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Post by lytefly on Jul 27, 2009 14:14:51 GMT -5
I have touched on this in a number of other threads, but I think it would be worthwhile to have a thread that discusses this. I would be interested in knowing the temperature variance you experience between the dome and grill.
I have a Weber Premier and use it's dome thermometer. I use a Maverick ET-73 on the grill. I have tested both and they seem to be accurate.
I consistently see a 30-70 degree variance. The gap is wider at the beginning and tends to close as the food cooks. But I have never seen the difference closer that 30 degrees. This bothered me at first because I did not expect it. I then decided to trust my Maverick grill temp and cook with that. In order to maintain 220 or so at the grill, I am typically at 260-270 at the dome.
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Post by bigsteve on Jul 27, 2009 15:19:49 GMT -5
I have touched on this in a number of other threads, but I think it would be worthwhile to have a thread that discusses this. I would be interested in knowing the temperature variance you experience between the dome and grill. I have a Weber Premier and use it's dome thermometer. I use a Maverick ET-73 on the grill. I have tested both and they seem to be accurate. I consistently see a 30-70 degree variance. The gap is wider at the beginning and tends to close as the food cooks. But I have never seen the difference closer that 30 degrees. This bothered me at first because I did not expect it. I then decided to trust my Maverick grill temp and cook with that. In order to maintain 220 or so at the grill, I am typically at 260-270 at the dome. AFTER my kettle is settled in, I see 15-35 degree difference between the dome (measured at the vent) and my grate. I use a Maverick ET-7 to check. While the Kettle temp is first coming up, I will see 50-75* difference. My kettle is about 1 year old, a Silver one touch. I don't have the instruction book nearby. But doesn't Don say in it, 240 dome, 210 at the grates? That's pretty close to the difference you're seeing. |
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Post by lytefly on Jul 27, 2009 18:19:08 GMT -5
I don't have the instruction book nearby. But doesn't Don say in it, 240 dome, 210 at the grates? That's pretty close to the difference you're seeing. He states 230-240 Dome is 210-220 Grill, essentially 20 difference. This is pretty typical for me (262-222). I think the most important point is simply knowing the grill temp, no matter the dome if you really want to be precise.  |
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Post by bigsteve on Jul 27, 2009 19:12:03 GMT -5
I don't have the instruction book nearby. But doesn't Don say in it, 240 dome, 210 at the grates? That's pretty close to the difference you're seeing. He states 230-240 Dome is 210-220 Grill, essentially 20 difference. This is pretty typical for me (262-222). I think the most important point is simply knowing the grill temp, no matter the dome if you really want to be precise. True, but Don seems to put a lot of emphasis on 240* at the vent. The manual says coal burns much faster after you cross that line. I think that's why there seems to be a lot of (undue?) concern about it. |
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Post by tyrntlzrdking on Jul 28, 2009 9:23:08 GMT -5
Yes. The problem with raising the dome temp higher to maintain a good cooking temp at the grate, is you will need to work a little harder adding coals a couple times during the process.
Would be nice if I could cook with a 240 dome temp. but will not work for me.
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Post by rjkeats on Aug 4, 2009 14:00:56 GMT -5
Big Steve,
I noticed the thermometer in the handle of your dome cover. Did you rig that yourself? If so, would you mind letting me know how you did it? I am currently using a thermometer stuck into the upper vent to check dome temperature and wonder if your system may be more accurate than mine. Please let me know. Thanks.
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Post by jerkylips on Aug 4, 2009 15:14:01 GMT -5
Big Steve, I noticed the thermometer in the handle of your dome cover. Did you rig that yourself? If so, would you mind letting me know how you did it? I am currently using a thermometer stuck into the upper vent to check dome temperature and wonder if your system may be more accurate than mine. Please let me know. Thanks. the weber one touch gold has the thermometer in the dome. Mine is like that too. The thermo that comes with it is garbage, unfortunately, but easy enough to replace. |
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Post by bigsteve on Aug 4, 2009 17:24:54 GMT -5
Big Steve, I noticed the thermometer in the handle of your dome cover. Did you rig that yourself? If so, would you mind letting me know how you did it? I am currently using a thermometer stuck into the upper vent to check dome temperature and wonder if your system may be more accurate than mine. Please let me know. Thanks. That's a picture of Lyteflys' grill. When I responded to him, I used the "quote" button, and it brought the picture in from his post. Odd, I normally delete photos that come in with quote. Must have been half asleep. I put a cheap thermo in my dome. I drilled it. Problem is, it's a cheap thermo and doesn't work well. I intend to get a good one to put in there. I'm sick of the wires and nonsense with my Maverick thermo. |
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garth
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Post by garth on Aug 6, 2009 13:30:19 GMT -5
I wondered about the difference between dome and rack temperature. On my first try with the Smokenator, I set a 5-pound chicken on a rack set about three inches above the coal rack, the way you are supposed to do a big turkey. I kept a dome temp of between 230-240, and the chicken took almost 6 hours. It tasted very good and the fuel economy is great--about three quarters of a starter-chimneysworth of briquettes--but if I were to try to do a 25-pound turkey that way, I'd have to budget a day or two. I think I'll give it another try, maybe with two chickens and have the dome temp between 250-260. Any other suggestions?
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Post by bigsteve on Aug 6, 2009 13:45:07 GMT -5
I wondered about the difference between dome and rack temperature. On my first try with the Smokenator, I set a 5-pound chicken on a rack set about three inches above the coal rack, the way you are supposed to do a big turkey. I kept a dome temp of between 230-240, and the chicken took almost 6 hours. It tasted very good and the fuel economy is great--about three quarters of a starter-chimneysworth of briquettes--but if I were to try to do a 25-pound turkey that way, I'd have to budget a day or two. I think I'll give it another try, maybe with two chickens and have the dome temp between 250-260. Any other suggestions? My cooking grate is normally at least 20* cooler than the dome, and the coal grate is about 15* cooler still. 240* on my kettle dome would have been about 200* on my coal grate. I'm assuming that's why it took so long to cook. You'd need a higher dome temp to properly cook a Turkey on the coal grate. You should get a second thermo, and compare the two grates to the dome, so you know what your grate temp is when you look at the dome thermo. |
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garth
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Post by garth on Aug 7, 2009 14:53:09 GMT -5
I bought an oven thermometer yesterday so I could check the grill temp. Good to know I seem to be on the right track. Thanks!
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Post by bigsteve on Aug 7, 2009 15:40:50 GMT -5
I bought an oven thermometer yesterday so I could check the grill temp. Good to know I seem to be on the right track. Thanks! Mine shows 50-75* difference between the top grate and dome, as things are heating up. But when everything is up to temp and settled in, the difference is around 20*. Keep that in mind as you start testing. |
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garth
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Post by garth on Aug 10, 2009 14:05:52 GMT -5
Thanks for the tip. Yes, I noticed that the temp difference was greater in the early stages. Mine eventually settled around 20 degrees difference as well. This time things went much quicker. The chicken was done in 3.5 hours and was very good.
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Post by delapaco on Aug 12, 2009 13:15:11 GMT -5
I checked this with my ET-73. Dome temp varied between +8 and +12 compared to the normal food grate. I would suggest that you do not use different termometers when measuring. Instead use the Maverick for both measurements. You can try use just one of the probs at different levels, and both probes at once. 70 degrees sounds physically strange - that would mean a very high escape rate of warm air at the top, and a lot of production of heat at the bottom.
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Post by lytefly on Aug 12, 2009 14:00:43 GMT -5
I checked this with my ET-73. Dome temp varied between +8 and +12 compared to the normal food grate. I would suggest that you do not use different termometers when measuring. Instead use the Maverick for both measurements. You can try use just one of the probs at different levels, and both probes at once. 70 degrees sounds physically strange - that would mean a very high escape rate of warm air at the top, and a lot of production of heat at the bottom. Wow, those are tight numbers! Even though I started this thread, it's really a non issue to me at this point. The key is to know what the temp is at the grate, I no longer care what it is at the dome. There is no need to speculate or guess what the grate temp is. Get a thermometer down there and know what it is. It's made a huge difference in my smoking results. |
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