best way to monitor smoking chamber temp?...

[stroud]

i am brand new to smoking and this is my first post on the forum...i bought my first smoker this past weekend, masterbuilt x-tra wide propane smoker, and smoked my first pork shoulder on sunday.

so while i was doing this i used my taylor gourmet thermometer (one similar to the maverick e-7 you guys all talk about here) with the probe connected to a wire that allows me to have the probe inside the chamber and monitor the temp on the display outside.

in retrospect, i think i did this totally wrong as i had the probe sitting on the grate next to the meat and i think this may have been reading a wrong temp all along because the shoulder took much longer than expected...

so, what is the best way to do this? other than placing the probe directly on the grate, cant really think of any way to have it in the chamber without it touching metal...and would the probe touching the grate metal mess up the reading?

thanks for anyone's advice in advance...

 

[les3176]

first welcome to smf. you could get yourself a potato and stick your probe threw it so it will not touch the grates. or a small block of wood maybe 2x2 or so and drill a hole threw it for your probe.

 

[stroud]

ok...so i am correct in assuming that the probe on the metal will mess up the reading? im assuming it was displaying much higher than the temp actually was in the chamber...

thank you for the suggestions as well...those make sense. if i use a potato, i would just stick it all the way through so the point is sticking well out of the potato right? the temp of the potato itself wouldn't affect the reading?

 

[les3176]

yes the grate will give you false temp readings.push the probe so the point is through the tater and sticking out the other side.

 

[mballi3011]

I personlly use a chunk of wood but I have seen alot of folks here use a potatoe. Just drill you a hole in the wood or poke the probe thou a potatoe and then it will be off the grates and in the air where you want it. Now the probe should only read in the end 1/2" or so. Also when you stick the probe into the meat make sure that you dont push it so far into the meat that it's reading the bottom of your meat. After all you want to get as close to the center as you can get it.