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Tel-Tru Thermo Question.

Boxerpapa
Boxerpapa Posts: 989
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
Looking to upgrade my thermometer. Opinions on 2.5 inch stem or 5 inch stem? 150-700 degrees or 200-1000 degrees? Thanks in advance for the input.

Comments

  • Carolina Q
    Carolina Q Posts: 14,831
    Hope you get some good answers... my OEM isn't going to last forever and I've wondered the same things. I'm thinkin' 5" and 150-750° (it's 750, not 700 btw). I've never been able to get my egg past 750 anyway!

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

    Michael 
    Central Connecticut 

  • Hoss
    Hoss Posts: 14,600
    IMHO,2.5" 200-750.And a Thermapen. ;)
  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,671
    im a fan of the 2.5 inch stem, it reads low, inaccurate by about 10 to 15 percent. i add ten percent to the reading and things cook faster :laugh: ive bent too many 4 and 5 inch stems, once you get used to the shorter stem and adding a tip of ten to 15 percent you will love it, if it reads 300, raise the temp to 330, its that simple. naked whiz has a study
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
  • 2Fategghead
    2Fategghead Posts: 9,624
    I have two 5 inch stem 150-700 degrees. Just be careful. I also can put the stem holder on the outside it holds it up nicely sort of like fishlessman only mine sticks up on the outside. Tim ;)
  • thirdeye
    thirdeye Posts: 7,428
    The temp range is up to you, I do a lot of things at low temps (jerky, smoked salmon) so I selected the 150-750°. I also have the 5" stem, and here's why:

    The 2-1/2" stem is too short, not enough of the shaft reaches into the Egg to get an accurate measurement. I believe The Naked Whiz review put the short stem therms about 15° too low. Since there is a 20° to 30° difference between dome thermometer and the actual cooking temp at the grate anyway, why put another 15° into that equation?

    It's very easy to build an external spacer or use an alligator clip, or clothes pin if you have a big roast you are worrying that you may hit with the 5" stem. for all the rest of the cooks, there is no problem hitting anything.
    Happy Trails
    ~thirdeye~

    Barbecue is not rocket surgery
  • Hoss
    Hoss Posts: 14,600
  • Photo Egg
    Photo Egg Posts: 12,110
    I use the 2.5 on my mini and smalls and 5 on the rest.
    All are the 700 max.
    Thank you,
    Darian

    Galveston Texas
  • Hey RM,

    We carry both temp ranges in the 5" stem. I prefer the lower range, I feel it's more critical to watch the lower end temps as opposed to the higher end temps.

    Not sure they are any better than the BGE model though, JMO.

     

    -SMITTY     

    from SANTA CLARA, CA

  • Smitty,
    I got three of the 2.5 on my eggs now and they are far superior to the OEM BGE ones. Just MHO
  • Interesting, the thermo that came with my new XL is a BGE thermoobviously, but I think I saw "Tel-Tru" written on it as well. I will have to double check tonight...
  • If you have a 5" probe and pull it out a couple inches to avoid an interference, you're approaching the 2.5" probe. In these cases do you add 10-15% to the reading as you would with the 2.5" probe?

    Barry
    Marthasville, MO
  • Gandolf
    Gandolf Posts: 906
    The 5" (and maybe the 2." too, I don't know), has a small
    groove near the end of the probe. As long as the thermo is inserted far enough to expose the groove, the temp reading is accurate. I have the 5 inchers on both my Eggs and have a wine cork as a spacer. They work perfectly. I didn't want to "do the math."
  • RRP
    RRP Posts: 25,880
    I haven't read the other responses. Personally I use 3 of the 5" ones that run 200 to 1,000. I have yet to bend one as it is only 1" longer than a BGE thermometer and I take up half of that with a toy wheel spacer.
    IMG_0114.jpg

    I tend to cook at higher temps so rather than taxing the 750 ceiling on occasion the 1,000 allows me protection. On the low end I never egg below 200 anyway so 150 gives me nothing.
    Re-gasketing America one yard at a time.
  • thirdeye
    thirdeye Posts: 7,428
    Right. That groove is at the top of the tiny coil inside the thermometer and actually holds it in place. It also gives a visual to the user to indicate the active length of the stem. (from the groove to the tip)

    With the 5" model, I recall that without a spacer, the groove was about 2" to 2-1/4" from the inside face of my large Egg's dome. So I use a 1-1/4" spacer; this gives me about 1" from the inside face to the groove and a total projection of around 2-1/2" inside the Egg.
    Happy Trails
    ~thirdeye~

    Barbecue is not rocket surgery
  • thirdeye
    thirdeye Posts: 7,428
    If you have a 750° cook going on, you could just remove the thermometer. At that temp it's all a visual anyway isn't it?
    Happy Trails
    ~thirdeye~

    Barbecue is not rocket surgery
  • RRP
    RRP Posts: 25,880
    Wayne, yes, you are correct...guess I wasn't very clear on my rationale for using the higher range thermometer. Tel-Tru warns "in my words" that while the thermometer is capable of reading at the 750 for that one model or 1,000 for the other model that I prefer it suggests that damage can occur and it's not a good idea to max it out or "tax it" as I say. Therefore when I'm going to go into after-burner mode to sear meat in the 700 to 750 range - even though it is a brief encounter I don't worry about my 1,000° ones. In addition I've yet had to change a single one of mine in the 7 or 8 years I've had them as they have remained dead on accurate and I've even measured at higher ends by quickly swapping out my Thermapen to check at the 500° level. With perfect results at that level I trust my Tel-Tru thermometers on up the scale.

    PS I have to laugh...I've always wondered why the 750 vs. the 1,000 becomes such a Chevy vs. Ford item on this board!
    Re-gasketing America one yard at a time.
  • Thanks for the clarification.

    Barry
    Marthasville, MO
  • rcone
    rcone Posts: 219
    Now on the Tel-Tru website there are 3.5in abs 5inch models.
    "Feed me, or feed me to something; I just want to be part of the food chain" Al Bundy

    LBGE, SBGE, Carson Rotisserie, Blackstone Griddle  

    Milwaukee, Wisconsin