which temp would you believe/ trust?? advice for a noob....

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gordon1

Senior Cook
Joined
Jan 1, 2007
Messages
101
Location
asheville,nc
first of all thanks for the warm welcome here. anyway I got a chargriller super pro. I have read about the thermometer not being accurate because it is too high and will read higher than what the actual temp is. so instead of doing the mod for the placement of the thermometer I ordered a Maverick.


anyway it's not here yet so I bought a trutemp oven dial thermometer to use on the grate until I get the maverick.

so yesterday and lastnight I fired up the smoker just to burn off the greese and "season it". I thought this would be a good chance to try and get it to temp etc before I do my first smoke on monday.

I got a pretty good fire going and the highest temp the internal therm got to was about 250-275 while the oven therm would read much higher than that at around 300 +. once I got the temp down there was still always a difference of close to 50 degrees or so. now from all I've read I expected there to be a difference but I expected the internal therm to be higher not much lower than the one on the grate.

so which is closer or correct?? my gut tells me the oven therm since it's on the grate but it seems odd that the internal would be so far below.

my home oven is less than reliable to use it as reference as it heats very uneven and un accurate. I think I'll buy another (different brand) oven therm and compare the two. I hope they are the same ;)
 
First do the boiling water test...water boils at 212* to make sure how accurate the threms are.....on my pit...my dome therm is about 25* hotter than the grate temp...
 
should have mentioned I thought about doing that. I assume it's safe to put the glass in boiling water. do you pull the boiling water off and then put the therm in or put it directly into boiling h20??
 
thanks for the link. my internal term doesn't even have the needle. just the round thing inserted in the hole.
 
gordon said:
thanks for the link. my internal term doesn't even have the needle. just the round thing inserted in the hole.

Well, I'd take it off the pit. Boil some H20, stick the probe end of the thermometer into the boiling water and see what it reads. Use the link to find your boiling point (sounded bad). If they agree, the thermometer is ok. If it is off, it should have a nut behind the face to adjust it.
 
now I'm more confused :?

both read a little over 200 in boiling h20 so why/how would the temp at the grate be so much higher than at the top of the dome? heat rises so this makes no sense. gonna make for a interesting first smoke and damn the baby backs I bought today look good.



If you have one of those plain oven thermometers I'm not sure how to calibrate it. I don't think they can be baptized.

it worked fine. not sure if it'll work again now that there is h20 in it ;) it was only $5 or so.
 
gordon said:
now I'm more confused :?

both read a little over 200 in boiling h20 so why/how would the temp at the grate be so much higher than at the top of the dome? heat rises so this makes no sense. gonna make for a interesting first smoke and damn the baby backs I bought today look good.



If you have one of those plain oven thermometers I'm not sure how to calibrate it. I don't think they can be baptized.

it worked fine. not sure if it'll work again now that there is h20 in it ;) it was only $5 or so.
Let us all not forget about the "above sea level" thing. As far as the boiling water test ;)
 
Puff said:
gordon said:
now I'm more confused :?

both read a little over 200 in boiling h20 so why/how would the temp at the grate be so much higher than at the top of the dome? heat rises so this makes no sense. gonna make for a interesting first smoke and damn the baby backs I bought today look good.



If you have one of those plain oven thermometers I'm not sure how to calibrate it. I don't think they can be baptized.

it worked fine. not sure if it'll work again now that there is h20 in it ;) it was only $5 or so.
Let us all not forget about the "above sea level" thing. As far as the boiling water test ;)

Assuming both registered the same temp on the boiling water test, it is a bit perplexing that the dome meter is 50 less that the grate meter. Could the grate meter be in contact with metal vs the ambient air? Could the heated smoke/air be escaping causing a back wash effect?

Don't know those answers. If it were an egg, I'd have better info for you.
 
I guess I'm just gonna wing it. I figure a case of PBR should help and keep the "temps" around or below 225-250 and I'll be alright ;)
 
I did the baffle mod and exhaust mod. gonna tweak them a bit before I fire it up.


where did you have the over therm placed? its normal in a offset to have higher temps near the firebox and also near the smokestack.

I had it right in the middle front right by the handle.


I bet they are both reading right on. Make sure the probes aren't touching the grate.

there really aren't "probes". it's just a little round term made to sit on or hang from oven racks.
 
gordon said:
I did the baffle mod and exhaust mod. gonna tweak them a bit before I fire it up.


where did you have the over therm placed? its normal in a offset to have higher temps near the firebox and also near the smokestack.

I had it right in the middle front right by the handle.


[quote:1t04gvgi]
I bet they are both reading right on. Make sure the probes aren't touching the grate.

there really aren't "probes". it's just a little round term made to sit on or hang from oven racks.[/quote:1t04gvgi]

Well don't do what I did. Took the thermometer off Einstein and stuck the probe through a tater and stuck in inside an offset Kingfisher. About baked half the numbers off the paper dial under the glass :oops:
 
My opinion is that the chargriller is to small and light weight to burn with wood alone. I had much better luck after making a charcoal basket and using the Minion Method and wood chunks. I also leave the exhaust vent wide open.
 
Place the palm of your hand on the dome of the cooker if you can hold it there for a 3 count you are cooking in the 225 to 250 range. If you can only hold it there for a 1 or 2 count the cooker is too hot. A count of 4 or longer means you need more heat.

When you use more than one therm you are playing a game with the devil. :roll:
 

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