Where to probe with 1?

[VanW]

Want to get my fire temp right. Since I have only 1 probe, where should it go? Near the meat and it seems to read low. In the top of my Kettle, and very hot? What the real temperature in my Weber? Doing a test run on the turkey.

[MBMorgan]

Want to get my fire temp right. Since I have only 1 probe, where should it go? Near the meat and it seems to read low. In the top of my Kettle, and very hot? What the real temperature in my Weber? Doing a test run on the turkey.

Near the meat ... an inch or so above the grill grate but no closer than about 2". There's a bubble of cold air all around the meat and you don't want your probe in there.

[VanW]

Thanks. That makes sence now.

[Attjack]

Near the meat. Which thermometer are you using? Does your Weber have a dome thermometer as well?

[VanW]

It does. That's what was throwing me off. There was almost a 100 degree difference. I'm using the ThermPro. Just never seen it that far apart.

[Attjack]

I would definitely expect a fairly sizable discrepancy between dome temp and grate temp. Are you running the test with an empty kettle? You might also consider testing your ThermPro Here's a good link. Check out Thermometer calibration and Where to stick it:

https://amazingribs.com/ratings-reviews-and-buying-gu

[JGo37]

Maybe you can clearly see where my ambient is if you click on the pic and look in a new window but it's pretty clear here. It's a couple inches away from the lower kettle wall, just inside the probes grommet. It's about 1.5" off the grate. It's far enough from the meat to be out of the flux zone and display true temp. For this cook it's pointed away from the fuel to give me a better idea of what the far side of the meat is seeing. This was a low and slow so not much mattered other than not drifting to a low temp. I had the lid open for a while - you can see it's at 106F. The meat is still at 39F - my fridge temp. The dome was ~ 350F when I opened it. It when up to ~ 210F after being shut a few minutes. I set the alarm ceiling at 235F, but had to raise it to 245F later - it spent most of the cook in the 230's F.

I'm guessing it was 91F outside, in the sun, that day.

[VanW]

Thanks. I just have never seen such a disparity in the two gauges (mine and the Weber standard gauge). This is a great pic but clearly going to cost me some money. Those shelves now have my eye and I kinda like those tongs too...

[JGo37]

The shelves are flawless. No regrets - that's why there's now two. They're highly regarded in the PIT. You can always get the BBQ tools with the wooden handles on sale. I will say the spatula on this set is great - one side is sharp, the other a saw, nice flat front blade. It's not branded.

[JGo37]

My redhead, Lucille, is spoiled.

[Attjack]

Move you probe to where your Dome probe is and see what you get.

[Steve B]

Also how is your kettle set up.
Are you using an SnS? That little contraption is a game changer with the kettle.

[VanW]

Wouldn't do it any other way.

[Steve R.]

I use a SnS and my dome is turned with the temp guage directly above the coals. It reads so reliably ~ 75 degrees higher than a grate-level probe, I can go without the probe on occasion.

[jfmorris]

As others have said, you need to monitor pit temp at grate level, with a grate clip, but at least 2 inches from the meat - the cold meat can throw your readings off. My experience on my kettle is that the do,e thermometer can be 50 to 100 off, but can stabilize during a long cook.

if you only have one probe though, I would keep it in the meat, and just know they the grate level temp,runs 50 or so lower than the dome temp. You really need two probes - one for meat, one for the pit. When I only had a Thermoworks Dot I bought a second probe, and would just switch the wire back and forth to read the two different temps with one thermometer.

[Fire Art]

Wow. who would of thought. The simple often Eludes me

[RustyHaines]

IMHO buying a dual read thermometer will help your cooks more than the shelves (although the shelves are really nice). So maybe both?