Another MES temp. question

clermont
I am thinking from where you are measuring temps is about the hottest part of the grill. That is where the heat is congregating to escape and is also directly above the burner.

On both of my Masterbuilts I have been going with the factory thermometer for grill temps. When I check rack temps in both of them by putting a probe through a potato and placing the probe on various racks and various areas of the racks the most I could find was a 5º to 10º discepency. For me and how the smokers are running and turning out food, I did not feel that was enough temp difference to matter. Now in the MES all I use probes for are internal food temps.

Actually, it's very common to have discrepancies with the built in thermos. For the most accuracy, we always recommend a digital thermo directly in the meat, as well as the cooking chamber. Since you're cooking chicken, your high temperatures won't hurt you any. When possible, pick up some digital thermos. They're worth their weight in gold. You'll never again ask "how much time will it take to cook ____________". The thermometer will tell you when it's done.

I agree with Kev. I use the digital thermometer and have high confidence in them (after checking their accuracy with boiling water). I'm sure there are exceptions, but I have found 30-40 degree descrepencies in analog thermos (high incidence rate)while about 3* is the most I've seen with digital thermos (and a very low incidence rate). Just my $.02 worth