Remote Probe for Smoker Temp?

[navionjim]

I have several of these Oregon Scientific remote temp probes and I want to use two, one for the meat and one for the smoker temp. Can I just hang the probe in the smoker or should I stuff it in a spud or something? Also as I haven't taken more than one of them out of the package I hope they are not all on the same frequency, has anyone done this before? I have a Maverick I could use too but it's flaky and I like the Oregon Scientific units much better.
Jimbo

 

[walking dude]

jim......i have just kinda sorta hung em to use for smoker temps........

use to use spuds.........then i move onto a hunk of wood.......drilled a hole thru it, and stuck the probe thru it.........

as to your other questions....i can't help you there

 

[ikebbq]

I have 2 wired thermometers that i use for the meat and a wireless thermometer that I use for the internal temp of the cooking chamber. I just drilled a hole in a piece of wood and place it in the smoker, seems to work real well. No frequency problems with the one wireless, don't know about having 2 (yet).

 

[geek with fire]

Jim,

Hopefully in the next week or so, I will get to finalize some testing I have been performing on various temperature monitoring methods. 2 weeks ago, I mounted my 2 K-type thermocouples in the oven and started the data logger. I have an 8" penetration probe as well as an ambient probe. I was very surprised to find that the penetration probe had serious lag between temperature change, as compared to the ambient probe. I am going to perform a more controlled test (when time permits) and add a couple different thermistor type probes found in the common oven thermos most talked about on this forum; I suspect that the thermistor types will display even more lag.

The only reason I mention this, is based on your question, yes you can just hang a penetration probe inside the chamber, but recognize that it wasn't designed for ambient readings and may not be precise.

In my testing, I am trying to find out what is "good enough" because the thermocouples and their corresponding hardware to connect them to the computer are expensive; about $200 for both probes and 2 USB readers. If thermistors can keep up, I can get them for $5 and an $80 I/O board can read 8 probes. You do the math.

 

[smokin for life]

I drilled a little hole in a chuck of hickory and shoved the probe through. That way I don't have to worry about it falling or accidently hitting the metal. I have a E-7 & E-73, When I used all 3 probes at once I found out that they do share a frequency.

 

[rodbuilder]

I have 2 identical Weber therms which I believe are made by Oregon Scientific and don't have a problem with frequencies at all. I also have a Charm Glow that I use for smoker temp so I usually have 3 going at the same time without any problems...

 

[navionjim]

Man I understood all of that! I have a Fluke meter with a K type thermocouple but have been reluctant to use it for smoking. The wireless OS units were a great deal at $10 each and I love the idea of monitoring both temps from bed. Both units have high and low point data logging as well. I suppose I'll just have to try it and see if there is any cross talk between them, also I'll have to compare the actual smoker temp with the probe suspended in ambient air. If it proves inaccurate I can always build a correction card.
Thanks all for the input.
Jimbo

 

[ddave]

Josh,

You are a man after my own heart. Being a bit of a "geek" myself, not an engineer, but i have a Bachelor's Degree in Management Information Systems. Your talk of probes and data loggers and USB readers was interesting. If you could get these devices to dump their data to a simple ASCII text file, I could write an Access database to import the text file, parse it and create a "real time" graph of the temperatures as the cooking progresses. Imagine sitting on the patio with your laptop displaying the graphs of pertinent information in real time. At least it would give you something to do while you were waiting to add charcoal to the fire. Call it Data'Que

Old school cooking meets new school technology.


Dave

 

[pne123]

DORKS!!!!!!! I can say this cuz I understand your posts.....Us mechanical guys always have to make fun of the electrical and software engineers. poor IT guys even get made fun of by the EE an SE's...

 

[ddave]

LOL.

Yes I am afraid it is true. I know my wife would agree. Even my own 9 year-old son. After showing him something on the computer, I said, "Pretty cool, huh?" He just looked at me. I said "Maybe it's only cool if your a techno or a geek." He then asked, with absolutely no ill intent or attitude, just an inquisitive question, "What's the difference?"

Guess he had me there.

Dave