Just bought my third dome thermometer for my LBGE...

tz666

I have an AR and a rig extender that I use almost all the time and when Im done cooking I put the ceramic cap back on and put the DW inside the egg. First time I noticed my thermometer wasnt working properly and I tried to take it out I realized the stem was bent. A bent stem completely ruins the thermometer, needle sticks and jumps around when you tap the face. I replaced it with the tel true, which took forever to come in when I ordered it. I had been swapping the thermometer back and forth between MM and LBGE depending on cooks. Finally it came in and it has a 1" longer stem. Well Saturday I was cooking wings and had both eggs going and noticed that I couldnt get a good temp reading on the tel tru so I tried to remove it and sure enough the stem was bent. I realize now that if i dont put the DW far enough back when I shut the lid with the rig extender on the stem hits the DW and the lid is heavy enough to bend it. Just left my local dealer with my third thermometer, #BGEP

nolaegghead

Do you leave the retaining clip off?

swordsmn

My DFMT  is kept indoors on my bakers rack o egg toys.  I mainly use a smokeware cap (for low&slows)  I'm surprised my Boston Butt didn't hit the thermo  when I had the butt atop the AR extender during my first pork cook.

berndcrisp

Drill a hole through a wine cork lengthwise. Slide cork onto thermo stem cut the cork to length so only about 1-1.5" protrudes into the dome. Use caution closing the dome and 'feel' if the thermo is going to contact the stuff inside or, leave off the corked thermo, close the dome then insert the thermo.

tz666

Ok help me out @nolaegghead I had the retaining clip on, should I leave it off? and why? @berndcrisp i thought about the wine cork, does external temp of egg cause issues with cork? Fire hazard?

berndcrisp

The external temp in not high enough to cause problems with the cork. I have been doing it this way for 5 years without a problem. No retaining clip needed as the dome doesn't swing to a position where the thermo will fall. Toss the clip into the 'not needed' drawer.

fishlessman

the tel tru 2.5 inch stem reads a little under 15 percent low on the reading. if you can do simple math an add ten percent to the dome reading your good to go. i like the shorter stem better and the math is simple

nolaegghead

If you remove the clip, the thermometer will more than likely just be pushed out if it hits your food rather than bend.  And as berndcrisp says, it won't fall out opening the lid.

WeberWho

You can take the retaining clip and place it on the outside of the dome to prop up the thermometer so you don't have so much stem inside of the dome

tjv

what @WeberWho? said:

theyolksonyou

I use my clip as a spacer for the mm drip pan. 

swordsmn

tz666 said:

Ok help me out @nolaegghead I had the retaining clip on, should I leave it off? and why? @berndcrisp i thought about the wine cork, does external temp of egg cause issues with cork? Fire hazard?

You could always soak your cork  :-)

tz666

I like the clip outside, thats why I come here. This place is full genius.

nolaegghead

You could have a low bias on your reading with enough stem outside the dome.  And a cork, because it insulates, may mitigate that bias.  Or you could do math, or adjust the calibration.

This is all supposition as most calibration instructions call for 2" of stem in the boiling water.

edit: Not that anything I said above would make a rat's ass worth of difference.  Dome temp isn't that important as long as you're in the ball park.  Not bending your stem is important.

Acn

Leave the clip off completely.  That way you can rotate the thermometer so your target temp is in the 12:00 position.  Makes it really easy to look outside and make sure your temp is still where it needs to be.

fishlessman

im sticking with the 2.5 inch stem, bent too many 4s and 5s, usually with the dutch but sometimes it happens and i find it bent later. its as easy an adjustment as figuring out the tip at dinner and for the tech savy that really on things that do it for you without thinking, theres apps for that

tjv

nolaegghead said:

You could have a low bias on your reading with enough stem outside the dome.  And a cork, because it insulates, may mitigate that bias.  Or you could do math, or adjust the calibration.

on late night several pours into a Canadian Club Small Batch bottle.  All that chalk added up to..........Small batch ain't bad given it's 12 year old and reasonably priced............... lol



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