FG too low?

Been lurking on the forums for a little while, then registered and finally took the plunge and bought a partial mash kit (Chocolate Covered Beavr Nuts)..which also happens to be my first kit ever.

Now the problem/question. Can your FG be too low?

I followed the directions that came with the kit and from what i can tell everything was spot on. My OG was sitting at 1.082 (recipe says 1.068 - 1.072). I tried to make a starter, not knowing if it worked I panicked and went and bought a second vile of the White Labs California yeast (it didn't look like it "grew" or any more yeast than when I started) and piched my starter and the second vile. 8 days later I checked the FG and it is at 1.001 (between 1.000 and the 1.002 line, the wife even thinks it is the 1.000 line. So is that a good thing? Bad thing? or could my hydrometer be bad?

Here are two pics of the hydrometer sitting in the wort. Sorry for the lengthy post just wanted to get as much info to eliminate the questions.

Your pitching rate won't really have any effect on your FG. While some variance from the calculated FG is normal, yours appears to be well outside what I'd expect. A few things could cause this. First a very low mashing temperature would make the wort from the mash much more fermentable than expected. If you did a partial boil and didn't mix the top up water very thoroughly (harder than you'd think), you may have added too much, thinking your OG was much higher than it actually was. Also there's the possibility that an infection is causing the overattenuation. Hopefully it's not that, but I can't help but notice that it looks like you're taking your gravity readings directly in the bucket, rather than drawing a test sample. Are you certain you're following strict sanitation procedures throughout your process?

I put my money on "you made some really awesome beer". Give it a taste and if it doesn't make you lurch, its all good.

I would say if anything I am over sanitizing as everything i read about brewing is "sanitize, sanitize and then sanitize some more" I took my readings in a wine thief but after getting the really low reading I decided it was time to rack into the carboy so put the lid on the bucket (sat in sanitizer while i pulled a sample) resanitized my hydrometer along with my carboy and took the sample right prior to racking..with the exception of the two pictures that is the only "air time" it got.

I did taste it out of the thief and it tastes like a stout. I am guessing your right about the mash temp. I haven't taken the plunge on equipment so I am using a SS stock pot that holds 6.5 gallons, and there wasn't much room to move stuff around while mashing. Looks like it is time to invest in better equipment.

Thanks for the replies.