Which temp to trust?

wps456

Put a brisket on about 6:15am, going Aaron Franklin method (275). When I put it in the Egg, the dome probe and pit probe (FlameBoss 500) were both at 275. 2 1/2 hours later, Egg says 375 (yes 375) and FB says 275. The Egg cap is maybe open 1/4 inch which makes me think 375 is crazy but the brisket is cooking way too fast, it’s already at 164. I’m hoping it’ll stall here quickly but if it keeps rising I’ll just wrap at about 175 or 180. Dinner at 6-ish so it may get an extra long rest…just hope it turns out good. Any thoughts??

lkapigian

If FB is at grate and 275 and dome is 375 .. your dime will be higher albeit that’s probably extreme , I’d say your dome thermo is out of calibration… don’t sweat it, worry about the meat , done way earlier is better for a longer rest 

Ozzie_Isaac

lkapigian said:

If FB is at grate and 275 and dome is 375 .. your dime will be higher albeit that’s probably extreme , I’d say your dome thermo is out of calibration… don’t sweat it, worry about the meat , done way earlier is better for a longer rest 

Came here to say this, will also say the fire may have moved around and your dome thermometer could be directly exposed to lit coals. This will depend on what you are using for a deflector.

wps456

I’m using a conveggtor for indirect. Looking like it’s finally stalled. It got to 179 then over the past about 30 minutes it’s dropped to 174 with dome temp now at 350 and FB pit temp still at 275. I just checked it and sprayed some apple cider vinegar to moisten it a little (probably not necessary) and the bark is looking good. Once the temp starts climbing (comes out of stall), I’ll wrap in butcher paper. Thanks y’all!

JohnInCarolina

Sounds like worst-case scenario you’re looking at a six-hour hold, which is very do-able via FTC.  So don’t worry about the protein - that’ll likely turn out just fine.

If your pit probe is close to the protein what you’re seeing there is how the large thermal mass impacts the temperature locally.  The “true temperature” the brisket is seeing is probably somewhere in the middle of the two measurements, or around 325.

Foghorn

Yes.  They are probably both correct.  If it is cooking faster than you think/want, you can close the vents down a little.

wps456

I panic with this battle (dome vs pit probe) every time I smoke something. It drives me crazy but the food always comes out good. I just have to babysit it more than I want to. I’ve got a large and an XL Egg and it happens on both. The FB fan is in the lower vent and the top vent is open just enough to fit the temp and meat probe wires through (so about 1/4 inch or so). My guess is that after I wrap it’ll take a while to get to 200-ish to check for doneness. Like John said, 6-hour rest is worst case but I bet it’ll be 3-4.

Langner91

Don't battle it.  Just calibrate your dome thermometer, make sure a leg of your platesetter is right in front and concentrate on your dome reading.

That grate thermo (FB) is influenced greatly by that big hunk of cold (colder than the surrounding air) meat.

Next time, clip your FB thermometer onto your dome thermometer stem.  No more worries.

Enjoy that brisket!

lousubcap

Calibrate and then believe your indications.  Too much information can cause you to continually question what's going on.  For me, smoking protein is analog and a relaxing undertaking. 

Being old, I just go with the dome thermo as every BGE has one.  However, I aslso have lawn...

stlcharcoal

Pull the chimney cap and hold you hand over the top.  You should be able to tell pretty quick by the temp of the smoke.  My money is on the dome temp being wrong.  Boil some water and see if it's reading 100F high.

JohnInCarolina

stlcharcoal said:

Boil some water and see if it's reading 100F high.

Can you boil water on an Egg?

lousubcap

I saw a pic of some water boiling on a BGE (at least it was presented as a BGE with a green base.)  Coulda been photo-shopped...

wps456

7 hours in: dome and probe temp are now reading the same. Meat did what I expected…after wrapping, it slowed way down. Starting to climb back up now, at 187 now. Hopefully it’ll get done in about 3 hours or so, then have a 2-hour rest.

I know this will open another can of worms but with the dome temp reading higher early in the cook, I’m wondering if I should go fat side up next time? I’ve always started fat down but after wrapping, I place fat up.

Langner91

Dome or grid temps is one debate, but fat cap up or down makes me think you are just trying to get us worked up.




I always go fat down, acts as a nice little blanket to protect that precious brisket from the fire below.

HeavyG

Avoid the fat up/down argument by using a rotisserie.

lousubcap

Fat cap to the hottest part of your cooker.  If you jack the brisket way up in the dome then up. If you are smoking it at gasket level then down. 

But in the end it makes no real difference.  That's my story anyhow. 

Foghorn

There’s no question. Fat up. But make sure there is no heat rising into the bottom of the brisket - so the fat is facing a hotter temperature than the other side. 

Langner91

Foghorn said:

There’s no question. Fat up. But make sure there is no heat rising into the bottom of the brisket - so the fat is facing a hotter temperature than the other side. 

Now I am really confused.  I agree with everything you said, except the "fat up" part.  Isn't the heat / hotter temperature always below the brisket in a BGE?

JohnInCarolina

Ozzie_Isaac

Langner91 said:

Foghorn said:

There’s no question. Fat up. But make sure there is no heat rising into the bottom of the brisket - so the fat is facing a hotter temperature than the other side. 

Now I am really confused.  I agree with everything you said, except the "fat up" part.  Isn't the heat / hotter temperature always below the brisket in a BGE?

Depends how high in the dome the brisket is, where the fire is in the firebox, how high the coals are, what type of deflector you are using, how big the airgap between deflector and brisket, and do you have a water pan or not.  Probably a lot of other factors I am also leaving out.

In general, I believe top side in an egg is hotter than bottom side.

Foghorn

@Langner91, ever since I read this article:

https://www.wired.com/2015/07/high-tech-bbq/

I've figured that one can set up your egg to where the top of the brisket sees more heat than the bottom.

I use the ConvEGGtor/platesetter, then a few balls of aluminum foil to create an airgap, then a double layer of heavy duty aluminum foil that I fashion to sit on the platesetter and cover more area than the platesetter.  This forces the heat up around the brisket into the dome.  The bottom of the brisket sees less heat than the top of it (Note: I have not proven this with thermometers but the bottom does seem to cook less than the top of anything I cook this way).

I recognize that I am in the minority here by cooking a brisket with the fat side up on an egg, but those who recognized that the earth is round were once in the minority as well.