UDS Dial Thermo

[DDave]

What length probe on the external dial thermo are you UDS cooks using?

I have a Tel-tru BBQ300 with a 2-1/2" probe and really isn't that useful to cook with at the moment.

On a water boil test, it is within a couple degrees of my Maverick ET-73 so I think the thermo is okay, but when I use two digital probes -- on at the edge and one at the center, I get about a 30° difference as people have described, but I get a much larger difference that gets smaller as the drum heats up between the digital center and the dial thermo.

This picture shows the position of the thermo relative to the grate and the digital probe that was measuring the edge temp.

During this run, there was about a 30° difference between the digital edge and digital center and about a 20° between the digital edge and the dial thermo.

As you can see, the dial thermo probe is about 1-1/2" below the grate and the digital probe is about 2-1/2" above the dial thermo. Would that be enough to cause a 20° difference? Also, if the dial thermo was always 50° off of the digital center temp, I wouldn't mind but it starts out way farther off than that then gets better as the drum comes up to temp. I wonder if the 4" stem would make a big difference.

I guess it is not the end of the world, but it would be nice to be able to trust the dial more. As it is now, it is just sort of a decoration.

Any thoughts?

Thanks.

Dave

 

[Desert Dweller]

I have a 12" stem on mine. It is positioned directly over the fire basket and about 1-2 inches below the grill. Works for me...

 

[Norcoredneck]

Buy a Spicewine and add 30 to get center grate temp.

 

[Barbarian]

I use the Tel Tru LT225R. It has a 12" stem and I have it less then an inch below the cooking grate. It gives me center of the grate temp just fine. So I use it and my Maverick.

 

[PatioDaddio]

I mounted a Tel-Tru UT300 with a 6" stem in both of my UDSs. The huge 3" dial is great, and I really like long stem, as it reads closer to where the meat sits. Of course, the longer stem makes it a little more difficult to get the charcoal basket out.

As for vertical placement, my UDSs have two grates (I use a Weber OTS lid), so mine is mounted dead center between them. That puts it about three inches below the top grate.

John

 

[DDave]

Buy a Spicewine and add 30 to get center grate temp.

Guaranteed or my money back??? :biggrin:

Just kidding. Worth a try I guess.

Not quite a year ago, after my wife bought me the SnP for my birthday, I ordered two dial thermos, two Taylor digitals, and a Taylor Instant Read from Amazon. As the boxes came trickling in and my wife noticed all of the thermometers, she asked, "How many damn thermometers do you need?"

Well, one more apparantly!

Dave