LMichaels
TVWBB 2-Star Olympian
Yesterday I found an oddity at Sam's. A beautiful prime ribeye steak packaged singly. Well, that had the makings of our supper last night. Big Z is just a little too big for one lonely steak. So it went on Member's Mark. In process I discovered something quite remarkable about it.................Just how accurate it's controller is. I figured (hoped even) it would be "in the ballpark" but it's honestly better than in the park.
I had my TW Smoke out there with the needle probe for the steak (BTW I do LIKE that needle probe. I use it more than any other). Anyway since I had an open port I decided to try out the Ambient sensor as well and slid that in keeping about same height/location as the built in RTD.
Had the grill on P1 for awhile allowing the steak to snuggle up to some smoke. Noted temps on the control panel staying in the 180ish range. (Since P is not a PID setting it varies a bit more). The Smoke reading held within 5 deg of the control panel reading. Only thing I noticed is the Smoke responded faster to changes. So, I.E., when I pulled the steak at 115 internal to rest while I cranked MM up to 430, I watched the Smoke. It climbed faster than the control panel. So because the control panel (RTD) reading was a little "behind" the Smoke slightly over shot my target. I attribute this to the RTD being mounted on the outside wall of the grill and even though it's fully insulated all around I think the outer portion does warm slower. But, once the RTD caught up, they were quite a bit in lockstep with one another. Showing me the controller is incredibly accurate. Far more than I expected and a bit more than Big Z (though in fairness MM is working with a brand new RTD and Z is not I still have to install the new one there).
Anyway I thought it would be interesting to note just how good that on sale $199 grill could be.
Oh, and the steak after finishing up at 430? Nice crust, perfect mid rare edge to edge, Honestly one of the best ribeyes I have ever cooked (or eaten) bar none. Just makes me kick myself even more I did not buy 2 (or even 3) of those when I could have at $199
I had my TW Smoke out there with the needle probe for the steak (BTW I do LIKE that needle probe. I use it more than any other). Anyway since I had an open port I decided to try out the Ambient sensor as well and slid that in keeping about same height/location as the built in RTD.
Had the grill on P1 for awhile allowing the steak to snuggle up to some smoke. Noted temps on the control panel staying in the 180ish range. (Since P is not a PID setting it varies a bit more). The Smoke reading held within 5 deg of the control panel reading. Only thing I noticed is the Smoke responded faster to changes. So, I.E., when I pulled the steak at 115 internal to rest while I cranked MM up to 430, I watched the Smoke. It climbed faster than the control panel. So because the control panel (RTD) reading was a little "behind" the Smoke slightly over shot my target. I attribute this to the RTD being mounted on the outside wall of the grill and even though it's fully insulated all around I think the outer portion does warm slower. But, once the RTD caught up, they were quite a bit in lockstep with one another. Showing me the controller is incredibly accurate. Far more than I expected and a bit more than Big Z (though in fairness MM is working with a brand new RTD and Z is not I still have to install the new one there).
Anyway I thought it would be interesting to note just how good that on sale $199 grill could be.
Oh, and the steak after finishing up at 430? Nice crust, perfect mid rare edge to edge, Honestly one of the best ribeyes I have ever cooked (or eaten) bar none. Just makes me kick myself even more I did not buy 2 (or even 3) of those when I could have at $199
