1st Guru Cook

egger66

I just put on the butt for my first Guru DigiQ II cook. Take a look at the descrepencies in the Guru temp vs, the Eggs thermometer temp. I checked the accuracy of the Guru temp with the boiling water test and it read 213...I'm OK with that. The butt has only been on for 8 minutes when these pics were taken.

I've got some work to do on cleaning this mess up :unsure:



Temp 8 minutes after putting on the butt



Eggs thermometer temp...whats up with the difference in temps?

Misippi Egger

I'm assuming you also calibrated your dome probe?

Could be the placement of your pit thermometer probe. Where did you put it in the egg? Is it shielded from the direct fire? Just thoughts?

How long did you let your closed egg stabilize (and at what temp) before you put the butt on? If it wasn't very long, it could be still stabilizing and will eventually 'catch up'. My dome usually runs 20-25* higher than my Guru pit temp.

Nature Boy

Cooking indirect in the egg, especially with cold meat, and a fire below....the heat swirls around on it's way out the top vent, and there are different temperature all around the inside of that egg. Move your guru probe to a different spot, and you'll get a different reading.

It evens out once the meat comes to temp.

Still, the biggest factor here is the placement of your probe. You played around with that yet?

Good luck!
Chris

egger66

Not yet...I clipped the probe to the device that keeps the egg thermometer in place. I think that the tip of the egg probe is about 2" from the guru's clip?? Even though there is a difference in the readings, both are holding rock steady at 225 egg and 245 guru. Its been that way for about 40 mins.

egger66

You know,I havent checked the eggs calibration in over a year...I think I know what I'll be doing after this cook :laugh:

Rolling Egg

No worries. I notice this a lot with mine as well. Even with both the thermos calibrated. I agree with Natureboy. They will get closer together the longer in the cook you go. About halfway on they should match perfectly. Good luck

Judy Mayberry

Excuse me if I'm way off base. I have an original Guru that looks like kindergarten next to your DigiQ II, and the temperature probe clips onto the grid near the meat. Why is your clip up in the dome on the thermometer clip?

Have I missed a whole chapter of Guru evolution? Or a whole book?

Judy
San Diego

egger66

I clipped it there because I'm used to cooking at "dome temps". With this being my first cook with it , I wanted to try and keep the guru temp the same as I've used in the past(the eggs dome temp)

Judy Mayberry

If you can get yourself to ignore the dome temp and regard it as an ancient artifact, you will enjoy your Guru so much better! Don't your instructions say to clip the temp clip (mine is an alligator clip) close to the meat on the grid? That gives you the temp that the meat is surrounded by, and tells the Guru whether or not to huff and puff to raise it. At least that's what I think happens. Yours is very advanced looking and I don't know if it works the same way, but I would think it does.

Judy

egger66

I'm sure they work the same. I dont have any problems clipping the probe to the grate, but what temp do I shoot for...230-245 like I always have? Or do I have to adjust the target temp up or down? From what I've read on the forum, there are differences between dome temp and grate temp. Since I dont know how moving my probe will affect my cook, I want to avoid changing probe placement while figuring out how to use the DigiQ.

Judy Mayberry

Ok, it's really simple. First, the grate is the round plate with holes, at the bottom of the fire bowl, that holds up the lump. Lots of people get this mixed up with the grid, don't feel bad.

The grid is on top--what you put your food on to cook. Set whatever you have to program for the desired temperature you want to cook the meat at. That means the area at grid level where the meat is sitting. Clip the temperature probe on the grid wire very close to the meat, but not touching it. If you're using a platesetter, it's a good idea to have the wires cross the rim where the platesetter legs are sticking up...I think it's less hot there. The temp there at the grid surface will be 20-25° lower than the dome thermometer. Ignore the dome thermometer!!!!! The setting on your instrument for pit temperature is about 250°. Again, ignore that dome thermometer! Then give the Egg plenty of time to settle down and then it will stay constant.

If you open it to spray or mop, don't you have to first turn off the meat temp indicator, then the power? That's how mine works. The temp will drop when the lid is opened, but when you turn everything back on, it will adjust itself. Just check the DigiQ information and forget the dome thermometer!

The first time is the most anxiety-producing experience. After that it's a piece of cake...with the instruction book in hand for the first few times. Good luck.

Judy

Rolling Egg

250 dome is a good temp for your butts or ribs. Most here cook to dome temp so what you are doing is fine.

danny285

I remove the BGE thermo and replace with guru pit probe when using the Guru per the Guru U-Tube video and the folks at guru. Good luck with your cook.

The Naked Whiz

Whether to clip to the grid or the dome thermometer is purely a matter of style or preference. If someone has been using the dome temperature previously, then using the Guru's probe on the thermometer probe makes sense so that they can continue to cook using the same temps as before. As the Egg heats up, the gap between the dome and grid temperatures will decrease and the difference isn't that important anyway. The Guru will work the same either way, it's just a matter of what temperature it will be maintaining.

As for opening the lid, his model of Guru as a new feature called Open Lid Detect. It senses large/rapid temperature changes and doesn't operate the blower during these changes. As long as you don't leave the lid open too long, it works quite well. (If you open the lid and leave it open, eventually the temperature will stabilize and the blower will start working again.)

You can read more about the DigiQ II on my website where I did a full review of the product:

Review of the DigiQ II

tjv

quick list of what can impact temperatures in a bbq cooker:

- coming up to the target temperature vs. working down to the target temperature.

- how the fuel burns, hot vs. cold peaks

- path used to channel the heat

- type of size of indirect piece

- # of grid levels

- # of times the cooker is opened and duration.

- air leaks and location of such

- weather conditions: ambient temp, wind, moisture

- configuration of the cooking set up, distances between fuel, indirect piece and grid

- size and density of whatever your cooking

- duration of the cook

- location and responsiveness of the temperature sensing unit

Makes ya wonder how anything gets cooked to perfection.....well, that's the beauty of ceramic cookers. They just do their thing, producing great product.

Couple things I've found that work best for me when cooking are:

1. develop good habits and repeat
2. match size and shape of the set-up to the whatever is cooking
3. don’t sweat the small stuff - temps 8 minutes into the cook
4. pick one temperature sensing device as your go to sensor for all cooks. Other sensors, if present, are just along for the ride and don’t sway opinions. i use the guru
5. you are your worst critic, chances are if you think it’s good, other will think it’s great. sometimes you bomb and that’s ok.
6. Have fun………!

egger66

Thanks for all the input. It will be done in a few more hours and I'll post pics of the outcome(good or bad :laugh: )

Bacchus

We are talkin about a Butt cook here. One of the easiest of all Egg cooks...