Smoker: PBC
Grill: A 20-year-old Webber 22.5" Kettle with a Slow and Sear
Thermometers: A Maverick ET732, A Thermapen, a few miscellaneous thermometers
Misc: I just seem to keep buying things.
I've got some ribs in my PBC and so I just let both probes from my Maverick ET-732 hang rather than put one in the meat. They've been holding steady for 30 minutes now about 25-30 degrees apart. They are at same height but hanging off different rebar. Thoughts? Or do I just need to put them in an ice bath tomorrow? If they are not correct can you calibrate the Maverick?
> Weber Genesis EP-330
> Grilla Grills Original Grilla (OG) pellet smoker with Alpha/Connect
> Pit Barrel Cooker (gone to a new home)
> WeberQ 2000 (on "loan" to a relative (I'll never see it again))
> Old Smokey Electric (for chickens mostly - when it's too nasty out
to fiddle with a more capable cooker)
> Luhr Jensen Little Chief Electric - Top Loader circa 1990 (smoked fish & jerky)
> Thermoworks Smoke
> 3 Thermoworks Chef Alarms
> Thermoworks Thermapen One
> Thermoworks Thermapen Classic
> Thermoworks Thermopop
> Thermoworks IR-GUN-S
> Anova sous vide circulator
> Searzall torch
> BBQ Guru Rib Ring
> WÜSTHOF, Dalstrong, and Buck knives
> Paprika App on Mac and iOS
Jerod Broussard - has said that the side of the barrel closest to the bottom vent will run hotter early in the cook. Later in the cook, the side of the barrel farthest from the bottom vent will run hotter. Is this consistent with the measurements that you posted?
Interesting. Thanks for that info. I'm only an hour in and yes the hotter one is closer to the front. I'm just amazed something so small can fluctuate like that.
I can't speak for the Pit Barrel but last weekend I cooked up a couple of slabs of SLC ribs in the kettle with SnS. When they were cold they barely fit. I had part of one rib leaning up on the grab handle for the grate which elevated that part of the rib about 1-2 inches off the grate. After 2 hours I decided to move the ribs around (glad I did) and that part was noticeably more cooked than the rest of the slab. By this time they had shrunk down enough that I had room for them. I know Huskee had said that when he used a hover grill in the kettle he noticed temps were a LOT higher at that elevation. My recent experience ratifies his observation.
In short, I don't think your temperature variation is at all strange.
Interesting. Thanks for the info. I don't know how people learned to do this before this site came around. You all are just a treasure trove of knowledge. I'm taking everyone's advice and not worrying about it too much.
The Pit Barrel is pretty consistent top to bottom, but around various parts in the barrel it can vary unless you have plenty meat filling that dude up.
Even then, there is a progressive burn to the basket. That is how it maintains a pretty consistent temp over the course of a cook.
If I have briskets I will hang the shorter ones closest to the vent. If I have a point that was cut off I will hang that.
Hang them as close together as you can to see how close they are. If they are close, that will answer your question. If they are close, I'd move them around to find the hot spots.
> Weber Genesis EP-330
> Grilla Grills Original Grilla (OG) pellet smoker with Alpha/Connect
> Pit Barrel Cooker (gone to a new home)
> WeberQ 2000 (on "loan" to a relative (I'll never see it again))
> Old Smokey Electric (for chickens mostly - when it's too nasty out
to fiddle with a more capable cooker)
> Luhr Jensen Little Chief Electric - Top Loader circa 1990 (smoked fish & jerky)
> Thermoworks Smoke
> 3 Thermoworks Chef Alarms
> Thermoworks Thermapen One
> Thermoworks Thermapen Classic
> Thermoworks Thermopop
> Thermoworks IR-GUN-S
> Anova sous vide circulator
> Searzall torch
> BBQ Guru Rib Ring
> WÜSTHOF, Dalstrong, and Buck knives
> Paprika App on Mac and iOS
I wouldn't fuss over trying to diagnose the apparent difference during the current cook. Too much lid-off time and you can really lose control of the PBC temp. I'd wait until a later date and do the probe comparison in the kitchen oven instead.
Get DWCowels to use all his temp gadgets to look into this. Could be interesting? I would bet that the weber kettles are even more uneven especially in cold weather. Ever touch the outside of your cooker in different areas or shoot it with an infrared gun?
Every cooker I've ever had had uneven longitudinal temperature profiles. Hot spots are a fact of life. Hot spots are dictated by airflow and airflow within a cooker can vary widely based on wind direction, time of day, how a fire spreads, etc. I'd say your probes are accurate, but to test them I'd test them against boiling water. Please DO NOT let your probes touch the bottom of the pan of boiling water. That's a very quick way to toast your probe. Don't ask how I know this bit of trivia!
Thanks. I keep meaning to change it but everyone likes it. When I first become a Pit Member I was at work and it was the only picture I had. We did a silly event fundraiser at work so clearly I had to dress up like Batman.
Smoker: PBC
Grill: A 20-year-old Webber 22.5" Kettle with a Slow and Sear
Thermometers: A Maverick ET732, A Thermapen, a few miscellaneous thermometers
Misc: I just seem to keep buying things.
So I opened it up to do a bend test (not quite there) and moved the probes to the same rebar. They now read within one degree. Guess I need to get to know my PBC better. Thanks for all the advice guys.
Obi-Dan - relax! You ARE getting to know your PBC! How do you think we discover hot spots in out various cookers? Experience! We've all been there. You're asking the right questions.
> Weber Genesis EP-330
> Grilla Grills Original Grilla (OG) pellet smoker with Alpha/Connect
> Pit Barrel Cooker (gone to a new home)
> WeberQ 2000 (on "loan" to a relative (I'll never see it again))
> Old Smokey Electric (for chickens mostly - when it's too nasty out
to fiddle with a more capable cooker)
> Luhr Jensen Little Chief Electric - Top Loader circa 1990 (smoked fish & jerky)
> Thermoworks Smoke
> 3 Thermoworks Chef Alarms
> Thermoworks Thermapen One
> Thermoworks Thermapen Classic
> Thermoworks Thermopop
> Thermoworks IR-GUN-S
> Anova sous vide circulator
> Searzall torch
> BBQ Guru Rib Ring
> WÜSTHOF, Dalstrong, and Buck knives
> Paprika App on Mac and iOS
You didn't say what kind of ribs you're cooking. If they are pork back ribs with a lot of loin meat attached (like the ones I find at Costco) that loin meat can interfere with the bend test. The good news is that if there is enough loin meat to interfere, there's enough to probe with a fast instant read thermometer. If that's the case, then I will cook until the loin meat IT is at LEAST 190 deg. F ... more likely 195 before crossing fingers and pulling.
I noticed the same thing last week in my PBC with my 733 probes. One meat and one the blunt tip smoker probe. When I brought them in the house the were almost reading the same.
Smoker: PBC
Grill: A 20-year-old Webber 22.5" Kettle with a Slow and Sear
Thermometers: A Maverick ET732, A Thermapen, a few miscellaneous thermometers
Misc: I just seem to keep buying things.
So I wrapped the other two for travel when I remembered to take a pic. They look, smell, and feel great. I used the cherry rub from Simply Marvelous. Gave it this color. Should know taste in about half an hour. Thanks for all the knowledge.
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