Egg Genius - pit probe

UTgrad · September 2019

I recently purchased the Egg Genius and have already developed a love/not trusting relationship with it. The reason for the purchase is that I have several upcoming overnight cooks - family coming over for Sunday games. I have tested the Genius on several long ( 4-12 hour) cooks. I have found it to be very reliable in maintaining WiFi connection (went to grandson’s soccer game for 4 hours) and always saw pit and meat temp while away. That’s the background - here is my question/issue.

Prior to egg genius, I have been using a ThermPro for grate and meat readings. (I have calibrated all mentioned probes using boiling water - bge dome thermometer 212; ThermPro 211; egg genius 209). I do use grate temp for my indirect low and slow cooks - and yes the dome and grate temp even out over time. However, my egg genius is constantly 10-20 degrees under my ThermPro probe. I believe it is the way the probes are attached to the grill - ThermPro probe is about 2-3 inches above the grill while egg genius is an alligator clip to the grill resulting in the temp probe below the grill (and the two probes do not even out over time). Maybe the difference is not enough to worry about - however, on a 225 cook I could either be cooking at 210 or 245 depending on the probe. (The probes are within 1 inch of each other over the PS). I have tried attaching the Genius to the dome probe but I just did not like the wire hanging down and being in the way - maybe I need to give that another go.

Anyone else tested the Genius against another probes? Am I going OCD over my bge? This weekend I cooked a 6 lb pork shoulder setting the Genius at 230 - it maintained the temp for 12 hours and that is what I love about the Genius. Other readings were ThermPro 245; bge dome 240. I am trying to avoid the “guess the right probe” game.

bge XL

pgprescott · September 2019

Short answer is YES, you are way too worried about what amounts to insignificant temperature differences.
You can probably calibrate the genius to read the same as one of the others if it is important to you. The real desire should be obtaining predictable outcomes. I would think that either re-calibrating the Genius ( i wouldn't bother personally) or by anticipating the changes due to readings and adjusting, you can get there. ENJOY!

UTgrad · September 2019

That’s the conclusion I came to after posting - thanks
per Flameboss -Genius cannot be recalibrated- they will replace pit probe if more than 3 degrees off.

stlcharcoal · September 2019

The temp under the dome will vary from side to side, top to bottom, etc by up to 30-40 degrees. It just depends on where the fire is in the firebox, how close it is to the meat, if it's above a drip pan, and how close it is to the dome. In the end, it doesn't really matter as the fire is constantly moving during the cook.

Clip the FB alligator probe to the other probe, then clip them both to the dome temp probe. See what you come up with. Remember, they're all measuring a 1 square inch little sphere......so 6 inches between them can be quite a big change, especially if evaporation is taking place below or near one.

Don't sweat it.

UTgrad · September 2019

Once again thanks- This is my first post on this forum and I was not clear on my question. I should have stated that my question is not about calibration (2-3 degrees is not worth mentioning) but it should have been about the15-20 degrees difference between Genius and ThermPro when both are taking temp at the grill.
Stlcharcoal - thanks for your answer. Too many variables when attaching different probes in different ways.
I am moving on and not worrying about the small stuff. I am been grilling for 55 years (Weber’s) but only two years on BGE. I am newbie and still learning - but never been happier cooking for family and friends.

jtcBoynton · September 2019

Pick your favorite probe and stick it in the dome. The exact temp is not as important as being able to determine if the heat output is steady or not. Using three different probes at the same time doesn't help. I feel that grid temps vary too much during a cook to use as an indicator of changing heat output.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5017260/uploads/editor/df/w3jpde1g771e.jpg

Yno · September 2019

I went through a number of iterations of probe placement since I got the Flame Boss 300 a few years back. By the time I bought the FB 500 I had settled on clipping the pit probe to the dome thermometer, and they pretty much agree on the temperature. I had thought about sticking the probe through the dome, but sometimes I like to glance at the thermometer in passing.

It seems to be the general consensus here that the dome temp is what most recipes are written for, and I seemed to get quite varied results on the grid temp, so now the pit probe is permanently up in the dome.

JethroBodeen · September 2019

I recently had a conversation with one of the tech people at Thermoworks. I asked him why they don't adopt the alligator clip-on arrangement for the grate probe like others? The reason I asked is that one of the things that gets on my nerves about the Thermoworks grate clip is their grate clip arrangement. His explanation was that because of clipping on the stainless grates gives false readings vs. their arrangement that holds the probe off the grate a bit. He stated the stainless would be affected by cold/cooler meat on the grate nearby and of course the meat sitting on top of the clip.

It was a great conversation with someone who clearly knows his product and was well versed on the subject. I was happy I decided to bring it up with them..

stlcharcoal · September 2019

JethroBodeen said:

I recently had a conversation with one of the tech people at Thermoworks. I asked him why they don't adopt the alligator clip-on arrangement for the grate probe like others? The reason I asked is that one of the things that gets on my nerves about the Thermoworks grate clip is their grate clip arrangement. His explanation was that because of clipping on the stainless grates gives false readings vs. their arrangement that holds the probe off the grate a bit. He stated the stainless would be affected by cold/cooler meat on the grate nearby and of course the meat sitting on top of the clip.
It was a great conversation with someone who clearly knows his product and was well versed on the subject. I was happy I decided to bring it up with them..

Take a banker's clip, attach it to the grate, then attach the alligator clip to that. Or stick a bamboo skewer in the meat and attach the alligator clip to that. Or take the probe out of the alligator clip holder and suspend it from something.

Again, it's reading one cubic inch inside of the dome, it's never going to be perfect.

Egg Genius - pit probe

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