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Dome or grill temp?

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VooDuuChild
VooDuuChild Posts: 54
in EggHead Forum
Doing brisket right now.....should I go by grill or dome temp? It is about 220 grill and 255 dome, meat still cold at 55.....
1) XLBGE                  1) PK's Pro 100 pound capacity commercial grade electric smoker
2) Chief smokers        1) Brinkmann...first smoker...gave to a buddy after years of great service.
1) Char Broil Gas grill  1) Square Char Broil coal grill   1) Round XL Weber round coal grill
1) Rotisserie for the Weber grill (AWESOME).....I don't have a problem, I can stop anytime I want...I can.
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  • stemc33
    stemc33 Posts: 3,567
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    Most go with dome temp when describing their cooks unless they specify grid temp. Your dome and grid temp will align on longer cooks. 
    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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  • hoofaloos
    hoofaloos Posts: 242
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    Give it an hour or so. They'll match up if both are calibrated 
    XLBGE- Napa, CA by way of ATX


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  • Begger
    Begger Posts: 569
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    stemc33 said:
    Most go with dome temp when describing their cooks unless they specify grid temp. Your dome and grid temp will align on longer cooks. 
    I've found that to be VERY TRUE.   At the couple hour mark the temps slowly converge and end up within a few degrees of one another.

    That applies to indirect.  For direct?   I pay almost NO attention to temp but rather rely on 'instinct', if you will.   A big even fire is more important than whatever the temp 'is'.  
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  • lousubcap
    lousubcap Posts: 32,500
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    Sort out how your BGE cooks with one instrument (calibrated) and go from there.  You can get into information overload with the thermal gradients that exist within the BGE.  Just an opinion and we all know what those are worth...
    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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  • VooDuuChild
    VooDuuChild Posts: 54
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    Went to bed at 2:30 and up at 8....dome down to 204 grill at 200...cranked up to 225 on the cyberq...both sitting at 225ish....woohoo.....love the Cyberq Wifi..can't wait to get sleep on another overnight cook.
    1) XLBGE                  1) PK's Pro 100 pound capacity commercial grade electric smoker
    2) Chief smokers        1) Brinkmann...first smoker...gave to a buddy after years of great service.
    1) Char Broil Gas grill  1) Square Char Broil coal grill   1) Round XL Weber round coal grill
    1) Rotisserie for the Weber grill (AWESOME).....I don't have a problem, I can stop anytime I want...I can.
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  • jtcBoynton
    jtcBoynton Posts: 2,814
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    You can use either grid or dome temps to guide your cook. On this forum, the standard is dome temp unless grid is specified. Most of the discussion and recommendations you see here will be for dome temps.

    I think that grid temps are more susceptible to variations based on set up than dome temps.  Grid space in eggs is precious and I find that I often need all of the grid for food, leaving no room for a temp probe. A grid probe if placed too close to cold meat will give you low temp readings. A grid probe if placed too far to the edge will give you high temp readings due to hot air flows coming around the platesetter openings. Adjusting egg temps in either of these scenarios will give you less than optimal results and may lead to needing to chase temps all cook long.  
    Southeast Florida - LBGE
    In cooking, often we implement steps for which we have no explanations other than ‘that’s what everybody else does’ or ‘that’s what I have been told.’  Dare to think for yourself.
     
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  • Carolina Q
    Carolina Q Posts: 14,831
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    I've been cooking on an egg for six years and have never checked grid temp. Not once. I don't know what it is, I don't know if it ever matches dome temp and I don't care.

    The temp sending unit on my kitchen oven is at the top. The BGE folks install their thermo in the dome. For that matter, so to the people at Weber. Recipes are typically given for dome temp too. I figure all these people are trying to tell me something. =)

    And besides that, what do all the folks who just buy a stock egg do? It doesn't come with a grid thermo. Not everyone has or wants a Maverick or DigiQ. How are they to check grid temp? 

    Just my opinion of course. :)

    I hate it when I go to the kitchen for food and all I find are ingredients!                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

    Michael 
    Central Connecticut 

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  • SmokingPiney
    SmokingPiney Posts: 2,282
    edited September 2015
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    I go with dome. Grate temp can vary widely depending on where you set the probe. 
    South Jersey Pine Barrens. XL BGE , Assassin 24, Weber Kettle, CharBroil gasser, AMNPS 
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  • tom_streeter
    tom_streeter Posts: 8
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    Recent convert to dome-only. Used to obsess with grid temps, but all I wound up doing was overthinking it and screwing things up by over-futzing. The points above about variations due to probe placement on the grid and how the temps converge around 90 minutes into a cook match my experience. Get a nice small fire going, crack the vents a bit to see where your temps settle in, then adjust accordingly no more frequently than 10 minute intervals ( and 20 is better) . Trust the Egg. It will settle in and give you six hours of rock-solid temps. I don't know what happens after 6 on my large, but I have to start adjusting a bit more often then. It might start cooling. It might spike. I don't know why. But even then it's max once an hour. And all based on what the dome tells me. For what it's worth. 
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