About measuring cooking temps in the PBC...

[Ligoniera1]

Hey gang,
A question for all PBC cooker fans.........about measuring PBC cooker temps......I realize the PBC is theoretically a set it and forget it type of cooker. My half a dozen cooks have shown this to be quite realistic. I am learning to trust my PBC. That said....

Here is my concern. Having been brought up in the Meathead realm of science and temperature control......and fussing a Weber Kettle through the entire smoking process on previous cooks before I acquired my PBC.......I struggle with not knowing what my PBC is doing. I use a Maverick 732 to monitor internal meat temps as well as grill temps.

Where in the PBC do I place this sensor? Top? Bottom? Middle? It's an easy call when I have the grate installed but when I'm hanging a tri tip, chickens, ribs.....anything without the grate......how and where do I best mount the temp sensor that of the Maverick 732 that will give me the most accurate or useful temps?

Typically, I route it through one of the rebar holes and let it hang in some fashion, but it's often against the side of the barrel under these circumstances, without much ability to make it move away. I have clipped it via the cable to the middle of the rebar so it's hanging in the center of the barrel and this seems to work but I wanted to banter this about just a bit and see what I might learn from the discussion.

[HC in SC]

To be honest I have a Maverick 733, but don't use it much with the PBC.

I just drilled a hole in the front and put a $30 TEL-TRU thermometer in it just above rack level and it has worked great for me.

[fzxdoc]

I drape the Maverick smoker probe wire over one of the rebars and hang the tip at the level of the center of the hanging meat. It's easier with some meat-hanging scenarios than others, but one way or another I make sure the probe does not touch the meat while centered.

Sometimes I thread the wire through the clip that comes with the Maverick to center it on the rebar before letting it dangle.

Kathryn

[smarkley]

I do what Kathryn does, but I have been using a metal (paper) binder clip to hold it in place on the rebar... seems to work good

(later) OH, I should preface that with... I am using the food probe for this (I have a couple of those) It is easier to clip it in place at different angles.

[Jerod Broussard]

I try to hang it somewhere in the middle, or as close as I can get it to the middle, not closer than 2" to any meat. There is such an even temp from top to bottom, I am fine with it close to level with the rebar.

[Ligoniera1]

Thanks for the feedback all. Jerod, you bring up a good point that I hadn't really considered until I had posted my question.....that being "even temp from top to bottom". The concept of a vertical cooker remains novel to me...though I'm getting more experience with it every weekend.

[mtford72]

I put a tiny hole and grommet in the lid, it makes a seal when the probe is in. It's in the center of the lid, and depending on the probe is between 2 and 6" inside the lid. Jerod's point on uniformity of temp is correct is spot on. Makes no odds.

I only put that hole in because:
1) it's fractionally less hassle than going through the rebar hole and hanging the probe
2) I was holding a drill.

It's worth reiterating that here we obsess over the details, but with the PBC its really hard to screw up regardless of what you do.