Cooking Temperature: Why I Think Dial Thermometers Are Junk

If you want reliable temperature readings on your smoker, then this video is for you!
I've made my living making temperature happen since I was 19 years old in all kinds of food equipment and refrigeration systems so I guess you could say I've used a few thermometers in my time.
In this video I explain why dial type thermometers are unreliable and how I use them.
If you watch this video and want to know what thermometer you can use that is most likely to give you the best reading here's one I use personally:
Inkbird WiFi Meat Thermometer IBBQ-4T
amzn.to/3SlmTjd
If you’re interested in getting your new or next smoker go to: SmokerBuilder.com
On that page answer a simple question by choosing from the 3 options and I’ll help you get your smoker faster and easier than you ever imagined!
I can help you by building it for you or show you how to build it yourself!
By the way,
Please give this podcast a review!
Join our new Private online community at SmokerBuilderU.com for FREE!
Also, you can grab some FREE smoker Plans at: sbmfg.net/freeplans
#smokerbuilder #offsetsmoker #reverseflowsmoker

[@darringuiter]

I am the owner of 1075 metal works in Georgetown TX. We use TelTru's in our smokers. And i completely agree with you. But we would never be able to sell a smoker without one. As a person who has been BBQ'ing for quite some time i simply use it as a reference. Once you know you're pit looking at that dial becomes less important. Unfortunately I would never be able to sell a smoker without a dial thermometer on it. We also include as standard in all of our smokers a threaded port with a brass plug for inserting digital probes. I will be referencing people to this video though to help them with their expectations of dial thermometers. Thanks again sir for your excellent content. Love your videos.

[@SmokerBuilder]

Thanks bro! Ya know I’ve considered supplying a digital thermo with 4 probes with our pits but almost wonder if it would make the problem worse haha

[@tRdoc21]

You're totally right, Darrin! While we may acknowledge the limitations of a given 'technology' or gadget or whizbang - we also know that not everyone gets as INTO things as some of us. They may still rely on that dial thermometer, even though we know it isn't all that useful. And sometimes, the latest, greatest, and most cosmetic of 'features' is just as important in SELLING a product as anything that is actually FUNCTIONAL. Collectors is one thing people argue about incessantly, and wherever you come down on the spectrum of whether they're functionally useful or not - the fact of the matter is, lots of the general public WANTS a collector. They're emotionally tied to it, regardless of utility, whether it's aesthetics (I DO think they LOOK neat on a pit) or what, in today's retail market - collectors. help. sell. pits. So, you give the buyer what they want - like a dial thermometer you know is functionally null at best, and could be causing someone to screw things up at worst, by them relying on it too heavily! Like putting expensive mag wheels on a 4x4 pickup... and yeah... I've got 'em on mine! lol

[@ntj030885]

This confirms my theory. I used to stress so bad over the dial thermometer being different from my probe thermometers. It drove me crazy for a while until I said screw it and finally got some experience with my particular cooker. Lol. Now I cook with more confidence and I keep the dial pointing straight up in my case. That’s about 250 degrees.

[@SmokerBuilder]

I learned the needle up trick from some old hog cooker guys. Usually people are too drunk to look at the number and the needle so when the needles pointing straight up and down that’s the right spot lol.

[@ntj030885]

@@SmokerBuilder lol. It does make it easy to read. I think i learned it on the forum maybe.

[@Pitjunkiescraftbbq]

I love all the knowledge bombs you drop !

[@adamferguson5]

Mine is 100 degrees higher than at grate level. Good reference

[@907jl]

Good info Frank! I think in the stack would be the best place for a permanently mounted pit thermometer. And for this purpose I'd see nothing wrong with something like a Tel-Tru type, so long as you understand the limitations, and use it more for a simple reference point. A bimetal junction thermometer is generally calibrated at the stated accuracy based on a full scale reading. Using a 50F-550F Tel-Tru for example. The stated accuracy is + or - 1%. So that basically means + or - 5.5F ( 1% X 550 ). At half scale( or 275F ) it's still + or - 5.5F.( which would be an "accuracy" of 2% of the 275F reading). Basically, the only time it will be guaranteed to read within 1% will be at 550F. From there on down, the accuracy of the reading gets progressively worse. Seems like a stack monitor combined with a movable digital would be a good combo.

[@SmokerBuilder]

Yep! Using as a reference is the only justifiable purpose in my opinion. In the stack is another placement I’m interested to test however this will not show temp zones especially in pits that aren’t “tuned” to be even. The stack will give a great indication of average temp though just not an accurate number reading on the dial compared to reality on the cooking chamber.

[@Jason.F.]

When I bought my first big boy stick burner, a Lang, I replaced the thermometers on it because they didn't work. I have literally never used them for cooking. I have a Fireboard for my weber kettle that I use during long cooks. So, when I first got the smoker, I burned a fire and moved the temp probe around the cooking grates to get a lay of the land. Once I found an average temp in the area that is usable for smoking low and slow I just left it there and reference it throughout my cooks. Knowing what to look for on my meat and knowing my cook chambers characteristics along with good fire management is enough info for a successful cook. I will say I like the look of analog thermometers, kinda looks the part. But I don't plan on putting any on my 500 build.

[@SmokerBuilder]

Yep totally agree! Just get a good feel for things with the digital and roll-on

[@covenantremnant]

Yes... I am with you dials are always off but how off is the question! I have one that is way off, and says it is 100 degrees hotter than the pit actually was at the time. I used it exactly like you iterated... as a ball park reference. It has been on the pit three years and it's been consistently running 350 when the pit is at 250! Good video saved me from wasting money on another one down the line!

[@Jet_D]

Facts. I have cooked many a brisket, ribs, and all kinds of things without a thermometer on my pit. I typically run a digital one at grate level, but have been in situations where I don't have one.

[@SmokerBuilder]

Yep, I believe the same. I do have an ink bird that’s pretty cheap that has four probe ports. I’ve tested many digital thermometers and the good old cheap four pro Bk bird is the best one out there in my opinion. Just use it for reference and then put my needle straight up. heaven forbid someone straightens the dial out lol just kidding I use my hands anyway and feel the temperature

[@tRdoc21]

Absolutely right, Frank! I am definitely a tech head and I can't even tell you how many digital thermometers I have. My latest pit has 3 dial thermometers, and I just bought 4 to put in the one I'm finishing up... but... I use my Fireboard with 6 probes and my Themopro with 4 probes, as well as various others at times, as well... Maverick, as you mentioned, an iGrill, etc. All those wires and probes make my pit look like something hooked up to life support, but I've learned over the years to map out the various temps of my cookers in multiple spots AT THE GRATE LEVEL. Dial thermometers in the doors or walls of your pit are good only as a spot check, and what I've learned is learning that the dial thermometer showing 230 or 240 may correlate to grate level temps within 20 or 30 degrees, or whatever. Basically, as many of us have preached for years - LEARN YOUR SMOKER. Learn how it cooks. Learn where it likes to run (cooking temps). Learn how it flows, what the response of your meat is in relation to the cooking temps and flow of air through the cooker - if it's a top-down offset, or a reverse flow cooking mostly via radiant heat from the baffle plate on the bottom, etc. I use my dial thermometers as a 'reference' point, knowing about where I need it to be (given current conditions) and I can see them from 10 or 20 feet away, without having to get close to my digital thermometer's screen to read it, or pull up my phone to check the display, etc. And yes, even the thermometer probes mounted on your grates will be affected by the temps of cold meat you've just put on it causing a 'shadow' or an altered temperature zone in the immediate vicinity. Sometimes as much as 30, 40 or more degrees off, and I've seen probes in the 'shadow' of meat (downstream in the heat flow of the cooker) reading as much as a HUNDRED degrees lower than other ambient probes! Learn how to run your pit. I've run as many as FOURTEEN different temp readings one a cooker at one time during a cook - but I've also learned my pit well enough to run the whole cook with NOTHING but the dial thermometers, knowing about where they need to be sitting in order to estimate the general temps at various places on my cooking grates. But I know that the dial isn't ACCURATE for current temp - it gives me an idea of where things are, and I use an 'offset' handicap in my head for each spot in my cooker! lol It's all about how well you know your pit! Dang... sorry for the dissertation. lol

[@SmokerBuilder]

Absolutely 👍🏻

[@joesharp9661]

Thanks for the information

[@glennevitt5250]

Hey Thank you for this information 😎

[@lifewithjonathan5277]

I agree. I use thermal pro thermometers. They just work best for me.

[@irondave103]

Yep. Well said. 👌

[@troywesterbur706]

As an HVAC/R guy myself I couldn’t agree more. It’s like the junk dial ones on a walk in cooler that have been stuck in one place for years but the customer insists it’s more accurate than my fluke. I use in my smoker this 4 probe digital that’s fairly accurate. I have even considered putting thermowells in. Don’t get me wrong I still have the dials as well.

[@SmokerBuilder]

Ain’t that the truth! We always used to use the customers thermometer before we left and make sure that their thermometer matched our or we would at least show them how it did not

[@christianhowell5386]

Great video sir! I have been experiencing about a 30-50 degree difference in temp on my digital thermometer at grate level and the dials at grate level. The dials always read way higher. I'm sure it's been talked about hundreds of times but what do you do with the wires on digital thermometers? I've just been sitting mine through the cook chamber door...

[@ibb_backyard_bbq9256]

Great food for taught Frank.

[@Jason.F.]

I never use em anyway. I just stick my tounge on the cook chamber for 5 seconds. 😝

[@SmokerBuilder]

haha that works too!!

[@harrybarker1408]

good vid dood!!!

[@SmokerBuilder]

Thanks bro!

[@bigsalinasbarbecue]

I’ve told people that those were wrong and only measure the heat around it. I use it as a reference and on know it’s about 25 degrees hotter at the grate where the meat is.

[@SmokerBuilder]

Yup, I learned to go by feel over just trusting the dial. Thanks Randy

[@patronfg]

Can you spell the brand of thermometer you recommend thanks

[@SmokerBuilder]

I prefer InkBird digital ones. Inkbird WiFi Meat Thermometer IBBQ-4T amzn.to/3SlmTjd If you want an affordable dial thermometer like the ones we use here’s the link smokerplans.net/products/3-inch-dial-by-4-inch-stem-bbq-smoker-thermometer

[@diggindiggenit6540]

I think it would be interesting if someone would run a test somehow to determine results as to dial thermometers and accuracy.

[@SmokerBuilder]

I’ll put it on the list! I’m thinking of a video title: “I spent $1000 on thermometers and here’s the best one” Or what’s your thoughts?

[@diggindiggenit6540]

Yeah that sounds good, something simple and something people would want to view.@@SmokerBuilder