Why bother? You are better off getting the reading at the grate. For that, you need a Maverick et-732 or a Thermoworks Smoke.
 
Rich...

I also suggest buying a Thermoworks Smoke. Using mine right now for brisket...

The grate probe is amazingly accurate and about 60 degrees off of what the lid thermometer says.
 
Only if your going to use all the bells and whistles of the smoke. I just use a basic thermoworks DOT and put the probe at rack level.
 
I am looking to upgrade for better grate calibration... without drilling. I've looked at the River Country RC-T3 / RC-T3W. Are any of these plug/play or any other suggestions? I can't find the wsm requirements. Thanks in advance!

If you're wanting to replace the stock lid thermometer with a better quality lid thermometer in the existing hole without drilling, I show an example here using the TelTru BQ225.

If by "better grate calibration" you mean get a temp measurement at the lid that's closer to measuring at the grate vs. the stock WSM thermometer, the BQ225 will help with that somewhat because it's a better quality thermometer. But there's always a difference between measuring in two different locations.

Personally, I like measuring at the lid and then probing the internal temp of the meat. It's worked well for me for 20 years. Rarely do I use a probe at grate level.
 
I have one of the nice, relatively large Tel-Tru thermometers with the Medium-Length Well attached.
I never drilled my lid - I just stick it in the top hole and point the face towards the house
(I can see it close enough to "ballpark" things from my kitchen window.)

It's served me well for about 8 years, but will probably be switching now that I have a Thermoworks Smoke (no need for it)
but may still use it for shorter smokes where the "fancy-pants" electronic unit will be more trouble to clean-up than it's worth.
 
Sorry for hijacking the tread but I have a thought.

If I know how much the built in lid temp differ from the grate then I could still trust the lid temp, or?

We usually cook at 225F and if I measure it on the grate and the built in lid temp shows 245 then I know that when the built in lid temp shows 245 its 255 on the grate, no need to buy a new one :)
 
Sorry for hijacking the tread but I have a thought.

If I know how much the built in lid temp differ from the grate then I could still trust the lid temp, or?

We usually cook at 225F and if I measure it on the grate and the built in lid temp shows 245 then I know that when the built in lid temp shows 245 its 255 on the grate, no need to buy a new one :)

Of course. I've suggested that many times (but threads tend to get lost and/or forgotten; and since the search function isn't so great, answers can't be found) so the question comes up again and again :) (and you mean 225 at the grate, not 255 ;) )
 
Last edited:
My problem with using the lid thermometer because you know the difference between the two is that I have logged both temps and the difference is not consistent. My difference runs from 10 to 50 degrees depending on where I am in the cook. After several cook I found that the difference changed with each cook. I can't depend on the lid thermometer so I use an ET-732.
 

 

Back
Top