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Dome temp vs Grill Temp

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Mantoothian
Mantoothian Posts: 85
in EggHead Forum
Last night I made my first Spatchcock and it turned out alright. I recalibrated my dome thermometer and it read ~400* throughout the cook. My iVation clip-on thermometer read about ~345* when attached to the raised grid. Is the delta between the dome temp and grill temp usually this large? I was cooking the chicken direct, with a tray of veggies underneath it. The breast hit 160* at about 1hr 5min but the skin was not crispy at all. Is one of my thermometers way off?
Denver, CO
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  • SoCalTim
    SoCalTim Posts: 2,158
    edited June 2015
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    Ahhh ... the old 'why isn't the skin on my chicken crispy' question. It's been suggested that you leave your chicken, uncovered in the fridge for 24 hours to allow the skin to dry out.

    Work's perfectly for me.

    Btw, if you were doing a low n slow cook, those temps would eventually meet.
    I've slow smoked and eaten so much pork, I'm legally recognized as being part swine - Chatsworth Ca.
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  • Mantoothian
    Mantoothian Posts: 85
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    @SoCalTim so it's normal for the range to be pretty wide initially, but after a few hours the margin would narrow?
    Denver, CO
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  • stemc33
    stemc33 Posts: 3,567
    edited June 2015
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    Did you mean indirect? If you had a tray of vegetables beneath it, the veggies may have been direct, but the chicken would have been indirect. The added moisture from the veggies could have contributed to the problem. 

    I've had wider differences in dome vs grid with both thermos calbabrated the same +/- a few degrees. Seveveral factors with the biggest possibility that the probe was clipped near the chicken. The longer something cooks the closer the temps should come together. 
    Steven
    Mini Max with Woo stone combo, LBGE, iGrill 2, Plate Setter, 
    two cotton pot holders to handle PS
    Banner, Wyoming
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  • SoCalTim
    SoCalTim Posts: 2,158
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    Mantoothian said:
    @SoCalTim so it's normal for the range to be pretty wide initially, but after a few hours the margin would narrow?
    Absolutely! I promise you, given time the temps will even up. If you haven't done an overnight cook, wait and see .. great question.
    I've slow smoked and eaten so much pork, I'm legally recognized as being part swine - Chatsworth Ca.
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  • lousubcap
    lousubcap Posts: 32,393
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    Off-set temps exist throughout the BGE (and your clock-box as well).  Too much info can become a serious distraction.  I would pick one thermo/temp (calibrated) and learn how the BGE performs with that indicator and go from there.
    BTW-the general convention is that when a temperature is listed here it is dome temp (as all BGE's have that one) unless otherwise mentioned.  FWIW-
    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.
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  • Skiddymarker
    Skiddymarker Posts: 8,522
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    Your temps were way off for a direct cook, the good news is you were cooking indirect. If you had a proble clipped to the grid with a direct path to the burning lump, the grid temp should be higher than the dome temp, anywhere from 25º to 50º. The grid level probe is exposed to direct IR from the lump, hence it is hotter. If the probe and food at the grid level are protected by a place setter or tray of veggies, as @stemc33 notes, you are cooking indirect, in which case the grid level probe will be cooler than the dome thermo, by as much as 25º to 50º. The longer the indirect cook the more the two will come together, grid and dome might be within 5º of each other after 3 or 4 hours. 
    Delta B.C. - Whiskey and steak, because no good story ever started with someone having a salad!
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  • Jeepster47
    Jeepster47 Posts: 3,827
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    lousubcap said:
    ...  I would pick one thermo/temp (calibrated) and learn how the BGE performs with that indicator and go from there. ...
    All good advice from the folks above.  You might consider slightly modifying what @lousubcap said in the quote above though.  Use grid temps for cooks below 300 to 350 degrees ... and, dome temp above 350 or so.

    Two reasons ... 1) most probe leads start to deteriorate rapidly at the higher temps ...  Michael from Flame Boss suggested 450 degrees should be your upper limit and Maverick says not to use them above 572 degrees.  Thus, you're using up their usable life by using them at high temps.  2) The grill temps can be as much as 50 degrees lower than the dome.  A difference of 50 degrees during a low-n-slow, can greatly affect the length of time to finish.  While during a 400 degree cook, being off by 50 degrees won't have as much affect on cook time or results.

    Washington, IL  >  Queen Creek, AZ ... Two large eggs and an adopted Mini Max

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  • lograt2
    lograt2 Posts: 6
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    Great advise! I was wondering the same thing. This weekend I put a Butt on and left for church. When I got home the grid temp was 319 and the dome temp was just under 400. Both probes at once helped my learning curve a lot.
    Reformed Gasser
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  • Mantoothian
    Mantoothian Posts: 85
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    Awesome advice. Thanks everyone!
    Denver, CO
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