Smoker Dome Temp this far off?
- Thread starter NeilH
- Start date
timothy
TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
I'm a top venter.. You could measure @ the grate..but that does have some variables. Too close to the edge and or cold meat can give you suspect readings.
Top vent is always consistent and it doesn't matter if you use the water,sand,clay pot or an empty foiled pan or two racks of cold meat.
Try it you might like it
Tim
Top vent is always consistent and it doesn't matter if you use the water,sand,clay pot or an empty foiled pan or two racks of cold meat.
Try it you might like it
Tim
timothy
TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
Yep. And my $35.00 Tel-Tru can read 75-100deg lower than my $6.00 turkey fryer therm stuck in the top vent.
So what can we gain from this people? Stick with what works and gives consistent results in you're backyard
Tim
timothy
TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
Hmm not really unless you use a 12" probe. Mine only sticks in a few inches and usually there is a couple butts right under it. Temps @ vent are tempered by being in the exhaust.
Certainly not the only way to do-it, butt I trust it.
Tim
Bob Mann
TVWBB Honor Circle
I meant a wired probe, like from an ET-732 or an ATC system.Hmm not really unless you use a 12" probe. Mine only sticks in a few inches and usually there is a couple butts right under it. Temps @ vent are tempered by being in the exhaust.
Certainly not the only way to do-it, butt I trust it.
Tim
I don't drop my probe through the top vent, but some people do. I put a probe grommet on my WSM, I get my probe right at the top grate level.
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NeilH
TVWBB Emerald Member
Thanks Tim. I'm learning the ropes. All kinds of info to be had.Neil it happens. Like I said I have a quality Tel-Tru I located in the same location as the stock WSM thermo. If I knew which one was Right I'd be a genius
I just go with trial & error to get good results
Tim
Dave Russell
TVWBB Honor Circle
Ok, so unscrew the wingnut and test the Weber gauge as well. If it's within 5*, consider it good as long as you realize that AT IT'S WORST (beginning of cook with cold meat), it's measuring the coldest temp in the cooker for two reasons. One, it's over cold meat that was just put in the cooker. Two, it's out of the stream of circulation and also at a place where the effects of wind will show the most if you do like most of us and turn your exhaust vent downwind.
The stream of circulation in a wsm is hottest air up the sides of the walls, up through the outside perimeter of the cooking grates (where overcooked ends of rib racks happen), and quickly out of the dome vent. By "quickly", I mean that the cooler air in the middle around the meat is NOT in that stream of circulation, thus affected a LOT by a lot of relatively cool meat and cooler temp from the water, if that's in the pan.
If you check the Weber gauge for accuracy, check temps sometime with NO meat on the cooker and you'll notice that the difference between vent temp and dome gauge is not near as far off, just like in the latter stages of a cook after the bbq is hot and nearing done. Like someone else put it, OVER THE COURSE OF A COOK, TEMPS IN THE COOKER WILL EVENTUALLY EVEN OUT. One other thing to consider with the dome gauge though is that later in a cook if the sun is hitting the dome directly, I can promise that it's highly probable that the gauge will then read HIGHER than the actual cooking grate temp. But from measuring grate temp a lot I can tell you that the dome gauge temp isn't any more "off" from the actual cooking temp than the vent temp is, over the course of a cook as it applies to estimating temps/times. Pick whatever works for you though, and stick with one or the other to learn temps/times and better nail serving times.
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Dwain Pannell
TVWBB Hall of Fame
Here's what Chris has written about temps in the WSM: http://virtualweberbullet.com/measuretemp.html
Mike Leiter
TVWBB Pro
You said its colder than the grate area at dome thermometer location yet on the link here on second page of topic it says dome temp is hotter than the grate.. Now I`m getting confused......Granted they say through the lid meaning dropping in the vent since this study was done on models that did not have the dome thermometer installed in them from the looks of the pictures.. So is dome reading higher or lower than the top grate temp? I always thought the dome would read hotter than the grate??? I get my temps off the top and bottom grate with probes and then also have them in the meat for a accurate reading. I use the dome one for a quick visual of temp..if its going down I know my whole smoker is...and vice versa...
Here is a cut and paste from the link page:
Temperature Differential Between The Lid and The Cooking Grate
When measuring temperature through the lid, you must account for the fact that the reading will be higher than the temperature occurring at each cooking grate. I've done some "experiments" on my Weber Bullet using my Trend thermometer through the lid and a Fluke Model 52 electronic thermometer and two k-type bead probes measuring temperature 1-3/4" above each cooking grate.
My tests show that when the Weber Bullet reaches a stable temperature of 225-250°F measured through the lid, the lid temperature averages 12-15°F higher than the top grate temperature and the top grate averages 4-10°F higher than the bottom grate. These numbers assume the water pan is replenished every 90-120 minutes. So, if I'm targeting 225°F on the top grate, I'm looking for about 237-240°F on my thermometer through the lid.
When the cooker experiences a sudden temperature change (for example, when the lid is removed or when unlit smoke wood suddenly ignites) the temperature differential between the lid and grates may fluctuate dramatically and quickly, but things will stabilize as the cooker settles back into the 225-250°F range. It should be noted that the averages described above do not hold when the cooker is running at a higher temperature, say above 280° measured through the lid, or as the cooker temperature begins to taper off as the fuel supply is exhausted.
Please consider these temperature differentials as a starting point for your own experimentation. Your temperature differential between the lid and cooking grates may be different than mine, depending on a variety of factors, including the type and accuracy of thermometer used.
Here are two documents you can download if you're interested in a sample of the temperature differences I've measured in the Weber Bullet.
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timothy
TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
Mike.. simple answer is everything that was printed on the board before Weber decided to install a lid vent was what we knew.
Now who knows??
Heat does rise soo....
What I do when temping @ top vent is the same as the link. Temps are usually 12-15 deg higher than grate.
Works for me since 08
Oh and Chris A does have a lid mounted thermo on an older WSM so his tests on "lid temps" might reflect that.
Tim
Now who knows??
Heat does rise soo....
What I do when temping @ top vent is the same as the link. Temps are usually 12-15 deg higher than grate.
Works for me since 08
Oh and Chris A does have a lid mounted thermo on an older WSM so his tests on "lid temps" might reflect that.
Tim
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Mike Leiter
TVWBB Pro
Thats what I had found too. Like I said though the dome thermometer is more of a system running visual for me as I use probes for food and grate actual temps... I have seen both hotter at the dome and then cooler at the dome being referenced so its conflicting on what it really is. I see hotter at the dome on my readings and I checked my dome thermometer and its within 2 degrees of dead on. My grate temp is usually lower..Mike.. simple answer is everything that was printed on the board before Weber decided to install a lid vent was what we knew.
Now who knows??
Heat does rise soo....
What I do when temping @ top vent is the same as the link. Temps are usually 12-15 deg higher than grate.
Works for me since 08
Tim
Tim