First time cooking on my new to me BGE and have a question about the temp. As shown in the photo the thermostat built in the lid shows a temp of 250 but my probe that’s sitting on the grate show a temp of 325. I’m assuming to go by the BGE thermostat.
Is this temperature variance normal?
by RecentChange452
9 Comments
Where is the probe inside the egg?
If arranged similar to yours mine also read similar temps.
fill a glass with crushed ice and a little water, insert the thermometer’s sensing area without touching the sides or bottom, and allow it to stabilize at 32°F, that will tell you how accurate your probe is
I typically consider what my probe says as gospel rule of thumb that I use when I’m not using it is to add about 50 degrees on top of whatever the dome thermometer tells me, maybe more if there’s a good fire going on inside. Knowing what grate temp is, is more important than dome temp imo
If you have the deflector installed be sure your probe is clipped somewhere above the deflector. If the clipped probe is hovering over the open side and above lit coals it could show an artificially inflated temp.
If your unsure of your probe accuracy I would suggest boiling water and insert the probe to confirm it matches 212 degrees (if my high school science class knowledge is holding)
Start by calibrating your thermometer (simple process involving boiling water and adjusting a nut – you can find it on YouTube).
Don’t worry about the difference. Keep your remote thermometer in one spot as much as possible and just rely on that. Adjust your temperatures and cook times in accordance to what your remote says. Temperature inside the egg varies quite a bit. Some spots much hotter than others. It’s really the temperature of the meat inside that is important. Which of course also varies depending on where you put the probe.
Grate temp and grill temp will start out very different when you’re cooking with the deflector in. They will gradually come closer to equalizing over a long cook. You’ll want to go off your grate temp, but as others have said, be sure to set your probe over the deflector.
Also be aware that cooking over fire isn’t an exact science. If you placed a few more probes in different areas, the readings won’t all be the same.
Grate temp will always be higher
After about 5 hours it looks like the two thermostats balanced out. Now it’s only about a 2-3 degree difference.
Thanks for all the replies and insights.