Pro 780 / Lowest temp is 200 degrees

[Prowlrman]

I just purchased a Pro 780 this week. I have used it 3 times now and cannot get temps below 200 degrees. I started it today at 165 degrees and it goes right up to 200 - 210 ! It is set right now at 165 target but reading average 198 - 205. I placed an oven thermometer inside and that too reads about 200 degrees.

I did the "seasoning" step but made a mistake and shut it down between the low temp and high temp segments. I'm wondering if that step is so critical that my temps are messed up. Also when I first connected to WiFi it did do an update as soon as it connected. Any ideas?? I think I'll call Traeger tomorrow to ask about this. First pellet grill I have owned. Thanks for any input.

 

[Timmy]

Temp issues Pro 780

Well just got off the phone again with Traeger CS about grill actual temp being off 30*+ low at 300 set temp. Initially they told me 15*+ or - was allowable now they are telling me that 25* +or - is allowable on my unit and not all models are the same. So now i dont know what to believe. I...

www.traegerforum.com

This link is what mine did. I havent been able to get mine below 175f.

 

[magoo40]

Have you checked it with another thermometer, the actual temp versus the in-built probe are likely to be different.

 

[Prowlrman]

Temp issues Pro 780

Well just got off the phone again with Traeger CS about grill actual temp being off 30*+ low at 300 set temp. Initially they told me 15*+ or - was allowable now they are telling me that 25* +or - is allowable on my unit and not all models are the same. So now i dont know what to believe. I...

www.traegerforum.com

This link is what mine did. I havent been able to get mine below 175f.

Thanks Timmy. I am calling them tomorrow to see what they tell me. Mine runs 30-40 degrees too high so far for 3 times I've used it.

 

[Prowlrman]

Have you checked it with another thermometer, the actual temp versus the in-built probe are likely to be different.

I placed an oven thermometer in it tonight, set Traeger temp at 165....digital read out on unit showed 200-205....thermometer inside grill and placed on the rack showed just under 200, so it appears the thermometer agrees with the digital readout but 30-40 degrees above the temp I set it at.

 

[Lynda McCoy]

I was watching some kind of cooking show about all the different smokers and how to cook brisket and the person talking about this made the comment that if it's a convection pellet smoker the temp will run a little higher because the fan is running to blow the heat around and out. I remember thinking that what he said is probably the reason why our temperature gage is running higher than what we set it at. Made a lot of sense to me and I decided right then that I would quit worrying about it. This pellet smoking is new to me as well. Always before I used wood chips.

 

[Timmy]

My grill temp actually runs 30f cooler.

 

[RemE]

Honestly they just seem to vary, some high, some low. Traeger has a pretty wide temp variance spec allowed.

For consistancy sake I'm a fan of using a quality remote thermometer setup like Fireboard. This is so you know exactly what temps you have in the grill and food, so that recipes come out as expected.

This is a "needs improvement" area for Traeger.

 

[John S.]

I placed a FB Ambient Probe next to the Traeger grill Probe and Found that the two can be off by a significant value and there is a Temperature Gradient right to Left on the unit. That said I wholeheartedly agree with RemE, in that you need something like a FB to know the Temp of the food that you are preparing. You should also frequently calibrate the Traeger Food probe to get even semi-accurate measurements....
When setting up your Grill (each will be unique) you need to build a Temperature Map so you know what to set the Grill to to get the Temp that you want...