Best way to monitor temp?

[Newtra]

Used my Traeger a few times now and overall very happy with it. I understand the meat probe and temp reading for the grill isn't very accurate. I use Thermopro probes for my meat and have no issues. What does everyone do/use to get an accurate idea of the grill/cooking temp? Do I just leave one of the Thermopro probes out of the meat, and monitor it that way? Would that give me an accurate temp? Thanks fellas!

<John>

 

[Murphy's Law]

I believe (and I could be wrong) that the two most widely used devices are the Fire Board 2 and a device from a company called Ink Bird, with the former being more popular and the latter being a LOT less expensive.

I use a Fire Board and you can have up to 6 probes. In a typical cook I use 2 - one ambient probe located near my Traeger probe, and a probe in the food I am cooking.

They give you a nice temp readout, graph, history, etc. you can also make notes and attach pictures through the cook.

They also have a nice instant read called the Spark and you can connect this to the Fire Board 2 via Bluetooth. What’s nice about this is 1) you can use it as a monitor of sorts and display the temps in another room (I.e. my grill is down on the patio and I keep this on my bar inside so I can easily see temps without opening the app on my phone or I watch), and 2) when you probe for temp it will also log this data in your session.

The Ink Bird is a Chinese product and people
really like them but I don’t believe their software is as robust. I use a lot of their stuff for home brewing and the equipment is really good at an excellent price point.

 

[Newtra]

I believe (and I could be wrong) that the two most widely used devices are the Fire Board 2 and a device from a company called Ink Bird, with the former being more popular and the latter being a LOT less expensive.

I use a Fire Board and you can have u ton6 probes. In a typical cook inuse 2 - one ambient probe located near my Traeger probe, and a probe in the food I am cooking.

They give you a nice temp readout, graph, history, etc. you can also make notes and attach pictures through the cook.

They also have a nice instant read called the Spark and you can connect this to the Fire Board 2 via Bluetooth. What’s nice about this is 1) you can use it as a monitor of sorts and display the temps in another room (I.e. my grill is down on the patio and I keep this on my bar inside so I can easily see temps without opening the app on my phone or I watch), and 2) when you probe for temp it will also log this data in your session.

The Ink Bird is a Chinese product and people
really like them but I don’t believe their software is as robust. I use a lot of their stuff for home brewing and the equipment is really good at an excellent price point.

Thanks so much for all that detailed info. I'm going to look into both.

 

[MidwestSmoker]

Adding to what Murphy's Law said, if you just want to rectify Traeger's inaccurate probes the Ink Bird is perfectly acceptable. If you want enhance your cooking experience and take it to another level, FireBoard 2 is the way to go. If you click on the links above you will see that Ink Bird is currently just $40 while the FireBoard 2 with a set of probes will be over $200. A far higher quality product made in Kansas City is what you get for that price.

If you are considering FireBoard, note that there are 3 products: FireBoard 2, FireBoard 2 Drive, and FireBoard 2 Pro. The Drive is for controlling charcoal grills like Kamado or Kettle grills. The Pro is for high temperature pizza ovens. For a pellet grill you need to get the plain FireBoard 2.

 

[Jim G]

I also use the Fireboard 2 because I can connect to multiple devices ( 885, Genesis. Blackstone) at the same time. Just added a Spark for additional flexibility.

 

[patstock11]

I recently monitored my temperature at the grates with a fireboard on my 1300. The only reason i did it was pure curiosity, i see the complaints about the rtd probe not being accurate and the meat probes not being accurate. Very happy to report that throughout my cook my temps at the middle grate were always within 10 degrees, at 350 degrees the spread was higher around 15 degrees. As far as the meat probe goes, it isnt as important to me, it basically just to give me an idea or baseline. At a certain point im Soley relying on my thermapen anyway

 

[RayClem]

Many brands of temperature probes will come with a clip that attaches to the grate of the grill. Then you pass one of the probes through the clip so that it is located close to the cook, but does not touch the metal grate. If it touches, you will get incorrect readings.

Some digital temperature devices come with only one or two probes. I do not think that is sufficient. I use a minimum of two probes for every cook (grill temp + internal meat temp). If you are cooking multiple pieces of meat, especially if they are different types or different sizes, you need extra probes. Thus, I got one with four probes.

The Fireboard is great because it will plot your temperatures throughout the cook but a unit with multiple probes is expensive.

The Meater thermometers are great as they are wireless. You do not have wires to interfere with turning meat over or moving your meat from one place to another on the grill. These are also expensive.

What you are looking for is accuracy and the ability to monitor the temperatures remotely using either a second device or your cell phone or tablet no matter what you decide to get.

Whichever device you purchase, always check its accuracy in a glass of ice water, your own oral body temperature and in boiling water. Remember that the boiling point of water differs depending on the barometric pressure, so you might get something other than 212 F/100 C. For that reason, boiling water is not great for calibration, but it will will tell you whether the device is close to accurate at near boiling. Remember that brisket cooks and pulled pork will end with temperatures just below the boiling point of water, so you need to know if your probe is accurate at that level. If you have multiple probes, be sure to check all of them.

 

[Newtra]

Many brands of temperature probes will come with a clip that attaches to the grate of the grill. Then you pass one of the probes through the clip so that it is located close to the cook, but does not touch the metal grate. If it touches, you will get incorrect readings.

Some digital temperature devices come with only one or two probes. I do not think that is sufficient. I use a minimum of two probes for every cook (grill temp + internal meat temp). If you are cooking multiple pieces of meat, especially if they are different types or different sizes, you need extra probes. Thus, I got one with four probes.

The Fireboard is great because it will plot your temperatures throughout the cook but a unit with multiple probes is expensive.

The Meater thermometers are great as they are wireless. You do not have wires to interfere with turn meat over or moving your meat from one place to another on the grill. These are also expensive.

What you are looking for is accuracy and the ability to monitor the temperatures remotely using either a second device or your cell phone or tablet no matter what you decide to get.

Whichever device you purchase, always check its accuracy in a glass of ice water, your own oral body temperature and in boiling water. Remember that the boiling point of water differs depending on the barometric pressure, so you might get something other than 212 F/100 C. For that reason, boiling water is not great for calibration, but it will will tell you whether the device is close to accurate at near boiling. Remember that brisket cooks and pulled pork will end with temperatures just below the boiling point of water, so you need to know if your probe is accurate at that level. If you have multiple probes, be sure to check all of them.

Great info, thanks a bunch