale.
The resister is still reading the same as is noted in the owners manual.I thank you for this information.

Sorry you had trouble but the advice was correct.

I have made 10's of thousands of voltage measurements on live circuits with all types of analog and digital meters and never smoked anything. Properly used there is no way a digital meter set to volts could cause smoke. Impossible. The most logical explanation is you accidentally set it to measure current as you turned on the meter

You should have the meter on and then insert the leads.

You really should open it to inspect for damage and replace the part that smoked.

Herman> your advise was absolutely correct.I may have done something inadvertently that would cause the problem.
I still dont understand why the instruction manual would read that the amp should be off when attaching the leads of the Digital Meter.Wouldn't this defeat the purpose of biasing an already heated tube.

they put that blurb in there for safety reasons. It would be more correct if you would measure it like you suggested.
The reason you would want to change the smoked component is that it will have latent failure associated with the smoke and eventually derate its performance. Over a period of time the heat and increased resistance would eventually breake it down until it will no longer function and you would be wondering what happened.