weber shouldn't bother with the POS therm on the WSM lid!

[jerseydrew]

i am using my Guru and it says it's holding 240ish with 6 racks of baby backs in a rib rack and the lid therm is reading under 200. if i were to rely on the lid therm i would be burning these ribs up. i wish they didn't even have the damn thing. i would rather have a grate level therm then this lid POS...

 

[ben cartwright2]

I have to disagree, I have a 22.5 and a 14.5 and found both thermoms match my Redi-Chek virtually to the degree. Right now I am doing ribs on the 14.5 (2 racks)  and am sitting in the house watching the Pheonix Open and the digital remote says 228 the probe is in the center of the lower grate. I just walked outside and the lid thermom says 225. So I have no complaints

P2020105_zps9b03c0b1.jpg

• ben cartwright2
• Feb 2, 2014

 

[jerseydrew]

 
I have to disagree, I have a 22.5 and a 14.5 and found both thermoms match my Redi-Chek virtually to the degree. Right now I am doing ribs on the 14.5 (2 racks)  and am sitting in the house watching the Pheonix Open and the digital remote says 228 the probe is in the center of the lower grate. I just walked outside and the lid thermom says 225. So I have no complaints

P2020105_zps9b03c0b1.jpg

• ben cartwright2
• Feb 2, 2014

i've been through a half dozen "weber" therms and not a single one reads right. BTW normally the lower rack is much cooler then the top rack and the top rack is cooler then the dome temp.so the fact that your dome temp and your lower rack temp are equal says that the top therm is off by a good amount. if you take the therm out of the lid and put it in boiling water you will see how far it is off. 

right now i have the best therm i have in there and it is about 12 degrees off in boiling water. 

aside from that i think the therm is in the wrong place anyway. it should be at grate level. 

 

[ben cartwright2]

I put it on the lower grate because the top was filled with ribs, but when I have put it on the upper grate I find it is within 5 degrees of the dome on both smokers

   But it isn't rocket science it is BBQ, it is not searing scallops or something, it is done when it is done, I don't sweat it, I just have fun with it Now I just have to get the wife to like Q, she is happy with it twice a year

 

[ben cartwright2]

I put water in the 14.5 and it held 228 for 4 houirs without budging, the ribs came out fine

P2020104_zps4adc4647.jpg

• ben cartwright2
• Feb 2, 2014

 

[jerseydrew]

mine holds rock solid temps too. my problem is not the cooker it's the thermometer they use and where they put it. 

 

[noboundaries]

I'm not using a Guru but I wonder if that might have something to do with the differences due to the forced air control.  I have a WSM and believe the temp gauge is adjustable.  Lid therm might just need some tweaking.       

If my Maverick stopped working I'd just subtract 20F from the lid temp for the top rack, 30F for the bottom rack as a general rule for simplicity based upon what I've observed.  I'm not going to worry about adjusting the lid therm though.  Close enough.     

 

[noboundaries]

 
Now I just have to get the wife to like Q, she is happy with it twice a year

Wow.  BC2, you are a saint!

 

[jerseydrew]

 
I'm not using a Guru but I wonder if that might have something to do with the differences due to the forced air control.  I have a WSM and believe the temp gauge is adjustable.  Lid therm might just need some tweaking.       

If my Maverick stopped working I'd just subtract 20F from the lid temp for the top rack, 30F for the bottom rack as a general rule for simplicity based upon what I've observed.  I'm not going to worry about adjusting the lid therm though.  Close enough.     

i've used my guru (which is calibrated) both with and without the fan hooked up. with out the fan it acts as a really expensive therm, but i get accurate readings at grate level. i have also checked my lid therm and it reads 199-200 degrees in boiling water so it is off! 

that all being said the lid therm changes depending on the amount of meat on the rack. if i have 20+ lbs of cool meat on the top rack the lid therm doesn't read right at all with or without the guru fan going. 

i just wish i could take the therm out and not have a hole in my lid. 

 

[ben cartwright2]

That is why I like the 14.5,  I will do 6-8 wings on the 14.5 and the rest on the Weber Propane grill right next to it, the grilled ones are for my wife.

      other times I will do smoked turkey legs while I do wings on grill for her.

 

[ben cartwright2]

check out the Virtual Weber Bulletin Board, there is a thread there about using the hole in the lid for another vent on the top, only have to drill 3 more holes and use the existing hole as the anchor point.

 

[jerseydrew]

 
check out the Virtual Weber Bulletin Board, there is a thread there about using the hole in the lid for another vent on the top, only have to drill 3 more holes and use the existing hole as the anchor point.

i'll look into that. thanks.

 

[grimm5577]

I find mine to be accurate enough to cook with. I've generally stopped checking temps for the most part and just judge the cook by how the meat feels and use an instant read thermo near the end of the cook. All in all a 12 degree difference isn't going to make or break BBQ. None the less since you know it's off by X amount of degrees by doing the boiling water test, then just do some quick math and you will have an accurate lid temp.

 

[redwood carlos]

Originally Posted by jerseydrew  

that all being said the lid therm changes depending on the amount of meat on the rack. if i have 20+ lbs of cool meat on the top rack the lid therm doesn't read right at all with or without the guru fan going. 

i just wish i could take the therm out and not have a hole in my lid. 

I have found this exact same thing. Burned the crap out of ribs on the thing til my Guru came in(good thing I ordered em both at the same time. ;) . Mine runs 30+ degrees below the rack temps.

 

[thoey1963]

If I am cooking low / slow, the dome therm is around 10* high.   If I am cooking say chicken at 350*, it says 300*.   I have a Maverick, so it is not necessary, but be nice if it was consistant or close...