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Controller setting question (PartyQ)

Ok, I sprung for one finally. Through the summer, I have no problem getting my tail out of bed early in the morning, firing the Egg up, tossing a couple of pork butts on, and checking it off and on throughout the day making minor adjustments. However, with the wintertime short days, I certainly have no desire to start in the dark and Wisconsin COLD! I like to sleep soundly at night too, so I have avoided overnight cooks. My plan is to start though, using the PartyQ. I plan to get them going in the evening (yes, dark and cold - but I can tolerate both much better in the evening than after climbing out of a nice warm bed!) and let them cook through the night, pulling them off the following morning when it is daylight.

My question - I understand the temp probe clips to the grate. How much hotter or cooler are the Eggs at grate level in comparison to the thermometer in the dome? Say I want to run 300F dome, what do I need to set the controller at? I realize I am overthinking this - especially with meat as forgiving as butts, but I am curious about this in case I use the controller for something a little more temp critical. Has anyone clipped the controller probe to the Egg's thermometer probe to read out roughly the same temp?

Comments

  • nolaegghead
    nolaegghead Posts: 42,102
    20 or 30 degrees higher on dome temp, for quite a while. Eventually they'll settle very close, I've seen mine at the same temp if I'm running very low and haven't oped the lid.
    ______________________________________________
    I love lamp..
  • Depending on how cool your meat is/ how soon you put it on, I've had differences of 40 degrees to start out that eventually come together. If you're going to use a grate temp though, why worry about the dome temp?
    "Take yourself lightly, but what you do seriously." - M. Martin XL BGE - Johnston, IA
  • twlangan
    twlangan Posts: 307
    Depending on how cool your meat is/ how soon you put it on, I've had differences of 40 degrees to start out that eventually come together. If you're going to use a grate temp though, why worry about the dome temp?
    It doesn't really matter which I use - I was mostly curious how much, if any, difference there was between the two. Sounds like on low and slows, they end up being about the same.
  • nolaegghead
    nolaegghead Posts: 42,102
    This is just me, but if I read a recipe and it says 275 dome, I'll run 250 grate.  I basically subtract 20-25F off the dome temp and that's what I set my grate at. Depends on where you have your grate in an indirect.  Higher up in the dome, more likely that it'll match the dome temp.  I've seen them the same before, but usually dome is higher.
    ______________________________________________
    I love lamp..