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Temperature Difference

I noticed last night when cooking a butt that my maverick was reading about 50 degrees cooler than my dome thermometer.  I have a indirect setup using the plate setter legs up with my raised grill on top of my normal grate.  The maverick grill probe is clipped to the midde of the raised grill next to the butt which puts it about 5 inches below the dome guage.  Just wondering if the temp difference is caused by the heat on the edges coming around the plate setter and directly hitting the dome guage.  The maverick probe is almost dead center of the grill.  Anyone else had this issue or could this setup explain the issue?

Tuscaloosa, Alabama

Comments

  • calracefan
    calracefan Posts: 606
    I do a similar set up and have seen 50 degrees difference in the beginning of the cook. As the cook progresses the temps come closer together to even matching. Seems to be a common occurrence,I guess the dome is hotter as heat rises but leaving the lid closed eventually it all evens out. 
    Ova B.
    Fulton MO
  • B&BKnox
    B&BKnox Posts: 283
    +1 with calracefan.  I have seen 50 degree differences, think some may be due to colder meat affecting grid thermo at the start but as the cook progresses then more of less even out.
    Be Well

    Knoxville TN
  • gdenby
    gdenby Posts: 6,239
    Platesetters can take quite awhile to heat up. I did a test a few years ago where I placed a pan w. one cup of water into the Egg at felt level when the dome read 250. I did this raised direct, raised, indirect via an empty drip pan, a sand filled drip pan, and a platesetter. I timed whenl the water reached 200F.  I don't have the exact times on hand, but my recollection was that direct was the fastest, as was to be expected. The thing that surprised me was that the time it took w. the platesetter in was almost double what it was for both empty and sand filled pans. Again, by recollection, it took nearly 45 min for the water to simmer w. the platesetter, whose temp via an IR therm was by then 650F.

    Back when I used a Maverick, I noticed that the grill temp reading varied widely depending on how near or far from the cold meat the probe was placed.

    So I'd suppose the reading you had was due to proximity to the meat, and perhaps a 'setter that was still in heat absorbing mode.

    As mentioned, after a time, I've seen 4 - 5 hours, the dome and grill temps equalize.
  • CharlieTN
    CharlieTN Posts: 177
    I'll mirror others findings as well. Even with a fairly stabilized egg the dome temp and the maverick probe will often be off by 25+ degrees.  As the cook progresses (and I behave myself and don't open the dome) then the temps get closer to each other, even being the same on a long cook.

    I'm sure that the temp of the meat has a lot to do with this as well as the fact that with an indirect cook, the hottest air is circulating up the dome and out the top, going right by the dome thermometer.

    Charlie
  • nolaegghead
    nolaegghead Posts: 42,102
    Make sure your probe and thermometer are calibrated by putting them in boiling water.  If they are, that's the temp at those spots in the egg.  Like everyone is saying, it's normal for the dome to be hotter, especially in the first couple of hours.
    ______________________________________________
    I love lamp..
  • Charlie tuna
    Charlie tuna Posts: 2,191
    This is what i used to see back whene i used my Maverick on cooks.  As my egg heats up, they stay fairly close to each other on readings.  Somewhere around 325, or burping temperature, the flames begin to wrap the inside of the dome.  These flames are in direct contact with the egg's dome thermometer causing it to increase fast, while the Maverick's grid probe is reading the egg's internal temperature --  at this point the difference is easily 50 or more degrees.  If i cut back on the vent opening, and drop to drop the temperature, this extinguishes these flames and the dome stat drops rapidly and soon will be about the same reading as the Maverick.  My $.02.    
  • Tydfan
    Tydfan Posts: 41
    Everyone seems to be coming to the same conclusions on why the dome reading is higher than the eggs internal temp.  I would assume then that I should go by them maverick's reading for determining cooking times since it is giving the indirect temp that the meat is actually exposed to? Sound logical?

    Tuscaloosa, Alabama

  • lousubcap
    lousubcap Posts: 32,162
    @Tydfan-The normal practice is that if a cooking temperature is listed it is the dome temp (which every BGE has) unless specified otherwise, i.e. grate temp.  Given the fact that the temperature difference on indirects decreases over time and you end up cooking to a finish temperature (key words) it doesn't make a difference which you personally use.  Temperature is an indication of what is happening in the BGE where the thermo is located.  This lets you approximate the duration of the cook but beyond that it is just a reference.  FWIW-YMMV-
    Louisville; Rolling smoke in the neighbourhood. # 38 for the win.  Life is too short for light/lite beer!  Seems I'm livin in a transitional period.