Top smoker gauge vs probe on grate

[Maroun.c]

Realize it's a simple question and having the temp at grate is more accurate .
I get a 50-100 degrees F difference between temp at grate level and gauges on my smoker.everyone says to rely and trust a probe on the grate more than top gauges.
Yet I see most videos woth people relying on the gauges and not probes.
I smoked my last brisket last week at 200-225 for 2 hours and then 250-275 at the grate level, on my Joe's long horn with modified smoke stack. Was getting great draw for the first time. I felt brisket was gaining temp much much faster than before and it was done at 6 hours mark. Smoke was great but not as pronounced as before and meat was a tiny bit on the mushy side where I wasn't getting as much bite as before. Worth noting it was a new Australian brisket brand abd it was more father than previous Australian brisket I smoked so that is also one more variable.
Not sure if its relying on grate temp or the added flow this time that mad Earl the difference.
Thanks for any thoughts

 

[fxsales1959]

Realize it's a simple question and having the temp at grate is more accurate .
I get a 50-100 degrees F difference between temp at grate level and gauges on my smoker.everyone says to rely and trust a probe on the grate more than top gauges.
Yet I see most videos woth people relying on the gauges and not probes.
I smoked my last brisket last week at 200-225 for 2 hours and then 250-275 at the grate level, on my Joe's long horn with modified smoke stack. Was getting great draw for the first time. I felt brisket was gaining temp much much faster than before and it was done at 6 hours mark. Smoke was great but not as pronounced as before and meat was a tiny bit on the mushy side where I wasn't getting as much bite as before. Worth noting it was a new Australian brisket brand abd it was more father than previous Australian brisket I smoked so that is also one more variable.
Not sure if its relying on grate temp or the added flow this time that mad Earl the difference.
Thanks for any thoughts

I always have a grate probe on my WSM. particularly for temp specific cooks where 225 is important.
With that said, I can glance at my dome therm and get an idea where I'm t. I still have the shitty little stock gauge.

 

[normanaj]

6 hours is awfully quick for a brisket to be done.

 

[crankybuzzard]

I've found that MOST factory thermometers aren't very accurate at all. When I look at the thermometer on the dome of my Weber, it's usually 20-50 degrees off from my Thermapen inserted into the exhaust port.

Grate level is where the magic is happening, but, there's always a but, you once again need a tested thermometer to give you accurate readings.

For what it's worth, VERY FEW people have the capability to keep their pit at a constant temperature. Even with a PID in my home built electric sausage smoker I have a temp range that cycles through and I can see it on the graph of my cook in the app. In my off sets, same thing when I use the PID as an indicator for pit temp and meat probe temp.

Get a thermometer that you trust and test it. Ice water and boiling water have finite temperatures that can be adjusted to your location depending upon sea level.

As for the 6 hour cook time on a brisket, some meats have a mind of their own and a lot depends on fat content, weight of the brisket, and temperatures it was cooked at. When you say it was kind of "mushy" that could be an indication that it went well beyond the IT of 200-205 for nice slicing. Again, some meats just cook different, take notes and use trusted therms.

 

[DougE]

6 hours is awfully quick for a brisket to be done.

Pushing it even for the smallish hunks of flat I like to do hot and fast ......

 

[Maroun.c]

I always have a grate probe on my WSM. particularly for temp specific cooks where 225 is important.
With that said, I can glance at my dome therm and get an idea where I'm t. I still have the shitty little stock gauge.

I have tested the gauge that cane with the long horn and the one I added by attaching my thermoworks.probe to them and they were spot on. Yet I believe its normal to have a variation as hot air goes higher abd also in front middle and back of the smoker. The temp difference to the grate is also linear mostly as I see a 50 degrees different at grate on back third of smoker to the gauge above it and about 100 difference to gauge at fire pit side.

 

[Maroun.c]

6 hours is awfully quick for a brisket to be done.

Indeed yet it wasn't bad and even tasted better than some of the briskets I've done on 10-12 hours. Not sure if extended resting helped somehow. It was still very tender, jiggly and juicy which leads me to think temp wasn't high as its not dry at all.

 

[Maroun.c]

I've found that MOST factory thermometers aren't very accurate at all. When I look at the thermometer on the dome of my Weber, it's usually 20-50 degrees off from my Thermapen inserted into the exhaust port.

Grate level is where the magic is happening, but, there's always a but, you once again need a tested thermometer to give you accurate readings.

For what it's worth, VERY FEW people have the capability to keep their pit at a constant temperature. Even with a PID in my home built electric sausage smoker I have a temp range that cycles through and I can see it on the graph of my cook in the app. In my off sets, same thing when I use the PID as an indicator for pit temp and meat probe temp.

Get a thermometer that you trust and test it. Ice water and boiling water have finite temperatures that can be adjusted to your location depending upon sea level.

As for the 6 hour cook time on a brisket, some meats have a mind of their own and a lot depends on fat content, weight of the brisket, and temperatures it was cooked at. When you say it was kind of "mushy" that could be an indication that it went well beyond the IT of 200-205 for nice slicing. Again, some meats just cook different, take notes and use trusted therms.

I do have the thermoworks signals and I cooked based of its ambient probe at grate level. I calibrated those in boiling water and they are surprisingly spot on from factory. Yet I'm wondering if people cook at 250 at gauge they'd be cooking at 200 at grate in reality which would explain how fast my cook went.
I have extended the stack of my Joe's and getting much better flow so not sure if that leads to faster cooking even at same overall smoker ambient temp.