Quick Question


 
E

Eric R

New member
I am going to do my second smoke on my WSM this weekend. I want to get a good idea of the difference in cooking temperature between my built in lid thermometer and the actual cooking temp at the grate. I did the boiling water test on the built in thermometer and it is pretty close to accurate. I have read and read about this to exhaustion and just have a basic question.

All I want to do is get a good idea of the difference in temperature between the lid and the grate so I can use my built in thermometer to keep within a certain range. I already decided I am not going to become crazy about my smoking temp as long as I stay in a general range. I know myself well and if I make this too scientific it will drive me crazy and I will not enjoy it the same. I want this to be a kick back and drink a few beers hobby.......and expertise will come in time

So my plan is to take my digital probe thermometer, run it through the lid vent, stick it through a potato and place it on the top grate. I will then compare my cooking temps throughout this cook and use this as a guage for future sessions.

Now to my question.... is this is a sound way to figure out the temp difference so I can just use the lid thermometer in the future?

Any info is appreciated!

Eric
 
That's certainly doable, but I'd recommend at some point you do grab a Maverick ET-73. I don't use the meat probe at all, but the smoker grate-temp probe has taken all the guess work out of Q for me. I set it up with high and low temp alarms, put the remote unit in my pocket and go do whatever else I feel like doing (or not doing) for a few hours. I find it's a nice compromise between doing nothing at all and playing with charts, micromanaging airflow, etc. But yeah, definitely have a way to correlate grate temp with lit temp!
 
Here's my temperature differential...

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euge.lee,

Thanks for the chart. When I was searching for info on this I found your chart in another thread and printed it out.

Thanks again,

Eric
 
Is that chart for the 18.5 WSM? Those look identical to what my reading are in my 18.5 WSM. I haven't tested the bottom grate yet. Once I figure this out, I will just use the lid thermometer and adjust based off of the difference.
 
Originally posted by Robert Oleksak:
Just don't over think it. It's just bbq. Smoke it,relax have a few laughs and a couple cocktails and all will be good.
Click to expand...

I think folks (including myself) really just want to feel confident about their cooking temp, particularly when a recipe calls for a specific temp. I know I feel more relaxed knowing that my (WSM) lid temp of 205 is approx 225-230 grate temp. The temp fluctuations don't bother me, as long as I'm confident that my starting point is accurate.
 
Originally posted by Richard Marquez:

I think folks (including myself) really just want to feel confident about their cooking temp, particularly when a recipe calls for a specific temp. I know I feel more relaxed knowing that my (WSM) lid temp of 205 is approx 225-230 grate temp. The temp fluctuations don't bother me, as long as I'm confident that my starting point is accurate.
Click to expand...

That is exactly what I am trying to do. I agree completely with the don't overthink it approach but I just want to get a good starting point for that.
 
If you're going to go that route, you should also check with some different outside temperatures - at least a very warm day and a cold overnight cook.

FYI If I have an extra probe I'll put it above the grate and keep half an eye on the difference and it's usually more like 10-15 degrees. It may or may not matter that I have a 22".
 
Hey,Eric! ...FWIW...when one is smoking meat the Smoker temperature is not critically important ... all one need do is keep the factory Weber dome thermometer somewhere in the indicated (shaded) Smoking range ...200-275*!!
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...for most cooks, on decent days, that means simply setting the bottom vents to 30% open .... the weber therm needle will generally be about vertical or 225-230*.. perfect!
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...grate temp doesn't matter, doneness checks do
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...hope this helps a little
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