Two newbie questions


 
L

L. Donaldson

New member
Got a wsm for Christmas used it for the first time yesterday. Questions are with grill do you use the most & how good is the thermometer on the lid.
Thanks for any help.
Larry
 
1 - I use the upper grate the most.

2 - Depends. It seems the newer therms have a larger variance than those of a few years ago. Test your lid therm against a good insta-read digital at the top vent. If you have a corded-probe therm, like the Polder 307 or Maverick ET-73, then take also readings at the top and lower grate and note the differences from the lid therm. That way, if your probes are in meat, then you can use the lid therm to estimate what the grate temps are.
 
Thanks for the info...follow up question Whats the temp difference between the upper and lower grate during a cook? Thanks Larry
 
Temp difference between upper and lower vary but it's usually about 15º~20º. There are several threads that discuss this.

You need to test to determine your WSM's specific differences.

Also, compare these temps to the lid therm's reading. From this difference, you can guesstimate the grate temps from the lid's.
 
Me, I don't much care for installed lid therms so I ignore them. I just temp at the lid vent.

I don't bother checking grate temps and don't really recommend it. Nor do I think it's helpful to check differences in temps between grates. As evidenced here, I think new cooks can easily get lost or frustrated by focusing on various location temps and their possible differences.

In a typical low/slow setup with water in the pan, temps at the lower grate will be lower, but the difference narrows considerably or is eliminated over longer cooking sessions. With sand or ceramic or nothing in the pan, the difference may or may not materialize, but is more dependent of how the cooker is fired up - how much lit to begin with - and what the temp cooktemp target is.
 
After reading all of the complaints on the WSM thermometer, when I finally got my WSM, I removed the thermometer, and placed the stem in a pot of water which I slowly heater. I was careful to submerge as much of the stem as possible, yet keep it from touching the bottom of the pan. I did likewise with the thermocouple Thermopen, which has a reputation for quick response and accuracy. From 100F, the low end of the scale on the Weber thermometer, up to the boiling point of 205F, both thermometers tracked each other within the one degree accuracy I could read, and the mechanical Weber thermometer was more responsive than I had imagined.

My assessment of any potential perceived problem is that fact that the stem of the Weber thermometer is screwed directly to the lid, seemingly with a good thermal conduction path from thermometer stem to the lid. As a a consequence, the temperature of the stem is going to be brought down (typically) by conduction of heat to the surrounding outside air. This is exactly my observation. The lid thermometer reads lower that my top grate (read with an ET-73 smoker probe).

It's not really that the thermometer is inaccurate. In fact, I feel that it is amazingly accurate for a mechanical thermometer. It's just that its installation is not ideal for reading the inside air temperature of the smoker.
 
it's not that the themometers are inaccurate. it's very much the myth that they are is what is inaccurate.

additionally, the sensing end of bimetal themometers (stock weber, tru-tel, et al...) is at the end of the stem and insulated from the housing.

You could get away with one themometer and that is in the meat. the second thermometer in the lid is more than adequate.
 
Originally posted by Mike Durso:
it's not that the themometers are inaccurate. it's very much the myth that they are is what is inaccurate.

additionally, the sensing end of bimetal themometers (stock weber, tru-tel, et al...) is at the end of the stem and insulated from the housing.

You could get away with one themometer and that is in the meat. the second thermometer in the lid is more than adequate.
Click to expand...

Yes, my experience is similar. Nothing wrong with the thermometer -- it's just not the same temp as the grate level.

As Kevin said (and the others seem to agree), once you understand the difference, there's really no reason to be concerned. I watch the lid thermometer for relative reference and I know it's 20 - 25* lower than the upper grate. And I rely on a meat probe to tell me what's going on.

I also always check the meat probe with an instant read. Probe placement isn't always perfect and I have occasionally found BIG differences between the probe and the instant read. Re-checking either verifies the probe or shows that the probe was in the wrong spot. I haven't screwed up a smoke yet (on my knees, prayerful attitude).

Rich
 
Agreed. But how can we say that it is a myth that they are inacurate when they just don't read the correct temp? John is correct in my opinion and it's cool that he went to the trouble of checking it, but if it is not possible for it to read correctly mounted where it is, then why mount it there at all? We have access to this forum and the info provided in it, but most people are not going to be aware of this. IMO Weber should either mount the thermometer in a location where it can read properly, or calibrate it accordingly.
 
It would be impossible for weber to take into account many different cooking temps. The temp difference changes depending on your cook temp.

If they were to move the therm to measure temp at the cooking grate, users could run into problems with it getting in the way or being near cold meat and reading lower.

It's ironic that they put a therm on the wsm, most likely in response to users demands, and no body likes it.
 
Originally posted by j biesinger:
It would be impossible for weber to take into account many different cooking temps. The temp difference changes depending on your cook temp.

If they were to move the therm to measure temp at the cooking grate, users could run into problems with it getting in the way or being near cold meat and reading lower.

It's ironic that they put a therm on the wsm, most likely in response to users demands, and no body likes it.
Click to expand...

REALLY good point in that last paragraph, j. And your right that SO many situational things influence that thermomenter. Those who use the upper vent with a thermo experience the same kind of issues plus more.

I think the point is that the thermometers appear to be accruate. The situational environment (including the difference in level between the very top of the lid and the grate are what is at issue. And for many (maybe most) smoking situations, the small (and changing) difference between the lid thermometer and the grate are irrelevant.

Relax and enjoy your smoke.

Rich
 
Originally posted by S Mitchell:
Agreed. But how can we say that it is a myth that they are inacurate when they just don't read the correct temp? John is correct in my opinion and it's cool that he went to the trouble of checking it, but if it is not possible for it to read correctly mounted where it is, then why mount it there at all? We have access to this forum and the info provided in it, but most people are not going to be aware of this. IMO Weber should either mount the thermometer in a location where it can read properly, or calibrate it accordingly.
Click to expand...

they do read a pretty accurate temp read at where they are located. From what i remember, the suppliers that they are using are reliable in providing thermometers that are +/- 10 or better.

I think everyone will agree that it cannot be spot on. you have a giant needle pointing between 230 and 240.. what is it? it's more than likely between 230 and 240, but i don't know exactly.

more importantly, i don't need to know exactly.

where else can it be mounted? given that you asked 100 different people, you could get up to 100 different answers, yet the most logical would be on the lid.

it's true that it was in response to many people asking for it and it was a very popular mod. while there are many people here that are power smokers, there are others that just use it a few times a year.

with the testing that was done, it placed in a fairly usable place with good accuracy.
 
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