New to the party... Thermometer question


 
M

Mark James

New member
Just signed on after lurking a bit. Bought an 18.5, and did a rack of baby backs right out of the gate. Cheated and went with a McCormick ridiculously salty rub, and will be making my own for tomorrow's second chance. Question is what digital thermometer is everyone using? I smoked the ribs on the top rack for about four hours and they were done to perfection, even though the thermo read 200+/- the entire time. Read here its 30-50 degrees off, which seemed to be the case, so thanks for that tip.

thanks all. Great forum... learned a lot over the past several weeks.
 
The Maverick brand is one of the most popular. I have a 732 because I can sit and watch the games while keeping an eye on the what the cooker is doing. There are other brands that do the same thing.

I also have the original version of the iGrill which runs off Bluetooth. It's fun to use the graphing feature especially if you have to run out for a few minutes just to see what happened while you were away. Like the Mav, there are other brands with Bluetooth and graphing features as well.
 
Welcome aboard Mark!
I have an older 18.5" WSM with no built in therm, so I use the Maverick ET-732 if I feel it's needed.
Once you get the hang of how your smoker runs, you might find that a thermometer is not even needed.
 
I also have the Maverick et-732. A fine thermometer, but they can have problems with the probs shorting out. That said though, customer service has always sent me new ones.
 
Welcome to the forum Mark! I have a maverick 732 also and really like it. Some of the folks here do a lot of BBQ and after awhile like Bob Correll said you may find you don't need one, but I'm not there yet.
 
I'll add to the folks that use a Maverick et-732. Nice to be able to be taking of other things and have the ability to see if the temp has spiked or dropped.
 
I have a Maverick and it is a good unit, however, I don't use it any more. If you like buying toys, go ahead and get a Maverick. If you want simple or to save a few bucks, I would do the following:

First, I would test the thermometer. Boiling water is about 212°, take out the thermometer and put it in boiling water (full rolling boil) and see how far off it is. If it is really far off, Weber should replace it.

Second, realize that other things affect the temp reading. My belief is that the Weber thermometer's stem is too short and the reading up that high in the dome is affected by air flow. Try turning the lid so the vent points in another direction (away from the direction of the wind) and see if that changes anything.

Third, you've already realized the easiest, least expensive thing. Just adjust to what you have. If you're reading is always off by about 30° you add 30° to your reading and you're all set. Given that your ribs were done in four hours, I'd say your thermometer is off by about 75°. Generally, at 250°. baby backs would take about six hours (assuming you did not foil).

Anyway, just something to think about. Like many folks, I bought a lot of things out of the gate. Currently, I only use my Thermapen and a cheap thermometer I installed (I have an older unit). I will say out of the things I bought, the Maverick did get a good deal of use. However, after awhile, the WSM is so predictable that I didn't need it. I can easily get my WSM going and once it's stable (about 1 - 2 hours), I can leave it for around 8 hours without worry (i.e. I can sleep on an overnight cook.).
 
I use the Maverick 732 too.
No issues with it so far.
I have read about the probes shorting out, when you was them just don't submerge them in the sink. Run the water. From the the tip to the wire and it should be fine. If a probe does quit working after it is washed I would try throwing it in a 250 degree oven for a while to see if it comes back to life.
 
Tom Golden said:
Jerry - are you sure about the rib temp? I do 4 racks of BB at 220F in 3:45-4 hours. No foil.
Click to expand...

As with most things in BBQ, I'm not sure, but that's been my experience. I think as a general rule, BB would take between 4 and 6 hours but it all depends on temp. I don't see how you would get ribs done in less than four hours at 220°. Just for a reasonability check, here is the BRITU recipe from Chris' site http://virtualweberbullet.com/rib1.html

Those took 4-1/2 hours and he started at 233° and pushed them up over 275° during and toward the end of the cook. However, as I did indicate in my post, the easiest thing to do is work with what you have and not get all hung up on the temp the thermometer is reading. If your thermometer reads 220° and your ribs get done in less than four hours and you like them - I say all is good! Sure, you might be actually cooking at 300°, but who cares. That's my main message - especially for those who are tight on cash. Save the money and don't get a Maverick and spend it on meat. :D
 
If I did ribs for 6 hrs they'd be jerky. Temps are from calibrated devices in my smokers. But as you say, whatever works. For the newbies,I'\d say check them at 4 hours. :)
 
I am running a Maverick 733. It as two probes you can use as either a meat probe OR ambient temp probe. It is wireless so you can set it and walk away and always know the temp of your meat and smoker. Great unit. Good luck
 
I received the iGrill and love it so for through 4 cooks....like the alarm features that I can set. Others have it as well.
Like the graph feature for cook logs and also to see when dips/spikes happen while I'm catching some z's on overnight cooks
 
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