Thermometer on WSM?

NOHENS · Jun 30, 2011

I have a new WSM 18.5. Cooked on it about 4 times. Well...the other day I was holding at temp cooking a butt and notice that the temp was falling and rising. I then hung the probe from my polder thermometer in the top vent and it was holding right at 245/244. But the lid them was going up and down! Which one do I trust?

SteerCrazy · Jun 30, 2011

NOHENS said:
I have a new WSM 18.5. Cooked on it about 4 times. Well...the other day I was holding at temp cooking a butt and notice that the temp was falling and rising. I then hung the probe from my polder thermometer in the top vent and it was holding right at 245/244. But the lid them was going up and down! Which one do I trust?

the one at grate level. see if you can't get a probe placed on the grates, this is your most accurate. If you don't have a Maverick probe for the grill just get a small potato and stick your food probe through that to get an accurate read. :-D (potato would be to hold the probe so it's not actually touching the grates)

Here is a good example except the probe is stuck through foil.....8th, 9th and 10th picture down
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=109769

cbpeck · Jun 30, 2011

I'd be tempted to hold my probe as close to the dome thermo as possible to see if they're reading together. If the two are reading very differently while placed next to one another, and it appears that the Weber dome thermo is the culprit I'd give Weber CS a call. I'm sure they'll send you a replacement.

Ultimately, what is happening at the grate is most important, but following dome temps does allow you to know if the WSM is stable.

JMSetzler · Jun 30, 2011

The dome thermometer in my WSM 18.5 is fairly close to my grate temp most of the time once the cook has been going for a little while. With a lot of meat on the grate, the grate temp is going to be lower than the dome temp by a significant amount. After the cook has been going for a while, they tend to equalize to within 5 to 10 degrees of each other in my personal experience.

NOHENS · Jun 30, 2011

Thanks for the reply's. My concern was that the probe hanging in the vent hole was reading 244...245....244...245 and so on. But the WSM was foinf from 250 all the was down to 225? Back and forth slowly. I know they could...or would read different temps but I was worried about the fact that the WSM was fluctuating so much and the polder probe was staying steady? Guess I'll call Weber and see what they tell me. If it needs replaced is there a better temp gauge ouot there to replace it with? Thought I read where someone replaced and did not need to drill? AND...I need to just get the mod for the bolt holes and get a duel probe for grate temp and meat temp.....BUT IM TOOOO TIGHT!

JMSetzler · Jun 30, 2011

NOHENS said:
Thanks for the reply's. My concern was that the probe hanging in the vent hole was reading 244...245....244...245 and so on. But the WSM was foinf from 250 all the was down to 225? Back and forth slowly. I know they could...or would read different temps but I was worried about the fact that the WSM was fluctuating so much and the polder probe was staying steady? Guess I'll call Weber and see what they tell me. If it needs replaced is there a better temp gauge ouot there to replace it with? Thought I read where someone replaced and did not need to drill? AND...I need to just get the mod for the bolt holes and get a duel probe for grate temp and meat temp.....BUT IM TOOOO TIGHT!

It doesn't need replacing. Variation like that is not really uncommon on those types of thermometers. If you want a really accurate read of your pit and meat temp, there are quite a few good inexpensive ways to do it... Check out the Maverick thermometers... I don't remember the model numbers but those digital probes work really well and you can get set up with one that will monitor meat and pit temperatures for roughly forty bux.

Corky · Jun 30, 2011

The dome temp on my WSM 18.5 is consistently about 18 degrees more than my grate temp. I use a BBQ Guru thermometer that fits in one of the top holes to measure dome temp. Works pretty slick. Also got their eyelet set and use that to run meat probes into the unit.

http://www.thebbqguru.com/products/BBQ-Guru-Thermometer-.html

caseydog · Jun 30, 2011

I hang the temperature sensor for my iQue through the top vent of my WSM. The iQue always sees the temperature as higher than the WSM thermometer.

However, the iQue sensor is directly under the top vent -- where the heat escapes. That could be the reason.

To be honest, if I am between 225 and 275 throughout a cook, I don't get too worried. Especially on long cooks. Pitmaster Chris Lily says basically the same thing.

CD

Thermometer on WSM?

NOHENS

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