Dome Temp Question


 
C

Christine Hall

TVWBB Member
I started my brisket at 10 pm and used my Maverick ET732 temp monitor. I had the meat probe inserted into the brisket and I had the grate probe inserted into a half of a lemon which I put about 1.5" away from the brisket. The dome temp for most of the night read about 15 degrees higher than the grate temp which was what I expected. However the problem arose in the morning. The dome read 200F but the grate temp read 250 F is this possible? The outside temp was colder and was probably about 60 degrees and windy. I had the water pan foiled and a clay saucer on top of it. Could the outside temp have affected the dome temp that much or is my dome temp no longer functioning properly? Later that morning I decided to use the grate probe clip that came with the Maverick but I thought I read some where that it might not be accurate if I use it. Any thoughts?
 
Usually it's the opposite when cooking large items. The lid reads cooler at the beginning, than catches up with the grate at the end.
I would just pick one and go with it. The Mav at the grate would be a choice in you're set-up.. I only temp at the top vent (turkey fryer therm or the Mav probe ) I have a lid mounted Tel-tru which I rarely look at.

Edit:
How was the fuel holding up in the morning? One possibility is that the lid was reading a low running fuel supply, while the grate was still reading the temps radiating off the clay saucer..
Those saucers have a lot of mass and once they absorb so much heat they start to release it and take quite awhile to cool down.

Tim
 
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I've been going off of my Maverick grate temp reading-- I figure it's closer to the heat source, and is actually at the same level as the food I have on. It's usually 15-30 degrees higher than the dome temp (like timothy says, the gab starts to close as the cook goes on).
 
timothy said:
Usually it's the opposite when cooking large items. The lid reads cooler at the beginning, than catches up with the grate at the end.
I would just pick one and go with it. The Mav at the grate would be a choice in you're set-up.. I only temp at the top vent (turkey fryer therm or the Mav probe ) I have a lid mounted Tel-tru which I rarely look at.

Edit:
How was the fuel holding up in the morning? One possibility is that the lid was reading a low running fuel supply, while the grate was still reading the temps radiating off the clay saucer..
Those saucers have a lot of mass and once they absorb so much heat they start to release it and take quite awhile to cool down.

Tim
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Tim thanks for the reply. The fuel was running a little low but once I stirred the coals the temp on the Maverick went up but not the dome temp.
 
MattP said:
I've been going off of my Maverick grate temp reading-- I figure it's closer to the heat source, and is actually at the same level as the food I have on. It's usually 15-30 degrees higher than the dome temp (like timothy says, the gab starts to close as the cook goes on).
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Thanks Matt. Do you use the clip that attaches to the grate?
 
Christine Hall said:
Jeff - thanks for the clarification. In my past 2 cooks the dome always read higher than the grate. Hmm interesting.
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And that's the way it should, one would think.. Heat rises and the lid does read 12-15 deg higher when using a therm stuck into the top-vent.
When Weber added the built in dome therm everything started to change. Could be the length of the probe, but 50-75 degs cooler than grate have been posted.

Tim
 
Christine Hall said:
Thanks Matt. Do you use the clip that attaches to the grate?
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Yup! I try to get it as close to the center of the cooking grate as possible, while still keeping it maybe three inches away from anything that I'm actually cooking on that grate.
 
MattP said:
Yup! I try to get it as close to the center of the cooking grate as possible, while still keeping it maybe three inches away from anything that I'm actually cooking on that grate.
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What do you do when you smoke a brisket? When I use the Maverick with a 14 lb brisket I only have maybe 2 inches between the meat and the edge of the grate.
 
I did 8 pork butts last Saturday on the 22 and likewise - what to do with the 732 probe?!? Kinda use both thermometers knowing both are gunna be a little out of wack.
 
Christine Hall said:
What do you do when you smoke a brisket? When I use the Maverick with a 14 lb brisket I only have maybe 2 inches between the meat and the edge of the grate.
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I would suggest you just let it hang out in the top-vent. The probe has a braided cable, just let it drop until the cable holds it. Thats usually right at the crimp.
Then no worries if you're too close to a cold pc of beef or out on the hotter edges.
12-15 degs hotter than grate temp has always been the norm from what I read and do, and I wouldn't care what the built in thermo says.:wsm:
Experiment and you'll find how you're WSM runs in you're backyard.

Tim
 
Christine Hall said:
What do you do when you smoke a brisket? When I use the Maverick with a 14 lb brisket I only have maybe 2 inches between the meat and the edge of the grate.
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Good question-- haven't done a brisket yet. I'll report back around Memorial Day when I do one for the first time. :D

I'm looking for one that's between 10 and 12 pounds, though, so I'm not sure if I'l run into quite the lack of space. I like timothy's idea, though-- going through the top vent would be my first go-to should I not have the desire space to clip the Maverick probe to the grate.
 
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If I have full racks, I get an alligator clip who's crimp end will fit snuggly over the Maverick probe.
I then get a wooden skewer, break it short and stick it into the centermost piece of meat.
Clip the alligator end to the shortened skewer sticking out of the meat, and you get decent (although not perfect) grate temps. Better than nothing though.
 
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