Temperature accuracy

[lavaman40]

Not really, the problem is not that the probes are bad, but they are not located in the center of the cooking chamber. Most folks purchase a wired or wireless thermometer. There are plenty of options at varying prices. Although I do have a thermometer with four wired probes, I decided to drill a hole in the lid of my grill and install an analog thermometer like you might see on an offset smoker or gas grill. The one I got is large enough to see from several feet away.

https://www.amazon.com/GALAFIRE-Thermometer-Charcoal-Temperature-Replacement/dp/B07VG6M228/
I typically smoke at 225F which is the split in color between blue and orange on the dial. That makes it easy to verify that I am at the correct temp.

Please be aware that Traeger does not accept any third party thermometer results if you contact them. Also, drilling the hole through the lid is likely to invalidate the warranty.

I have the same issue although my temps are 50-70 Degrees lower than what the controller is displaying at any given time. Why is Traeger so stubborn to tell us our probes are inaccurate because its not "tested". Are they just passing the buck and don't want to admit they temp control is not great? I don't get it.

 

[RayClem]

I got a ThermoPro Temp Spike kit for Father's Day. I used it yesterday for the first time to monitor a cook of a ham. The external reading agreed closely with the GALAFIRE analog thermometer that I mentioned in a previous post in this thread. As usual, the reading was about 20 degrees low when the controller was set to 230F. As long as the temperature holds close to the setpoint, it is no big deal to compensate at lower temperatures.

The problem comes when trying to set the controller to maximum for grilling. If I set my controller to 500F, I would be lucky to get 440F.

Presumably, Traeger purchased Meater to improve the thermometer accuracy. Since Meater probes are expensive, they have only found their way to the more expensive models. Since I do not have one of those models, I do not know if that has helped.

 

[TXpitMan]

I’ve tested my 22 pro and whatever the controller says wether I am checking ambient temp or have a probe plugged into it, the temps are the exact same as my other thermometers and probes I have put in there. When I cook I set it to the desired temp and it actually gets there and holds it reliably. A good friend of mine has the 34 pro and his reads just as accurate. We have tested his temp readings with multiple thermometers. Including a standard oven thermometer sitting on the grate.

 

[NoGood Traeger]

It's ironic that Traeger in their 3rd party thermometer FAQ would dismiss the use of
3rd party thermocouples and readers when Traeger themselves are using a thermocouple
reader in the digital D2 controllers. Both are taking the exact same measurement.

What I have to wonder, though, is if the D2 controller then converts the convection air temperature
being measured inside the grill to a conventional, non-convection number and that conversion
is what is being shown on the D2 display. If that is happening then it is fairly dishonest for Traeger
to have written the FAQ the way they did. They should have been upfront about it instead of making
deflection excuses.

Adding 25% to convection seems to be the method for converting to conventional. There are web
calculators for doing this. But a regular calculator will do too.

Of the measurements I took, what was displayed on the D2 screen was almost exactly 25%
higher than the convection air temp in the grill. I took more but here are 3 to illustrate my
point.

3rd party reader: 182'F vs D2: 226'F vs 227' calculated conversion.
3rd party reader: 286'F vs D2: 354'F vs 357' calculated conversion.
3rd party reader: 398'F vs D2: 501'F vs 497' calculated conversion.

 

[RayClem]

It's ironic that Traeger in their 3rd party thermometer FAQ would dismiss the use of
3rd party thermocouples and readers when Traeger themselves are using a thermocouple
reader in the digital D2 controllers. Both are taking the exact same measurement.

What I have to wonder, though, is if the D2 controller then converts the convection air temperature
being measured inside the grill to a conventional, non-convection number and that conversion
is what is being shown on the D2 display. If that is happening then it is fairly dishonest for Traeger
to have written the FAQ the way they did. They should have been upfront about it instead of making
deflection excuses.

Adding 25% to convection seems to be the method for converting to conventional. There are web
calculators for doing this. But a regular calculator will do too.

Of the measurements I took, what was displayed on the D2 screen was almost exactly 25%
higher than the convection air temp in the grill. I took more but here are 3 to illustrate my
point.

3rd party reader: 182'F vs D2: 226'F vs 227' calculated conversion.
3rd party reader: 286'F vs D2: 354'F vs 357' calculated conversion.
3rd party reader: 398'F vs D2: 501'F vs 497' calculated conversion.

There are dozens, perhaps hundreds of 3rd party temperature probes. Because Traeger cannot accept the readings from every 3rd party temperature probe, they have to reject all of them.

The problem with your calculated conversion method is that while it might work well for your grill, it does not work that way for every grill. For my Ironwood, the results are:

D2 controller 3rd party measurement Difference
230F 215F 7%
355F 325F 10%
450F 400F 13%

Thus, while your probe seems to hold a constant 25% difference, mine starts off pretty close and gets increasingly greater as the temperature increases.

The temperature inside the cooking chamber is going to vary front to back, left to right and top to bottom. Thus, it matters where your 3rd party probe is placed in the cooking chamber as to that the reading will be.

 

[NoGood Traeger]

There are dozens, perhaps hundreds of 3rd party temperature probes. Because Traeger cannot accept the readings from every 3rd party temperature probe, they have to reject all of them.

The problem with your calculated conversion method is that while it might work well for your grill, it does not work that way for every grill. For my Ironwood, the results are:

D2 controller 3rd party measurement Difference
230F 215F 7%
355F 325F 10%
450F 400F 13%

Thus, while your probe seems to hold a constant 25% difference, mine starts off pretty close and gets increasingly greater as the temperature increases.

The temperature inside the cooking chamber is going to vary front to back, left to right and top to bottom. Thus, it matters where your 3rd party probe is placed in the cooking chamber as to that the reading will be.

Sure. I am hoping it is specific to that controller. Though I thought it odd that the measured temp differences matched so close to 25%. I think the Traeger FAQ is probably not too far off addressing inaccuracies with 3rd part dial thermometers and thermal imagers. One is lucky to find a dial thermometer that has any kind of accuracy and imagers measure metal surfaces not air temp.

Those aside, thermocouple readers are accurate enough to distinguish the misreadings of a Traeger controller. And it is easy enough to cross check the accuracy the reader against the NIST ITS-90 spec for K type thermocouples. Millivolt readings of the thermocouple, compensated for ambient temperature, and checked against the spec showed that the reader was within a couple of degrees of spec. Making the same millivolt measurement at the thermal isolation block on the back of the controller resulted in the same voltage readings, and unfortunately made it absolutely clear that the controller was not reading the Traeger installed thermocouple correctly.

All grill temp measurements, other than those taken directly at the back of the controller, where made at the same location as the Traeger installed thermocouple.

Anyway, that grill was taken back to the store. Another one is currently being assembled.

 

[RayClem]

Don't be surprised if the new grill has a temperature issue similar to the 1st one. Nearly every grill has some inaccuracy, perhaps not 25%, but to a certain extent. Once you know how your grill performs, it is easy to adjust your controller setpoint as needed to achieve the cook temp you desire.

 

[NoGood Traeger]

Don't be surprised if the new grill has a temperature issue similar to the 1st one. Nearly every grill has some inaccuracy, perhaps not 25%, but to a certain extent. Once you know how your grill performs, it is easy to adjust your controller setpoint as needed to achieve the cook temp you desire.

Ya, I wouldn't be surprised either. Unfortunately offsetting the controller set point isn't going to work for getting at temps above 400' with that grill. Which is where I want to cook at for most red meats and bacon. Traegers 'Crispy Bacon' recipe is supposed to take appox 7min. After 30, it's a little shriveled and still raw. Their 12min NY Steak also takes longer than 30min, but at least with the steak I had the meat probe to go by for doneness. For a chicken I did use an offset of 425' to get an appox 350'. That went very well. Done perfect and on time.

 

[RayClem]

Ya, I wouldn't be surprised either. Unfortunately offsetting the controller set point isn't going to work for getting at temps above 400' with that grill. Which is where I want to cook at for most red meats and bacon. Traegers 'Crispy Bacon' recipe is supposed to take appox 7min. After 30, it's a little shriveled and still raw. Their 12min NY Steak also takes longer than 30min, but at least with the steak I had the meat probe to go by for doneness. For a chicken I did use an offset of 425' to get an appox 350'. That went very well. Done perfect and on time.

I hear ya.

I was not satisfied with the ability of the Traeger to sear meats. I tried GrillGrates, but even that did satisfy me. A year after getting the Ironwood, I purchase a gas-fired flat top griddle. Now that sucker gets hot!

I use the Traeger to smoke meats and then use the griddle to reverse-sear. I know it is expensive and takes up space, but the combination of a pellet grill and a griddle is awesome.

 

[NoGood Traeger]

I hear ya.

I was not satisfied with the ability of the Traeger to sear meats. I tried GrillGrates, but even that did satisfy me. A year after getting the Ironwood, I purchase a gas-fired flat top griddle. Now that sucker gets hot!

I use the Traeger to smoke meats and then use the griddle to reverse-sear. I know it is expensive and takes up space, but the combination of a pellet grill and a griddle is awesome.

Was that Traeger's Flatrock Griddle?

I was looking to replace our old gas fired Weber when I encountered a Traeger salesman at a special event at Costco. He convinced us somewhat the Traeger would absolutely replace the Weber. I was skeptical but bought it anyway. Kept the Weber around just in case. Glad I kept it. I have not been happy with the Traeger grill or their customer service.

I have a large Lodge cast iron griddle tray I use on the Weber to do bacon primarily. Keeps the cooking mess outdoors. So the Weber isn't going away, even though I don't have space for two grills. I did replace the 885 with the Silverton 620 which is considerably smaller than the 885. The 885 was too much grill cooking for 2 people anyway. That helped with the limited space. I've only completed the seasoning step with the 620 so I don't yet know where it falls with Temp readout accuracy.

 

[RayClem]

The griddle I purchased was a CharGriller FlatIron. I have been happy with it. The FlatRock is expensive because it has some fancy electronics such as the flame sensors and the propane tank gauge. My FlatIron was about half the price of the Traeger, but lacks the bells and whistles.

There is no one perfect griddle for everyone. I looked at a lot of different options before deciding the FlatRock would be best for me. Many people like the Blackstone, but I do not like the rear mounted grease trap. My griddle is on my deck a foot off the railing. I would have to move the entire griddle to be able to pull the grease bucket. Plus, I find pulling the debris toward me is more "natural".

I did not like the "P" shaped burner on the FlatRock. I prefer the four steaight burners on the FlatIron.

There are other options as well. Think of Traeger salesmen the way that you would a used-car salesman. They might not be lying, but they will push the advantages and omit the disadvantages.

 

[NoGood Traeger]

Thank you for the griddle information. At least for now, I'll be staying with the Lodge cast iron tray. The bacon grease stays in the tray. After the bacon is done I place a couple layers of paper towels in the tray to absorb the grease. Then after fully cooled, bag up the towels and put them in the garbage. I personally don't care to deal with grease buckets.

 

[RayClem]

Thank you for the griddle information. At least for now, I'll be staying with the Lodge cast iron tray. The bacon grease stays in the tray. After the bacon is done I place a couple layers of paper towels in the tray to absorb the grease. Then after fully cooled, bag up the towels and put them in the garbage. I personally don't care to deal with grease buckets.

A cast iron tray helps, just like the GrillGrates help. However, the Traeger simiply does not get hot enough to sear meat quickly. For that you need to have temperatures approaching 500F. Some Traeger grills only go to 450F, others say they go to 500F, but because the actual cook temp is typically lower than the controller temp, it is likely that you won't be able to get much over 400F. That just is not hot enough to sear the meat quickly if you are trying to do a reverse sear. The problem is that the meat is likely to overcook while you are waiting to get that perfect sear.

Another alternative is to place your cast iron griddle on your kitchen stove and do your searing there, although that can make a mess of the stove due to splattering grease. Before I got my FlatIron griddle, I used a carbon steel skillet to sear steaks in the kitchen. It is great for basting steaks in butter and aromatics. I even place the skillet on top of the FlatIron when searing steaks; they turn out beautifully.

 

[BobbyQ]

Not really, the problem is not that the probes are bad, but they are not located in the center of the cooking chamber. Most folks purchase a wired or wireless thermometer. There are plenty of options at varying prices. Although I do have a thermometer with four wired probes, I decided to drill a hole in the lid of my grill and install an analog thermometer like you might see on an offset smoker or gas grill. The one I got is large enough to see from several feet away.

https://www.amazon.com/GALAFIRE-Thermometer-Charcoal-Temperature-Replacement/dp/B07VG6M228/
I typically smoke at 225F which is the split in color between blue and orange on the dial. That makes it easy to verify that I am at the correct temp.

Please be aware that Traeger does not accept any third party thermometer results if you contact them. Also, drilling the hole through the lid is likely to invalidate the warranty.

Great idea! I installed one today. Keeping it uncovered until the sun hits it for a few hours to check if the needle moves.

 

[RayClem]

Great idea! I installed one today. Keeping it uncovered until the sun hits it for a few hours to check if the needle moves.

If your grill with its black exterior is out in the sun, the chamber can get hot. I do not know where you live in So Cal, but I heard Palm Dessert has been between 100- 114F. There you could probably cook a steak to medium rare just leaving the grill out in the sun without ever pushing the ignite button.