Is the vent hotter than the dome (lid gauge) temp?
- Thread starter Monty House
- Start date
Jerry N.
TVWBB Emerald Member
generally, the temp is pretty even throughout the WSM cooking area. Placement of the thermometer will impact readings. For example, readings toward the edge of the grate will tend to be higher because the heat is coming up the sides around the water pan. Near the top of the lid, there is also air flow that affects the reading. A short lid thermometer stem is not best.
The best thing to do is find a consistent place to monitor temps and forget about the rest. If your cooks are taking a little to long even though your thermometer reads 250, then leave the thermometer where it is and let your temp come up to 275 or 300. Use your thermometer as a relative guide, relax and you'll enjoy cooking a lot more.
The best thing to do is find a consistent place to monitor temps and forget about the rest. If your cooks are taking a little to long even though your thermometer reads 250, then leave the thermometer where it is and let your temp come up to 275 or 300. Use your thermometer as a relative guide, relax and you'll enjoy cooking a lot more.
Jerry is right, the reason for the vent temp being higher is because it is in the air stream. Once I got past all the cooker temps I quit worrying over the exacts. I put x amount of unlit and x amount of lit for the meat load and what kind of meat it is, set my vents at 100% then after x time set them at x. All that comes from a massive amount of cooking all different kinds of meats and varying loads of it.
I use my dome therm just to see if its holding or rising or falling.
I use my dome therm just to see if its holding or rising or falling.
Brian Silvey
TVWBB Member
I have only been reading here for a few weeks and it's interesting to note the number of temp discussions. I started one myself. Often the response is to forget about temps and stop worrying. From working with my CG I did come to understand the relative value of the built in thermometer, which was often 150 degrees higher than the grate measured with my Maverick. After many cooks I also learned how much fuel and how much time it would take based on how much and what kind of meat I was cooking. But I got there by paying attention to temp and time and doneness.
I'm sure I'll get the same feel for my WSM after a few cooks. And in doing that I'll be checking the temps on a regular basis until I see for myself how it's working. In another thread K Kruger said temperature doesn't matter. I look forward to his further explanation. Perhaps what he and others mean is the EXACT temp doesn't matter. Getting it close enough is good enough and from there pay attention to how it rises or falls and how long it takes to get the meats cooked.
Thanks,
Brian
I'm sure I'll get the same feel for my WSM after a few cooks. And in doing that I'll be checking the temps on a regular basis until I see for myself how it's working. In another thread K Kruger said temperature doesn't matter. I look forward to his further explanation. Perhaps what he and others mean is the EXACT temp doesn't matter. Getting it close enough is good enough and from there pay attention to how it rises or falls and how long it takes to get the meats cooked.
Thanks,
Brian
Mike P.
TVWBB All-Star
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Jerry N.:
generally, the temp is pretty even throughout the WSM cooking area. Placement of the thermometer will impact readings. For example, readings toward the edge of the grate will tend to be higher because the heat is coming up the sides around the water pan. Near the top of the lid, there is also air flow that affects the reading. A short lid thermometer stem is not best.
The best thing to do is find a consistent place to monitor temps and forget about the rest. If your cooks are taking a little to long even though your thermometer reads 250, then leave the thermometer where it is and let your temp come up to 275 or 300. Use your thermometer as a relative guide, relax and you'll enjoy cooking a lot more. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
What Jerry said. Other variables you may encounter are OAT's and wind. They too can make a difference. What's happening on the inside of your rig is directly proportional to what's happening on the outside of your rig.
generally, the temp is pretty even throughout the WSM cooking area. Placement of the thermometer will impact readings. For example, readings toward the edge of the grate will tend to be higher because the heat is coming up the sides around the water pan. Near the top of the lid, there is also air flow that affects the reading. A short lid thermometer stem is not best.
The best thing to do is find a consistent place to monitor temps and forget about the rest. If your cooks are taking a little to long even though your thermometer reads 250, then leave the thermometer where it is and let your temp come up to 275 or 300. Use your thermometer as a relative guide, relax and you'll enjoy cooking a lot more. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
What Jerry said. Other variables you may encounter are OAT's and wind. They too can make a difference. What's happening on the inside of your rig is directly proportional to what's happening on the outside of your rig.
Unless you're baking a cake or worried about a souffle, I think it's best to just monitor temps at one point [such as the lid thermometer if you have one] and use that as your point of reference. I'm sure there are fluctuations at different points in my WSM, but probably no worse than the oven in my kitchen.
Clint
TVWBB Olympian
IMO mine is, or can be. I mounted mine opposite of the vents & it seems like when I have large pieces of meat just below the therm it must be hotter than the therm says. I've been tempted to mount one in the side, but mine works well enough. The one I mounted in my kettle's lid, well that wasn't the most thought out.... and that one definitely is different than the WSMs.