That time I stopped trusting the Smokey Mountain 14 thermometer

I used to just trust the built in lid thermometer on my WSM for years. Then I noticed my ribs were coming out tough or way overdone on the same cook times. So I picked up a $20 Maverick dual probe and found out the lid gauge was off by a solid 35 degrees in some spots. Now I always check the grate temp at the meat level and adjust my vents from there. Anyone else find their trusty old smoker's thermometer was lying to them all along?

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3 Comments

the_matthew4mo ago

Hit 35 degrees off on my WSM too. Just swapped the lid for a Tel-Tru.

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kevin_harris783mo ago

Read somewhere the stock ones can be off by 50 degrees sometimes.

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thomas_martinez4mo ago

That's pretty common with those stock thermometers. They're mounted in the dome where the heat collects, so they're reading the air temp at the top, not what the meat is actually feeling down on the grate. Makes a huge difference once you start measuring closer to the food.

2