ET732 reads high?


 
Chris E

Chris E

TVWBB Pro
I forgot to test my 732 in boiling water before the cook. I have the BBQ temp probe danging in the lid vent maybe 4" of probe and wire.

My lid thermo (which I did check last summer) is 35F less than the maverick. At least it is consistent.

This makes me wonder if I've been smoking food at 250-260 all the time instead of 220. Im pretty good at dialing in the wSM to 220-230 for long periods.

I did an overnight brisket, only my second one, and got one high temp alarm shortly after bed and a low temp alarm around 6am.

I'm holding the WSM now at 220 lid temp since that has worked for butts and ribs, tracking 255 on the Maverick. Food probe says 163 now at 8:30 am so we'll see how it comes out.

Pictures later...
 
Chris, Im in the same boat. This is my first cook and the Maverick wont go below 313 but lid temp is constant at 275, hold on my remote just beeped and seemed to reset, now it says bbq temp is 304....
 
You guys should be alright. It's well known that the lid thermo will be about 25* lower than the grate level temp. Don't get excited about your grate level temp if you are used to cooking with the WSM lid temp -- just keep doing the same things you've always done.

I use the ET-732 to monitor meat temps for big meat cooks, but I fully agree with Kevin Kruger (he is my thermometer on anything to do with the WSM) that you should cook according to whether the meat feels done when a probe goes in -- is it tender? does the probe slip in smoothly and easily (some say like butter??)?

Temps will vary, but you'd like them to stay at a consistent range. If your fire goes out or if the temp spikes hugely or plummets up and down, you may have a problem (but none of these are likely). Differences like these between the lid temp and a probe a grate level just don't matter. The temp of the meat and internal air currents (including those caused by wind) may cause changes in the cooker temp at grate level that you don't see at the lid therm.

Rich
 
My conundrum wasnt lid vs grate temp it was more like lid vs lid. My WSM lid thermo was reading 35F less than the Maverik probe dangling inside the lid vent at roughly the same height in the cooker.

While my brisket was resting in foil, I removed the lid thermo from the WSM and dunked it in boiling water along with the both the food and BBQ probe from the ET 732. All three read 203F (Denver) and the WSM lid therm took an extra 30 secs to get there.

All three calibrate to the same temp so my thoughts are:
WSM thermo ok with liquid temp not so good with air--probably not the case.
WSM thermo is a short probe bolted to the metal top and the metal top is cooling the probe (wind, cold ambient temp etc.

I have had good luck with chicken, butts, and some turkey. Although going back through logs some turkey was a little dry. Both briskets have come out somewhat dry. Maybe I've been smoking at lid temps of 220-250 which really are more like 255-300. hmmmmm.

I'm going to try my next couple of cooks at 225-250 grate temp on the ET-732 and see what happens.
 
"WSM thermo is a short probe bolted to the metal top and the metal top is cooling the probe (wind, cold ambient temp etc."

That's what I figured for the diff between my lid temp and the grate temp.

If your meat is coming out a little dry, I would suspect you are overcookinging it. Rely on the internal meat probe more then the measured grate temp (I consider that "nice to know"). Cook to the desired meat temp, verify with an instant read, and begin to learn what the meat "feels" like to the probe when it is done. If your instant read temp doesn't match the ET-732 probe, be sure the 732 is in the right place (I've gotten mine too close to the exterior at times, so it read hot). I usually probe with the instant read in 2 or three places because I'm learning too.

Remember that your meat will continue to cook and the temp will increase after you remove it from the heat -- potentially tending toward dryness.

I'd recommend you search for Kevin Kruger's threads and posts on cooking turkey and briskets. Hard to argue with getting it right.

Rich
 
I'm getting another brisket today to try it again. I WILL master it. Or at least drink 10 cases of beer trying.
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