"quality" bimetal thermometer through guru eyelet?

This is my first post. I've been lurking here for about 2 weeks (sometimes till 3am, much to the alarm of my fiance), and have absorbed ALOT of info on a number of topics. Don't yet own a WSM, but there is one in my near future for sure.

After reading alot of posts, I've become convinced that despite how damn cool those tel-trus in the lids look, an analog therm. through the grate strap bolt/guru eyelet is the one for me. Doug D is a big proponent and i like his reasoning...why not know the actual grate temp, and not have to drill? Also, read more than just a couple of different posters here who have complained that their 2.5" inch teltrus through the lid read LOWER than the top grill for some reason. Even if this evens out over the length of the cook, I don't need to worry about whether a 200 degree reading at the lid is reliable or not if that is my only reading from which I'm trying to get an initial stable temp.

SO...here is the question. Those of us who want to go through the side with no drilling are somewhat limited in thermometer choice because we need a thermometer with a stem diameter of less than .220"...this leaves most to the inexpensive 'candy/fryer' type therms or the weber replacement therm.

Now don't get me wrong, I think the weber replacement therm is a great option...it wears out, just get a new one. But I would love the best of all worlds and be able to use a more 'professional' looking 3" dial therm like those great looking tel-trus with the specialized bbq dials. Those all have 1/2" npt threads, however, and the stems are likely too big...

Have you super resourceful 'through the middle' temp takers come up with any unique quality thermometer options? Or perhaps some as yet unpublished way to mount a therm with npt threading here in a way that looks cool and still no drilling? Would love to see some pictures.

Question - how close is the top grate stap hole to the top of the middle section? From the pictures of the unit, it looks like a 3" dial might even be too big, hitting where the enamal juts out just at the top of the middle section...

Finally (thanks for enduring the long post), thanks to all you folks out in TVWBB land! You are among the most devoted, ingenious and generous groups out there on the interwebs, and it's been a pleasure lurking. I can't wait to purchase this puppy and start smokin'...

Brad, I have the weber replacement therm through a guru eyelet on the top grill strap hole, held in place with a cork on the inside of the wsm. I have no problems with this therm. It's cheap and accurate. You need to watch out for the diameter of the therm which must be smaller than the diameter of the guru eyelet. The eyelet fits through the 1/4 inch diamter hole on the wsm. The diameter of the bbq guru eyelet is just a hair shy of 3/16 inches or .1875. The diameter of the weber replacement therm is about 1/8 of an inch or .125 inches. This therm from tel-tru Tel Tru Big Green Egg Replacement Thrm is .15 inches in diameter. You should be okay with this, or this which has a 5 inch stem but same diameter longer stem

Brad, welcome. The wsm is a fabulous tool. I too have lusted over a 3" therm at the grate. After wrestling with the same issues you mentioned, I opted for the ET-73 wireless remote. It's cheap and does not yield long range service (I did not do the antenna mod) but the advantages of remote monitoring and meat temp monitoring outweighed any disadvantages. Sure it feels cheap but it has lasted for years. I used the grommets from the Guru to feed the leads thru the side. What I have found is that it is easier to just run the thermo leads under the lid. It just works fine.

The 3" thermos look neat and work well. Consider the benefit of knowing the meat temps. Hope this helps.

I'm one of those that drilled the hole in the lid opposite of the top vent and now use a Tel-Tru 3" dial with a 4" stem. I feel like the 4
inch stem gives me a truer temp closer to the meat than what a 2" might. Yes, I will do it again when I purchase my second WSM. But overall I feel like as long as your keeping track of temps in someway or fashion you will get used to your method and produce a good product. Steve, mentioned the Maverick probes, they are also a great tool. I now have 2 of them and would highly recommend their usage for meat temps. I just purchased the ET-7, which is a 2 probe unit for meat only. I like this unit for when I cook a butt over top of a brisket and need separate meat temps. A lot of folks around here also use the ET-73, which Steve makes mention. It has one probe for meat and another for grill temps. Monitoring temps at the grate, lid, or whatever I don't think has to be rocket science. I use the Minion Method for firing up my coals and you can never tell which side is going to light faster than the other or burn a little hotter later on in the cook.
As long as your keeping track in someway, you should adjust and do just fine.

Thanks all for the replyies. I do plan on getting a Maverick, probably an ET - 7, since I plan on getting chamber temps from the analog thermometer, and could use 2 probes for different meats. It's also hard not to consider Nu Temp with an additional transmitter for the special deal listed in the trading post.

I've found two other tel tru options for going through eyelets, another 2"dial option here, and the only 3" dial I've found with the skinny stem needed here. The two inch option is $11 bucks more than the big green egg replacement, but has very similar specs. Any idea why? The three inch option only comes with a polycarb face and a dual temp dial (Celcius too)... Maybe tel-tru would do some customizing for me without breaking my bank?

Can anyone tell me whether the dial of a 3" dial therm going into the top grate will clear the lip that juts out at the top of the middle section where the lid is seated?

thanks again,
Brad

Brad,

The therms you listed go up to 220 degees F. I would suggest that the therm be able to measure higher temps at least to 500 degreees for the times that you want to do higher temp cooks such as turkey.

Those are the temp ranges given in the display pictures for those models. They are supposedly available in the 50/500 range for the same price...the more i look at pics, it seems the 3" dial face is too large to be mounted through a guru eyelet, at least without pulling it away from the cooker survace enough that it misses the ridge that juts out at the top of the middle section...

Whatever you mount thru the bolthole, you're going to need at least a 5-6" stem length to get the tip sufficiently past the heat rising around the circumference of the pan. My trusty Weber 9815 replacement thermometer got irreparably bent in a wind-induced tipover (cooker not in use at the time); have been using a 12" stem-length turkey frier thermo until I can get another.

Cool, Doug. You might want to have a look at these Tel-tru's...they come in 5" or 8" stem lengths. My latest thinking is to pick one of these up. They can be recalibrated. LT-225R, and thisBT-275R seem basically the same, but a different look to the face, and oven safe.

I might see if they can customize the face of the fist one with some colors or something. At a little more than 3 times the cost of the cheap weber replacement, you get the recalibration feature, and therm that looks a little nicer and will probably last longer.

thank for your input,
Brad

Brad,
Good find on those thermos.
Description says 50-550 degree range, but the pics of the thermo face only shows they go to 200. You'll probably want to confirm with TelTru that they go to 550 before ordering.

I just thought of a solution to the wireless thermometer problem. Have the best of both worlds. Use an analog bimetal thermometer and monitor it remotely with a low cost wireless video camera.

You could use a WIFI laptop with a webcam near the WSM. You could also use a wireless low cost video camera setup.

Here's a link to some low cost wireless video cameras:

Wireless low cost video cameras at Compgeeks

whoa...hi tech. I like it.

Hey Brad--what did you end up doing here? I'm considering some of the TelTru options you kicked around on this thread when my Guru eyelets arrive any day now. Thanks,