aroundtheyard.com Forums

I just thought I would slip in and say that I've had a great experience grilling with the Thermoworks probes for better, more accurate temperatures. I learned pretty quickly that the temperature gauge at the top of a grill lid is worthless. The meat isn't cooking there, they are inaccurate, cheap and poorly made, and don't provide much relevance.

To find the accurate temp at the level of the meat, I got a flexible high temp probe like this one:



I threaded it through a hole in the side of my grill, and it runs along a groove in the GrillGrates. Its probe then sits an inch above the grilling surface and will read temps up to 2200°F. That's where the meat sits, so I have an accurate idea of the cooking going on inside the grill lid, and it won't get destroyed or melt.

The probe wire then uses a standard K type connection that plugs into a thermocouple meter like this one:



It can be handheld, but it has a magnetized back, so I just let it stick to the side tray and give me grill temp readouts. There are a few of nice things about this meter. 1) Instant read every second, 2) accurate and affordable, and 3) many different kinds of probes (with K type connections) can plug into it. Therefore, if I want to use a meat probe and leave it in while cooking, I can just use that style of probe and plug it in. There are a lot of different K type probes, so pick several and plug in the one you want use on the day. There are even better meters that have multiple k-type plug-ins, so you can use multiple probes at once.

Of course, the Thermapen is fantastic. If you grill more than a few times a year, it's worth it.

Here's the grill, with the 5 foot probe that runs in the groove of the Grillgrates and is plugged into the meter.



I read about this setup at AmazingRibs, and can vouch that Meathead knows what he's talking about! I know others here have used different probes and ideas and I'd love to hear them.

All the best,

dfw

I use a Maverick ET- 733 which is a dual probe wireless setup which allows you to monitor both meat and grill temps from the comfort of your air conditioned home.Works well,but you have to treat the probes gingerly to help extend their life.While not as robust as the Thermoworks products,it does the job if handled carefully.Second the quality of the Thermopen,and their Thermopop is also a great thermometer at 1/4 the price,for those looking at a lower pricepoint high quality option.

I would take a pic of my pit but it is embarrassing-ly dirty, so I will just tell yall.

I use an Invation remote dual thermometer. It has one probe for the meat and one for the grate surface temp. I use mine for smoking anywhere from 225 low and slow to a 350 hot and fast cook. It works well and has lasted me two years so far. I have used a BBQ Guru for other smokers but have not installed one one this one yet as this remote has an alarm you set for when the temp falls or raises over a set range.

It's cheap and easy. My favorite combination.

I believe the Ivation and the Maverick are the exact same product,rebranded for different resellers.

HanLawn wrote:I use a Maverick ET- 733 which is a dual probe wireless setup...

When my dad was alive, he used that same setup. I need to see if my mom still has it for its wireless ability when grilling in the hot western sun.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

Thermoworks makes one also,called the blue therm duo,but it is expensive and I think uses bluetooth or wifi?

HanLawn wrote:Thermoworks makes one also,called the blue therm duo,but it is expensive and I think uses bluetooth or wifi?

It's Bluetooth. I haven't used one, but from what I've read if you're used to a Maverick, you may not like the range/battery life of the Bluetherm Duo.

I'm still trucking along with an old ET-732. I think I prefer the simplicity of the 732 (versus the 733). If Bluetooth is your thing, they also have a 735 now that looks nice.

I actually have an iGrill2 that I caught on sale at Amazon a month or two ago, but I haven't even taken it out of the box yet. I will report back when I get around to using it.

GREAT spot for the temp reference magnet, dfw! I own the same Weber, but with the sear station burner. I never use the extra burner though. Long story on how I ended up with it.

Ware wrote:Long story on how I ended up with it.

I do love a long story, but I know they are a pain to type out! I wanted an infrared sear burner on the side but had trouble finding one I liked. I just decided to get the side table-only version and just reverse sear with the grill grates instead.

dfw_pilot wrote:

Ware wrote:Long story on how I ended up with it.

I do love a long story, but I know they are a pain to type out! I wanted an infrared sear burner on the side but had trouble finding one I liked. I just decided to get the side table-only version and just reverse sear with the grill grates instead.

Yeah, sorry, I was typing on the iPad. I had always grilled on charcoal, and had a Performer (22" kettle in a cart w/propane charcoal ignitor). I wanted a gasser for quick weeknight meals, but I was concerned about the outlay for something I might not be as happy with. I was browsing Craigslist one evening and found a new in box one with a cracked firebox (strange, I know). The guy selling it was a liquidator of Amazon returns. He had a small warehouse, and he basically bid on semi-trailer loads of Amazon junk to sell on the Craigslist/Ebay market. I think he said he was able to see a manifest, but he never knew what the condition of the items would be until they arrived.

Anyway, I went online and printed the manual for the grill (Genesis E-330) so I would have a parts list to make sure everything was there, and called Weber to price a replacement firebox (the cast aluminum bowl that holds the burners/flavorizer bars). The asking price for the damaged grill plus the cost of the replacement firebox was well below retail, so I decided to go look at it. Sure enough, it was all there, as described, so I took it home. The crack (near the hinge) wasn't bad, and I probably could have used it in that condition, but I went ahead and ordered the replacement from Weber. They have great customer service, by the way.



I still prefer charcoal, but the gasser is just so easy. I actually gifted the Performer to my sister and brother-in-law. One of these days I'll probably pick up the big 26.75" kettle - fingers crossed they will make a Performer version of it at that time.

Also, I love my cast iron grates, but with all this GrillGrate talk I guess I'm going to have to give them a try one of these days.

That's a great find and deal. I too started with charcoal, but now that family life takes so much time, the gassers are just right.

I love my infrared grill. Its so hard to mess up a good piece of meat on it.

[ Post made via Android ]

The in-laws were in town this past week. The good news is I spent a lot of time outside on the lawn and grill.(!) Using the grill level probe, I reverse seared these Rib eyes and enjoyed turning this:



into this:



I didn't get a pic when they were done, but they didn't hang around long on the plates, either!