Flame Boss temperature

OhioEgger · February 2017

I've had my FB 200 for nearly a year and I love the convenience of it. It's so reliable that I know I don't ever have to monitor the Egg up close and personal.

But my problem is its temperature probe. Clipping it to the grid like you're supposed to gives (usually) a very different temperature reading from the dome thermo. And then there's the issue of exactly how and where you clip it to the grid (in relation to the food and/or the plate setter, etc.).

As a result, I always had some confusion in my mind, trying to reconcile the two temps. Over time I had worked out the best time/temp combinations for a lot of things, but I only had the dome thermo to work with (ignoring the Thermapen).

So for today's cook I decided to just say the hell with it and clipped the FB's probe to the dome thermo, down near the tip. The two temps were always within 5 degrees of each other, and it just eased my mind greatly. This will be my standard from now on, and I can go back to my tried and tested recipes without the confusion.

Maybe I'm just too easily confused, but I thought I'd throw this out for anyone else who might have this issue. Egg on!

GoooDawgs · February 2017

Thats funny bc I tried clipping it to the dome week this week and there was a huge temp difference.... I better check all my probes...

sctdg · February 2017

Grate temp will always be different than dome . I see it in my Thermoworks Smoke and for years in my Maverick ET732 . After a while in the cook things start to even out and temps will be somewhat similar . Fact is difference in temps is not really that big an issue . I used to be real concerned about how close my temps stayed to where I wanted it set but learned as time went on and a bunch of cooks "It Don't Mean Nothin". Proof is when you saw the temp differences I'll bet food came out just fine . Flame Boss probe at grate is what you are cooking at .

Meeeshigan22 · February 2017

Dome temp will always be 20-30 degrees higher for the first couple of hours or so. No big deal as long as you understand that. After a couple of hours things even out, my FB, Maverick, and dome gauge are all within a couple of degrees after some time.

just make sure the FB probe isn't touching meat or over open flame.

etherdome · February 2017

Be sure one of the legs of your platesetter is under the dome thermometer too. You wouldn't think it would make that much of a difference, but it does for me. definitely decreases the difference between dome and grate.

SaintJohnsEgger · February 2017

etherdome said:

Be sure one of the legs of your platesetter is under the dome thermometer too. You wouldn't think it would make that much of a difference, but it does for me. definitely decreases the difference between dome and grate.

Never thought about that. Makes sense though.

billt01 · February 2017

regardless of the placement, if one is cooking below 300 its really indifferent. The main purpose of having a auto draft system is to ensure the temp does not increase for a sustained amount of time or for the fire to smolder out. From what I have encountered in past cooks, it made no difference that the cooker went from 275 to 225. In the inverse, it made no matter the cooker went from 225 to >300 degrees. The key here is to make sure one keeps the fire going, but not to get too excessive. The only difference in these variables is time it takes to cook a protein.

IMO.....dome or grate makes no difference..

1)Do you have fire? If yes goto next, if no light fire.
2)Is you fire >=400 degrees? If yes goto next, if no you are good.
3)Are you cooking steaks or pizza? If yes your are good, if not you are screwed.

there are exceptions to the above, but a large percentage of cooks can fall into the above algorithm.

evie1370 · February 2017

I have a SmoBot, but the same principle applies. Dome is always a little off from the grid-I agree with the above, however it is not by much-maybe 10 degrees or so.

I always try to place the clamp over the plate setter, so it does not come into direct contact with the flames. Hope this helps.

Jeepster47 · February 2017

The funny thing is that @Ozzie_Isaac measured his kitchen oven once and found that it cycled +/- 30 degrees.

http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1191924/fb-200-and-egg-better-temp-control-than-my-oven#latest

Thus, a 20 to 30 degree difference between grill and dome temp is not really that big of a deal. Drag out all of your temp monitoring devices and place them on the grill when you're cooking the next time ... space them about an inch apart. That should identify the OCD folks in the crowd. I had two probes about a half inch apart once and they read about 10 degrees different for the entire cook ... switched their positions and the readings changed ... yep, one half inch apart and the gas flow showed different temp readings. The inside of our eggs are not all the same temp!!

jtcBoynton · February 2017

OhioEgger said:

...

But my problem is its temperature probe. Clipping it to the grid like you're supposed to gives (usually) a very different temperature reading from the dome thermo. And then there's the issue of exactly how and where you clip it to the grid (in relation to the food and/or the plate setter, etc.).

As a result, I always had some confusion in my mind, trying to reconcile the two temps. ...

Don't try to reconcile the different dome and grate temps. Clipping to the dome probe works pretty well. Another alternative is:

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5017260/uploads/editor/ub/tyw4nocpssbe.jpg

SmokingPiney · February 2017

I clip my FB probe towards the back of the grate (hotter there) making sure it is a couple of inches from the meat. When I use the FB, I'm cooking to a target IT anyway, so I go with the FB's temperature and ignore the difference with the dome temp.

bigalsworth · February 2017

clipping works, or you could just choose one or the other. If you use grid, then you will learn the cook times according to grid temps, if you use dome, you will learn the cook times according to dome temps. Just be consistent or you won't learn those cook times.

SmokingPiney · February 2017

bigalsworth said:

clipping works, or you could just choose one or the other. If you use grid, then you will learn the cook times according to grid temps, if you use dome, you will learn the cook times according to dome temps. Just be consistent or you won't learn those cook times.

I only use my FB for long low and slows, and I trust its temp reading and ignore the dome. For any cook less than about 6 hours, I don't use the FB and just set to dome temp. In either case, I'm shooting for a target IT.

Observation: On long low and slows using my FB, the dome temp will disagree with the FB's temp at the beginning of the cook, but the two temps will eventually merge or come close to it as the cook progresses.

OP: @bigalsworth is correct - cook to one or the other reading. My suggestion is to ignore the dome when using the FB - it is controlling your cook and you need to trust it. Mine has never let me down.

Flame Boss temperature

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