So we had a really good meal this evening ; BBQ'ed some chicken thighs, corn on the cob, and some potatoes, all on the kettle . Here's the question. The recipe I followed said to get the grill (a Weber Kettle 22") to 350 - 450, then proceed to indirect cook the thighs. So, when I got the grill to 450, I put on the thighs (indirect heat) , and then put on the potatoes (which were wrapped in foil ) and cooked direct heat. When I put all that food on, the thermometer immediately went to 300, where is stayed for the hour. However, when I took the potatoes off and put the corn on to grill for about 10 minutes, the thermometer went to about 330- 340 ....this was an hour into the cook, and I had added no charcoal . So the question is , why is it that when I put the potatoes wrapped in foil -- it was a large amount of cut up potatoes that we wrapped in a foil wrapper -- was probably 13" x 5" that was directly over the coals -- it caused the thermometer to go to 300 from 450 ?? I do not think the temp actually dropped that much, but rather, it was the potatoes that gave an incorrect read on the Weber thermometer, and I just knew it ...any thoughts ?
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A large batch of potatoes has significant thermal mass and can give off plenty of moisture ... both of which contribute to the cooling effect that you experienced. -
MBMorgan the potatoes were wrapped in foil so moisture was not the factor. It was just plain thermal mass. Also since they were directly in the with the lid thermometer that would be a factor if he was using it.Comment
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Sounds like you covered your direct heat with a large thermal mass. It essentially had the same effect as putting a pan full of water directly over the coals. A lot of the heat was absorbed by the potatoes, leaving less heat for the indirect side.Comment
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+1 on Red Man. I'd also ask, where is that thermometer in relation to where the pack of potato's were? I've discovered built in thermo's to be less than accurate, and way off if something is too close.
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Thermal Mass ---- a term I was not familiar with , but totally makes sense....beautiful . Understood and it all makes sense. BTW, the thermometer was on the top of the kettle where Weber puts it -- nothing fancier than that. Thanks to all -- VERY helpful !!Comment
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Marinehead Seems like a dumb question, but I'm not familiar with weber. I know on my Aussie grill it's on the top front, so hard to mess with it, until I did
On my COS, it's near the same location, but it's next to useless so I ignore it.
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