Rib Temps - but how to read...

[flyfish]

Hi all,

Interesting thread on the rib temps - I like mine done low and slow, so about 225 to 250 and I do baby backs in 3 hours or a little more and spares in about 5.

No foil, and I am low tech and no gadgets.

That being said - the last few cooks on my 22.5 WSM, the dome thermometer has been saying I'm below 200/225 - not much but like 185 or so. I even cooked a couple of racks and left the vents all wide open thinking it must have been the weatyher (Nova Scotia, but outdoors, no smoke house/outhouse...:-)

So, today doing some more ribs, and I start it up and it jumps to 185 on the dome thermometer, but by now I KNOW that isn't right (thanks Gary, I can read my fire with my hand pretty well now!) and so I experiment.

Oven thermometer in the WSM on the grill says 250, digital thermometer held at vent says 245...

Can a WSM dome thermometer be cleaned, do I have to replace it, or do I have to go digital and get a remote temp reader. No need for a meat thermometer, and really I don't HAVE to have the dome thing, just it looks wierd to have it reading 185 when I know it's more like 250.

Any ideas (besides chill and have a brewski?)

Thanks,

Bill

[Gandalf]

Some of them can be calibrated. Take it out, put it in boiling water, and rotate it until it reads 212 at sea level. Tighten it up, put it back. It will STILL only tell you the temperature at the point exactly where the probe is, though, not the grate or meat temp. I generally only use attached thermometers to see if temperature is changing. You COULD buy a good thermometer and mount it closer to the grate, though. I have done that.

Gandalf

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[Sherman Watkins]

I've learned to treat my 22.5 WSM thermometer more as advice then an absolute, sort of in the cool-good-hot ECB tradition. 

I had Sunday commitments but wanted ribs this last weekend so I used the BBQ Guru to maintain temps when I wasn't around to fuss  and bother.  Grid temperature was 250.  Lid thermometer temperature was 225-230,  in the good range.  185 would drive me nuts since it's outside the zone.

--
Sherm
Smoking in Montana's Banana Belt

[flyfish]

That's the problem, Sherm, exactly. 

The dome thermometer was never 100% accurate, maybe off by 25 to 50 degrees, so who cared. It said 200 or 225 when it was actually 250 or 275. That I could live with.

But the thing now shows 185 when it is actually more like 250 to 27. I know that where makes  difference, and I always used the dome as just a guide, but just looking at it at 185 makes me a bit "jumpy".

The weird thing is it worked fine for like a whole year plus, and it's only now that it does this. Until the last three cooks the dome was OK and a good general guide, and of course I could tell just by the smoke coming out the top vent that I was close.

Annoying more than anything else, I guess. 

I'll try cleaning and calibrating the dome thermometer after this cook and let you all know. I looked online and see other dome thermometers - are any better than the stock WSM one? Does anyone use a Maverick ET-73 ?

Thanks,

Bill

[Merrill]

My dome therm on the WSM always shows 50 degrees lower than actual temp. They don't calibrate, so I ignore it and follow the digital with a probe at grate level. 

God bless,

Captain Merrill Powers

Executive Director

Harbor Light Center

312-421-5753 Office

312-421-0823 Fax

[Paul Reddick]

I have a Maverick set up with a remote that I don't use.  If I can find it, I can ship it to you if you like.  Might take a week for me to dig it up though.  You'd have to dl the instructions cuz I'm sure I don't know where those are.

Paul

--
Paul Reddick

Owner

Smoking Pig BBQ Company, LLC

1144 N. 4th St

San Jose, CA 95112

408-380-4784

[flyfish]

Hi Paul-

That's very generous - I can get one myself, I wouldn't want to take something from someone that might really need it, I'm just trying to figure out the route to go here - which model was it and did you find it worked OK? 

Thanks

[Paul Reddick]

Actually, I'll never use it so it's totally fine.  I don't remember the model, I'll have to look but it's one where you take one part of it with you so you don't have to run and check temps every half hour.

[flyfish]

Sent you an e-mail, Paul.

Thanks

Bill

[flyfish]

By the way - the ribs came out just fine!!!

Bill

[jqu...@comcast.net]

I've used one for over a year now.  Love it, pretty accurate to

approx. 5 degrees, AND I've never changed the batteries yet!

 

Jeff

---

[Merrill]

I had the previous generation and loved it for home. Used it at a competition once and about went nuts until I discovered it was picking up readings from my neighbors pit.

Merrill

[Sandy Savage]

Gandalf

That is the accepted way in lower altitudes. Here in the high desert country of New Mexico the health police want you to calibrate in ice water to 32 degrees. They claim it's more accurate out here.

Sandy
smoking in New Mexico

---

[Gandalf]

Well, I can see that, but many cooking thermometers don't GO to freezing. It is better to calibrate NEAR one of the temperatures you will actually be using, so that slope errors don't throw things off too much at the temperature of interest. Another way would be to use a known-calibrated thermometer and just make the uncalibrated one match the calibrated one, at ANY temperature.

Gandalf

[Big Jim]

  Scuse my ignerts, BUTT what y'all using a thermometer for?

  Can't you just get the temp off a radio or TV?

BeeJay

[Paul Reddick]

they only broadcast it a few times a day.  Geeze.  We take our BBQ seriously here and need to know the temperature every 15 min or so.

Love ya like a brother, beejay!  Put a smile on my face today.

Paul

[flyfish]

Very True BeeJay -

I suppose the very best solution would be for me to put black duct tape over the dome thermometer dial !!!

LOL

Bill

[Gary Wiviott]

On Wed, May 1, 2013 at 6:30 PM, flyfish <willia...@gmail.com> wrote:

I suppose the very best solution would be for me to put black duct tape over the dome thermometer dial !!!

 

Bill, there you go..................

And, BeeJay, thanks for the chuckle. 

--
http://www.lowslowbbq.com/

[phil wingo]

agree wiyn buzz, rub will make a difference. i puut rub on let siet for 5-10 min and put on cooker philw --- On Wed, 5/1/13, Merrill <capta...@comcast.net> wrote:

From: Merrill <capta...@comcast.net> Subject: Re: [BBQ] Rib Temps - but how to read...

[phil wingo]

that did bring a smile on my face this morn. thanks beejay philw --- On Thu, 5/2/13, Gary Wiviott <wivio...@gmail.com> wrote:

From: Gary Wiviott <wivio...@gmail.com> Subject: Re: [BBQ] Rib Temps - but how to read...

[Gandalf]

One thing you might try is to use a grate thermometer to get the cooking temp you're looking for, let it stabilize for a while, then mark the dome thermometer with a red line, so you know what it reads when the grate is where you want it. I'd do that on a windless day so there are fewer external influences. At least then you'd know when the grate is near your ideal, and then you can use it to see changes. A dome thermometer only reads the temperature at the point where its sensor is anyway, somewhere near the top of the dome.

Gandalf

 

From: smoker...@googlegroups.com [mailto:smoker...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of flyfish

Sent: Wednesday, May 01, 2013 10:13
To: smoker...@googlegroups.com

--

[Kurt Lucas]

Just put a sticker over the dome thermometer. A peace sign sticker would be nice….or a smiley face.

 

Kurt

 

From: smoker...@googlegroups.com [mailto:smoker...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of flyfish
Sent: Wednesday, May 01, 2013 10:13 AM
To: smoker...@googlegroups.com
Subject: [BBQ] Rib Temps - but how to read...

 

Hi all,

--

[Bryan Foltz]

Merrill that's great! Made me smile

-bf

[Kurt Lucas]

I’m glad you asked that question, Big Jim! I was wondering the same thing. I’m required to temp and record certain foods at work….But these guys are cooking at home!  J

 

Kurt

 

From: smoker...@googlegroups.com [mailto:smoker...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Big Jim
Sent: Wednesday, May 01, 2013 4:05 PM
To: smoker...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: [BBQ] Rib Temps - but how to read...

 

  Scuse my ignerts, BUTT what y'all using a thermometer for?

[flyfish]

Done!

:-)

[Kevin Cleek]

OK...now that this cooking crisis is resolved (peacefully), can anyone explain why a manufacturer would want to ship a cooker costing several hundred dollars and slap a 40 cent thermometer on it?

It's like the "stainless steel" hose clamp with a cadmium-plated pot metal screw, or a ballistic nylon bag with a cheap zipper.� I'd rather pay an extra $20 on a $400 purchase and get something that is reliable, even if it reads 25� below the grill temp, as long as it's consistently reliable.�

That's my biggest peeve...well one of them, I have plenty...cheap crap on good products, just to save a few cents.� Does Weber really believe that anyone willing to pay $400 for a cooker wouldn't buy it if it was $420?� Or in the alternative, anyone willing to pay $400 wouldn't make the purchase without the crappy thermometer.� I dunno...maybe they market, (as many businesses do) to the lowest common denominator...a big portion of their market may be people who don't know any better, and would buy an ECB over a WSM only because it had a thermo....marketing is a strange business.

Off the soapbox, now.

Kevin

On 5/2/2013 12:15 PM, flyfish wrote:

Done!

:-)

On Thursday, May 2, 2013 9:57:51 AM UTC-3, Kurt Lucas wrote:

Just put a sticker over the dome thermometer. A peace sign sticker would be nice�.or a smiley face.

�

Kurt

�

From: smoker...@googlegroups.com [mailto:smoker...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of flyfish
Sent: Wednesday, May 01, 2013 10:13 AM
To: smoker...@googlegroups.com
Subject: [BBQ] Rib Temps - but how to read...

�

Hi all,

Interesting thread on the rib temps - I like mine done low and slow, so about 225 to 250 and I do baby backs in 3 hours or a little more and spares in about 5.

No foil, and I am low tech and no gadgets.

That being said - the last few cooks on my 22.5 WSM, the dome thermometer has been saying I'm below 200/225 - not much but like 185 or so. I even cooked a couple of racks and left the vents all wide open thinking it must have been the weatyher (Nova Scotia, but outdoors, no smoke house/outhouse...:-)

So, today doing some more ribs, and I start it up and it jumps to 185 on the dome thermometer, but by now I KNOW that isn't right (thanks Gary, I can read my fire with my hand pretty well now!) and so I experiment.

Oven thermometer in the WSM on the grill says 250, digital thermometer held at vent says 245...

Can a WSM dome thermometer be cleaned, do I have to replace it, or do I have to go digital and get a remote temp reader. No need for a meat thermometer, and really I don't HAVE to have the dome thing, just it looks wierd to have it reading 185 when I know it's more like 250.

Any ideas (besides chill and have a brewski?)

Thanks,

Bill

�

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�
�

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�
�

[Nick]

Well said Kevin. Another CC (Cookin Crisis) averted.


Catch it! Park it! Grill it! Eat it!
ParkAQ.com

Have you seen our 'real' reel holders? of course you haven't....they're coming soon....

Kevin Cleek <kjc...@earthlink.net> wrote:

OK...now that this cooking crisis is resolved (peacefully), can anyone explain why a manufacturer would want to ship a cooker costing several hundred dollars and slap a 40 cent thermometer on it?

It's like the "stainless steel" hose clamp with a cadmium-plated pot metal screw, or a ballistic nylon bag with a cheap zipper.  I'd rather pay an extra $20 on a $400 purchase and get something that is reliable, even if it reads 25° below the grill temp, as long as it's consistently reliable. 

That's my biggest peeve...well one of them, I have plenty...cheap crap on good products, just to save a few cents.  Does Weber really believe that anyone willing to pay $400 for a cooker wouldn't buy it if it was $420?  Or in the alternative, anyone willing to pay $400 wouldn't make the purchase without the crappy thermometer.  I dunno...maybe they market, (as many businesses do) to the lowest common denominator...a big portion of their market may be people who don't know any better, and would buy an ECB over a WSM only because it had a thermo....marketing is a strange business.

Off the soapbox, now.

Kevin

On 5/2/2013 12:15 PM, flyfish wrote:

Done!

:-)

On Thursday, May 2, 2013 9:57:51 AM UTC-3, Kurt Lucas wrote:

Just put a sticker over the dome thermometer. A peace sign sticker would be nice….or a smiley face.

 

Kurt

 

From: smoker...@googlegroups.com [mailto:smoker...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of flyfish

Sent: Wednesday, May 01, 2013 10:13 AM
To: smoker...@googlegroups.com
Subject: [BBQ] Rib Temps - but how to read...

 

Hi all,

Interesting thread on the rib temps - I like mine done low and slow, so about 225 to 250 and I do baby backs in 3 hours or a little more and spares in about 5.

No foil, and I am low tech and no gadgets.

That being said - the last few cooks on my 22.5 WSM, the dome thermometer has been saying I'm below 200/225 - not much but like 185 or so. I even cooked a couple of racks and left the vents all wide open thinking it must have been the weatyher (Nova Scotia, but outdoors, no smoke house/outhouse...:-)

So, today doing some more ribs, and I start it up and it jumps to 185 on the dome thermometer, but by now I KNOW that isn't right (thanks Gary, I can read my fire with my hand pretty well now!) and so I experiment.

Oven thermometer in the WSM on the grill says 250, digital thermometer held at vent says 245...

Can a WSM dome thermometer be cleaned, do I have to replace it, or do I have to go digital and get a remote temp reader. No need for a meat thermometer, and really I don't HAVE to have the dome thing, just it looks wierd to have it reading 185 when I know it's more like 250.

Any ideas (besides chill and have a brewski?)

Thanks,

Bill

 

--

[Gandalf]

I have a newer WSM, and the thermometer doesn't look like the one in the photo. I have never noticed any weirdness about its readings, I just expect it to be lower than the grate temp. Maybe buying a replacement for the new one would make sense?

 

Ah, that's right, they won't SELL things that aren't on your 'registered' product. You can't even purchase replacement parts if you don't have one of their products to put it on. I had a hell of a time until I realized that I had to tell them I had the PRODUCT I wanted the replacement part for…In my case, I wanted a grate, I knew the dimensions I needed, and I knew what product came with that grate. They wouldn't sell me that grate until I told them I had the product. Lesson learned with Weber. Anyway, the new thermometer looks like a quality item, and it works fine, so if you care about readings, it might be worth it to get one. It's a NICE looking item, with a heavy duty bezel around it.

 

Gandalf

 

From: smoker...@googlegroups.com [mailto:smoker...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Kevin Cleek
Sent: Thursday, May 02, 2013 17:09
To: smoker...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: [BBQ] Rib Temps - but how to read...

 

OK...now that this cooking crisis is resolved (peacefully), can anyone explain why a manufacturer would want to ship a cooker costing several hundred dollars and slap a 40 cent thermometer on it?

It's like the "stainless steel" hose clamp with a cadmium-plated pot metal screw, or a ballistic nylon bag with a cheap zipper.  I'd rather pay an extra $20 on a $400 purchase and get something that is reliable, even if it reads 25° below the grill temp, as long as it's consistently reliable. 

That's my biggest peeve...well one of them, I have plenty...cheap crap on good products, just to save a few cents.  Does Weber really believe that anyone willing to pay $400 for a cooker wouldn't buy it if it was $420?  Or in the alternative, anyone willing to pay $400 wouldn't make the purchase without the crappy thermometer.  I dunno...maybe they market, (as many businesses do) to the lowest common denominator...a big portion of their market may be people who don't know any better, and would buy an ECB over a WSM only because it had a thermo....marketing is a strange business.

Off the soapbox, now.

Kevin

On 5/2/2013 12:15 PM, flyfish wrote:

Done!

 

:-)

 

On Thursday, May 2, 2013 9:57:51 AM UTC-3, Kurt Lucas wrote:

Just put a sticker over the dome thermometer. A peace sign sticker would be nice….or a smiley face.

 

Kurt

 

From: smoker...@googlegroups.com [mailto:smoker...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of flyfish

Sent: Wednesday, May 01, 2013 10:13 AM
To: smoker...@googlegroups.com
Subject: [BBQ] Rib Temps - but how to read...

 

Hi all,

Interesting thread on the rib temps - I like mine done low and slow, so about 225 to 250 and I do baby backs in 3 hours or a little more and spares in about 5.

No foil, and I am low tech and no gadgets.

That being said - the last few cooks on my 22.5 WSM, the dome thermometer has been saying I'm below 200/225 - not much but like 185 or so. I even cooked a couple of racks and left the vents all wide open thinking it must have been the weatyher (Nova Scotia, but outdoors, no smoke house/outhouse...:-)

So, today doing some more ribs, and I start it up and it jumps to 185 on the dome thermometer, but by now I KNOW that isn't right (thanks Gary, I can read my fire with my hand pretty well now!) and so I experiment.

Oven thermometer in the WSM on the grill says 250, digital thermometer held at vent says 245...

Can a WSM dome thermometer be cleaned, do I have to replace it, or do I have to go digital and get a remote temp reader. No need for a meat thermometer, and really I don't HAVE to have the dome thing, just it looks wierd to have it reading 185 when I know it's more like 250.

Any ideas (besides chill and have a brewski?)

Thanks,

Bill

 

--

[Kevin Cleek]

Now that's weird...out here on the left coast, Weber has parts at the hardware store, including grates, no questions asked.

Kevin

On 5/2/2013 6:04 PM, Gandalf wrote:

I have a newer WSM, and the thermometer doesn't look like the one in the photo. I have never noticed any weirdness about its readings, I just expect it to be lower than the grate temp. Maybe buying a replacement for the new one would make sense?

�

Ah, that's right, they won't SELL things that aren't on your 'registered' product. You can't even purchase replacement parts if you don't have one of their products to put it on. I had a hell of a time until I realized that I had to tell them I had the PRODUCT I wanted the replacement part for�In my case, I wanted a grate, I knew the dimensions I needed, and I knew what product came with that grate. They wouldn't sell me that grate until I told them I had the product. Lesson learned with Weber. Anyway, the new thermometer looks like a quality item, and it works fine, so if you care about readings, it might be worth it to get one. It's a NICE looking item, with a heavy duty bezel around it.

�

Gandalf

�

[Gandalf]

Yes, here too, but what I wanted was not available locally - web only.

Gandalf

 

From: smoker...@googlegroups.com [mailto:smoker...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Kevin Cleek
Sent: Thursday, May 02, 2013 18:13
To: smoker...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: [BBQ] Rib Temps - but how to read...

 

Now that's weird...out here on the left coast, Weber has parts at the hardware store, including grates, no questions asked.

Kevin


On 5/2/2013 6:04 PM, Gandalf wrote:

I have a newer WSM, and the thermometer doesn't look like the one in the photo. I have never noticed any weirdness about its readings, I just expect it to be lower than the grate temp. Maybe buying a replacement for the new one would make sense?

 

Ah, that's right, they won't SELL things that aren't on your 'registered' product. You can't even purchase replacement parts if you don't have one of their products to put it on. I had a hell of a time until I realized that I had to tell them I had the PRODUCT I wanted the replacement part for…In my case, I wanted a grate, I knew the dimensions I needed, and I knew what product came with that grate. They wouldn't sell me that grate until I told them I had the product. Lesson learned with Weber. Anyway, the new thermometer looks like a quality item, and it works fine, so if you care about readings, it might be worth it to get one. It's a NICE looking item, with a heavy duty bezel around it.

 

Gandalf

 

 

[flyfish]

A little update -

Since the WSM I have is just exactly 2 years old, I called Weber Canada and explained about the dome thermometer. They are immediate;y sending me a new one, no (well, only a few) questions asked. The person on the other end suggested moisture had entered the thermometer (and I do cook in rain/snow (albeit with an umbrella over it - and of course the general condition with a water pan might lead to moisture anyway) and said that this does sometimes happen.

The thing is I don't use it that much, as I can read the unit OK without it, but having it read so far off was the issue. The rep said that to have it be that far off is indicative of a thermometer failure, especially since it had been working before. 

I really thought this was good customer service, and I don't know that a "better quality" (stick type like through the dome lid) thermometer would be available - would they not all be susceptible to moisture, etc. ?

Bill

On Wednesday, May 1, 2013 2:13:18 PM UTC-3, flyfish wrote:

[Gerry Curry]

Personally I like your thermometer the way it is now! I'd forget the dome gauge and go for your Maverick. After all, the only temp you're really interested in is at the grate. BBQ Guru sells grommets with a hole in the middle that you use to replace one of the current grommets supporting your upper grate. You feed your probe through the hole so the dome closes properly, seals properly and doesn't crush the cable. 

Just my 2 cents.

Ribs for supper tonight. Don't need to worry about my dome thermometer... earlier 18" WSMs didn't have one!

Gerry Curry

ge...@currysystems.com

[Frank Boyer]

I have 3 different metal candy thermometers that are around 15+ years old that still work in the dome exhaust hole.

Frank

 

From: smoker...@googlegroups.com [mailto:smoker...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of flyfish

Sent: Friday, May 03, 2013 2:44 AM
To: smoker...@googlegroups.com

--

[Paul Reddick]

I tried using a grate thermometer once and it just turned black!

[Merrill]

Paul, I bought a good quality oven grate therm about 12 years ago and it is still working. Mostly use electric now, but its there when needed. It does cloud up, so I just hit the glass with a plastic scour pad every couple of cooks. I also took a small file and marked the outer ring at 230 and 250. That way I just have to see the red stem and know I'm in my range. 

Merrill

Sent from my iPad

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