Pit Probe Placement


 
MH Brown

MH Brown

TVWBB Fan
So I have a new Stoker system sitting on the shelf in my garage ready to use this weekend. I'm pretty confident in the setup except for the placement of the pit probe.

I had a comp last weekend and used my ET-73s which worked great...until I put the meat on. Then the temps were off about 30° (low).

I placed the probes underneath the top rack in the middle so as not to touch the food above or below.

The clearance was good and the probes were not touching anything but the temp was off the whole time.

I really would rather not run into this issue with the Stoker considering the cost.

I'm hoping Vincent or someone who uses these regularly (especially in a comp environment) can help in placement suggestions for the best results.

Bear in mind I haven't even tried but I thought I'd save myself the trouble.
 
With the Stoker, I place the meat probe into the side of the meat and clip the oven probe 1-2 inches away from the meat.

While the heat source is trying to keep the oven hot, the food will have the opposite effect, causing the oven to cool. If you place the oven probe under the food, the cooler air from the food will continually flow down over the sensor, causing the lower readings.

If you have had some successful smokes already, use the Stoker probes with out the fan control and just observe the temperatures it records. You can then find the optimal probe placements and start using the Stoker fan control.

Curt
 
You'll find that regardless of where you place the pit probe, if you measure the temperature somewhere else, you'll get a different reading.

I've done at least 10 tests using a large big green egg with the ceramic diffuser "plate setter" and determined that the temperature inside the grill commonly vary by as much 25F depending on your probe placement. This is with no meat in the grill at all. With meat inside, results are similar.

Check this cook. Notice how the blue line at the grill varies compared to the red line which is the pit probe placed in the dome. If reverse the two probes, the effect is identical, with one wandering around and the other staying where it is supposed to (this is before I tuned the control better so it is more jagged). I've also done this with two probes at the grill and one in the dome and guess what? 3 different readings. The two on the grill are generally closer to each other though. I've even tried putting the second probe on the heat diffuser. That smoothed out the line a lot but it still varied above and below by up to 15F.

So the answer is that even with a 150lb ceramic cooker with an ceramic heat diffuser and a controller keeping one probe within a couple of degrees of target, you can't get a uniform temperature. Best thing to do is to just be consistent about where you locate the pit probe and overall it sort of works out. (As long as the probe isn't touching meat obviously)

EDIT: Unless you're saying the pit probe was 30F off target (as read by its indicator) the whole time in which case that's just broke!
 
@Curt I had an ah-ha moment when you described it. Cool air sinks and that meat was cooler than the rest of the air so it would naturally sink and make my readings cooler.

I hope to get enough tests in before our next comp that I'm comfortable with it. I'm thinking it's time to get a couple more WSMs so I don't have to cram the meat in during a comp or a big cook. That breaks my hear...
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I use a modified version of the pit probe clips that Rock's typically ships with a Stoker system. I place the clip on the top grate, just inside the grate handle and have the pit probe itself facing directly towards the center of the cooker. This keeps the probe about an inch above the top grate and even with the meat. This has worked very well for me over the years.
 
Thanks Vincent. I appreciate everyone's input. Can't wait to fire this thing up tomorrow. I know I'm going to have to get a fan, probe and adapter for the other WSM as it will be jealous of the other one.
 
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