Question about conflicting temps...

[bbqandfootball]

On my old, inherited smoker, I used anoven thermometer sitting inside on the grates for a temp guide, since it didn't have a place for a therm outside on the lid.

My new smoker came with the therm and the hole in the lid, and it seems to work well, but I noticed meats were taking longer than they should, so I threw in the oven therm just to compare. The lid therm reads about 50 degrees higher than then oven therm inside is what I discovered.

Is this normal sincce heat rises, or could one of them be wrong?

If they are both right, which one should I go by? The normal temp is around 250 for smoking most meats, so should I aim for 300 by the lid thermometer?

Thanks.

 

[wutang]

My offset smoker acts the same as yours. The lid thermo usually reads about 30-50 deg. higher than an oven thermo on the grate. Like you said-heat rises. I don't have any baffle set up so a lot of heat from the firebox just goes out along the top of the lid to the chimney.

I would shoot for the temp you want measured by the thermo on the grate.

 

[harrylips]

100% Agree. Some smokers would have been better served if they never put a temp gauge on it. Doesn't mean its a bad smoker by any means...

Always go with your grate.

 

[jaxgatorz]

Yes, heat will rise.. But it does NOT get hotter as it does..

 

[bbqandfootball]

Pretty much what I thought. By the way, I probably posted this in the wrong forum. Should have gone in the charcoal smoker forum I guess.

But yeah, I'm pretty confident that the thermometers are right. I'll just shoot for about 50 degrees higher than the real temp I want when reading the therm on the lid.

Thanks again everyone.