Control temp or probe temp?
- Thread starter Oneilln
- Start date
Mike From R.I.
Well-known member
The ambient air that my Thermopro is measuring.
brewersfan73
Well-known member
External probe, mostly because I put it on the cooking grate. The position of the Pit Boss probe isn't always a good indicator of the ambient temp near the food.
I use a handheld thermometer myself
Steve In Pa
Well-known member
I trust my oven thermometers more.
I recently did some poppers in the vertical. Set temp to 350. The middle two racks were reading 350 on my over thermometers but even though the control was set to 350 it kept reading 320ish. So I didn’t tough a thing and let it roll.
Freedbyjc
Well-known member
Absolutely normal … your Pitboss’s and aftermarket thermometers ... if you’ve tested them and KNOW they’re correct ... their readings are all accurate ... for each of the thermometers is in a widely different position in the smoker and will almost never match the others.
The digital temperature showing is NOT the grate temperature. It is not designed to be. It is the reading of the temperature probe on the left side of your barrel or the back side of your cabinet. It constantly sends that temperature to the controller, whose algorithm constantly runs your auger to feed the pellets to maintain your dial set temperature.
Your digital temperature probes readings, feed the PitBoss auger algorithm built into your controller to run the auger that feeds pellets to the burn pot to maintain your dial set temperature. That algorithm is designed to maintain temperatures throughout the barrel/cabinet that approximate your dial set temperature.
The most important temperature is your meats Internal temperature. Get a good wireless thermometer to monitor your meats internal temperature. Test it with an ice bath and a boiling water test regularly.
The “lid liar” is directly over the firepot and will almost always be different. And have you noticed that PitBoss no longer puts them in their smoker’s? https://blog.thermoworks.com/thermometer/dont-trust-dome-thermometer/
If you’re interested in the actual grate temperatures, you should get a secondary grate probe (squared tip) specifically designed to measure that. Meat thermometer probes (pointed) are not designed to measure air temperatures but can if grate clips are used.
Freedbyjc
Well-known member
Absolutely normal for all pellet smokers … Unless your meat probes, specifically not meant for measuring air temperatures, were positioned EXACTLY like this (see photo) touching the digital temperature probe, your personal temperature reading comparisons are totally invalid for comparison to the “Actual” temperature shown on the controller. Your grate temperatures are never going to match the actual temperature shown on the controller.
The PitBoss controllers algorithms are set to create a temperature environment throughout the barrel ... not that exact temperature readings at every point across the grates.
If you’re interested in the grate temperatures, you’ll have to get a secondary probe specifically designed to measure that. Usually they have squared off or blunted tips and always come with grate clips.
The digital temperature showing on the controller is the temperature probe mounted on the left side of the barrel at that specific position ... it’s not “the grill” or “grate” temperatures. Your grate and lid probes are going to be different and probably higher or lower due to their placement in the barrel.
Watch your digital, as it controls the controller, and keep an eye on your grate temperature but the IT on your meat probe is the one that’s the most important.
The “probe problem” is that folks don’t know enough about their PitBoss smokers design to know that the digital temperature shown on the controller and the grate temperatures are almost never going to match.
Remember, your PitBoss has a controller with an awesome algorithm that runs the smoker. After you’ve used it a few times you’ll realize that it works and works well. Relax... put your temperature probes in the food where they belong and let that awesome smoker you bought do the work for you. Smoke On!
