Temps (again)

[Crotonmark]

Originally Posted by dadsr4

If the dome thermometer is steady 10 degrees below your target temp, you might find it less stressful to go by that and just use the electronics to monitor the food temp.
Another thing you might try, just to get another take on how much temps fluctuate, is to cook something in your oven using the electronic therm. You turn the dial on the oven to a certain temp and trust it. The actual temp goes up and down, and might not even match the setting.

Thanks. I bought the electronic therm for overnight cooks when I can’t see the dome

[qnbiker]

Lots of discussions on tvwbb.com, but I don't remember temperature control problems being mentioned.

[dadsr4]

Originally Posted by Crotonmark

Thanks. I bought the electronic therm for overnight cooks when I can’t see the dome

This worked for around a decade, until I broke the stem. As you can see, I was aiming for around 250 deg, but it went over for a short time at the point I took the picture. It went back down without me touching anything.

[Crotonmark]

Here is the chart

[ATTACH]164737

[dadsr4]

Originally Posted by Crotonmark

Here is the chart

[ATTACH]164737

That tells me that, even though you mucked around with the cooker, it maintained around 250 deg. All good to me!

[Stingerhook]

Originally Posted by Crotonmark

Here is the chart

[ATTACH]164737

Looks normal from where I sit.

[Crotonmark]

Originally Posted by dadsr4

That tells me that, even though you mucked around with the cooker, it maintained around 250 deg. All good to me!

But it was at 225* at one point. And that was what I wanted. Why did it jump up ?

[Kaptain Kadian]

I think 225 is too low for a summit to cook at. When I cook on the summit, I am amazed at how little the intake and exhaust need to be open to cook at 275. I also cook with a water pan in my summit. It seems to act like a heat sink to keep the temperature more stable. Both kamado grills that I have had liked to cook hotter and it was always a struggle to cook lower

[Crotonmark]

Originally Posted by Kaptain Kadian

I think 225 is too low for a summit to cook at. When I cook on the summit, I am amazed at how little the intake and exhaust need to be open to cook at 275. I also cook with a water pan in my summit. It seems to act like a heat sink to keep the temperature more stable. Both kamado grills that I have had liked to cook hotter and it was always a struggle to cook lower

Well that’s disappointing. Isn’t 225* the primo temp for smoking?

[dadsr4]

Originally Posted by Crotonmark

But it was at 225* at one point. And that was what I wanted. Why did it jump up ?

You mucked with the vents.

[Crotonmark]

Originally Posted by dadsr4

You mucked with the vents.

Well it started to drop below 220.

[Kaptain Kadian]

Originally Posted by Crotonmark

Well that’s disappointing. Isn’t 225* the primo temp for smoking?

No, you can smoke at whatever temperature you want and have great results. I have cooked at 225, 250, 275 and have gotten the same results. The biggest difference is that the lower you cook, your window of when your meat is done to overdone is larger. Learn to cook at 250 or 275 and save yourself some sleep and anxiety. I have posted a lot of my techniques that are mostly what I learned from Johnny Trigg.

[dadsr4]

Originally Posted by Crotonmark

Well it started to drop below 220.

Cookers do that when you use natural fuels, since they don't always burn at a steady rate. If it stayed there for over 45 minutes, I might nudge a lower vent a hair.
If I was paying attention.

You have to learn your cooker, sometimes that means running it without food in it, seeing where it runs for a given vent setting.

[Crotonmark]

Originally Posted by dadsr4

Cookers do that when you use natural fuels, since they don't always burn at a steady rate. If it stayed there for over 45 minutes, I might nudge a lower vent a hair.
If I was paying attention.

You have to learn your cooker, sometimes that means running it without food in it, seeing where it runs for a given vent setting.

I thought the lower vent didn’t move for the summit.

[KevinJ]

Originally Posted by Crotonmark

But it was at 225* at one point. And that was what I wanted. Why did it jump up ?

Why is 225 so important it's not a magic number? Cooked this at 325-330 for 3hrs wrapped then bumped the temp up to 375-380, just as good as cooking at 225, 9lb Butt took 5.5hrs to cook.