WSM thermometer reading low?


 
J

Josh Lessard

New member
Hi folks. I'm doing my very first rib smoke as I type this. The recipe I'm following says to shoot for 215-225 degrees, and not to exceed 230. I have the thermometer on the WSM lid holding steady at 215, but the wireless probe I dropped into the top vent is reading 276. I've heard there can be a discrepancy between the two, but that's huge. Is this normal?

Thanks.
 
Mine reads 50-60 degrees low.

You'll still get great ribs, they'll just cook a little quicker and you'll have a smaller "done" window, meaning you need to watch it a little more closely.
 
Originally posted by Matt Sanders:
You'll still get great ribs, they'll just cook a little quicker and you'll have a smaller "done" window, meaning you need to watch it a little more closely.
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This is my very first time smoking ribs, so I'm not sure how much I should deviate from the recipe, and I've never checked for doneness before. The recipe says to smoke for 3.5 hours, then foil with juice and put back on for 1.5 hours. What would you recommend doing here?

Thanks.
 
Are they baby back or spares?

Personally, I don't foil ribs. I stick 'em on, then don't mess until I start to check for done.

Two good ways to check for done..... Stick a toothpick or probe in. It should give no resistance (like warm butter). Or, grab the ribs with your tongs, and give it a light shake. If the very top layer of the meat "cracks" and exposes the meat underneath, it's done.

I really don't know how much foiling affects time, as I don't foil.

Don't bother chasing temps though. You'll drive yourself nuts. 225. 250. 275. 300. They all work. Some people here cook ribs over 300.
 
And most people who foil will take the foil off for the last segment of cooking, to firm up the outside of the ribs. I think if you go right from foil to plate, you'll have a soft, mushy exterior.
 
Are they baby back or spares?
Click to expand...

They are baby backs.

Don't bother chasing temps though. You'll drive yourself nuts. 225. 250. 275. 300. They all work. Some people here cook ribs over 300.
Click to expand...

Heh...I'm not actually chasing a temp. It's holding quite steady; it just appears that it's 60 degrees higher than what I originally intended. What I'm worried about is how much to reduce cooking time before I start checking for doneness, as I don't want to overdo them. If anyone has suggestions, I'd appreciate it.

Thanks.
 
If you're actually cooking at 275 dome, I'd start checking for done at around 2.5-3 hours, without foil.

I can't imagine BB would take 5 hours, with 1 1/2 hours of foil.
 
Yes, the wsm therm can read quite low for a while until the meat loses it's chill, but to what degree obviously depends on what's on the top rack. For instance, the dome therm is gonna read lower in relation to actual cooking temp if standing a few slabs of ribs in a rack vs. one or two slabs laid flat, for both the amount of meat and the proximity of it to the dome lid. However, temps within the smoker will even out as the cook progresses, and you just got to learn your smoker. I know that I'm gonna start my cooks with the dome therm at about 200*, but it's gonna settle in at around 12 or 1 o'clock later on.

I use water in the pan and don't foil, but there's plenty of folks that do the opposite on both accounts. Water smokers tend to keep the bark softer though so you get a better product without foil in my experience. Just don't cook too slow, and the way you can tell is if you never have to add any water to the pan. Let it steam away!

Regarding the vent temp, take into account that it is maybe 20* higher than the actual grate temp. Even trying to take that into account though, for some reason or another my cooks went longer back when I went by vent temp. Beware of direct sunlight on the dome gauge after the meat is cooking good, though.
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