PSA: why you NEED a good grilling thermometer!

[jfmorris]

So, ran out of oven space this morning for two pots of beef biria, and decided to do what I’ve done before and use the gas grill as an outdoor oven, setting two outside burners on and putting my Dutch oven in the middle.

Normally I’ve got by the dome thermometer, figuring it was accurate enough. Stupid I know! Today I decided to clip a grate probe next to the Dutch oven, and found a huge difference. This is on a Weber Genesis II.

so here is the setup…



Running the outer two burners, monitoring with the Weber Connect.



And this is what the DOME thermometer reads, a couple hours in without opening the lid…



And you can see the true temp below!



And just to share…




Anyway - folks - don’t trust that dome thermometer like I did, to show you any kind of true temp when indirect grilling…

[realdocBBQ]

Birria is freaking AWESOME! Jealous today!

[jfmorris]

First heard of it here, then tried it at a Mexican spot that opened up around the corner from me - birria quesadilla I think with that awesome dipping sauce. I promptly found a video by Sam the Cooking Guy and made it myself. Sadly took me a year to make it a second time - for celebrating two family birthdays here today.

[Uncle Bob]

Good reinforcing commentary/reminder. Bimetallic analog thermometers can be pretty iffy, though the TelTru ones seem pretty accurate. However, the location is often part of the "deception". Over on the OJ Bronco group of FB, for example, there are so many people who stress about the inaccuracy of the supplied thermometer when compared to a digital they clip to the back of the grate. It's worthless to point out to them that the bimetallic is measuring at the front of the barrel, below the grate, and they're measuring just a few inches below the exhaust stack with their digital. Different zones/environments.

[Mosca]

Do you make birria, or do you make quesabirria?

[Mosca]

Those Click chucks were the best I’ve ever had, bar none.

[jfmorris]

Yes they are/were. As I cubed those up last night I was thinking that with the marbling they would make a nice steak if sliced about half as thick. Wish I could get more that good.

[jfmorris]

And yes - looking up quesabarria that was what we had. Dipped the tortillas in the juice, tossed in a hot skillet with the meat inside a minute or so per side. We had a dairy allergy to deal with so had to keep the cheese as a condiment on the side for those that wanted it. Added cheese or fake cheese, chopped white onion and cilantro. Any that wanted dipping sauce dipped it out into a cup.

[Reds Fan 5]

Single most important thing I learned about cooking—temp, not time. Dramatically improved all of my cooking, not just smoking/grilling.