Temperature Setting

[Treater Since 2008]

General comment about temperature readings. I see a number of people say grilling in the hot sun can cause the temperature reading to be high. Sounds reasonable, but I have to question it. The built in temperature probe senses the amount of heat inside the cooking area. It does not know the difference between the sun’s heat or the fire’s heat. So if the temperature controller is working properly, wouldn’t you expect the auger to deliver the correct amount pellets to maintain the set temperature?

 

[overnightbbqryan]

I don't believe I've ever had an issue with the Traeger probe or the grill's reading. I'm new here but a ton of people say they don't trust it. Maybe they're in different climates but all of my food has come out spot on. It maintains temp in SWFL.

 

[midwest]

Overnight, have you ever tested your internal probe against a quality aftermarket probe? Mine if fairly close but once I get above 350 or so it can vary greatly. I don't see temp swings on the readout but I can have it at 400 and my inkbird will show around 360 or so. Good news is when I am cooking at higher temps it not usually a huge deal. I just don't want to have a brisket on thinking it's at 235 only to realize it is only at like 180 or so.

As the OP said I don't think the outside air temp would cause an issue. The grill doesn't know if the heat is coming from the sun or the fire pot, heat is heat. The only time it can become an issue is when you are trying to cook at really low temps. If it's 100 degrees outside it might already be 120 degrees inside the grill. It is hard to light a fire in there and keep it at 180 degrees or less in that scenario.

 

[Dcgunman]

I don't believe I've ever had an issue with the Traeger probe or the grill's reading. I'm new here but a ton of people say they don't trust it. Maybe they're in different climates but all of my food has come out spot on. It maintains temp in SWFL.

Your in the lucky group. I’m sure not every T grill comes with a bad temp or box. Otherwise they would have a lot more complaints. It’s probably around 10-20% that the temp probe’s are bad. That said, I would always have another temp probe as a back up.

 

[overnightbbqryan]

Your in the lucky group. I’m sure not every T grill comes with a bad temp or box. Otherwise they would have a lot more complaints. It’s probably around 10-20% that the temp probe’s are bad. That said, I would always have another temp probe as a back up.

I did purchase a Thermapen Mk4 a month ago or so for the sole purpose of checking multiple meats since the Ironwood only has 1 probe…..

 

[MidwestSmoker]

General comment about temperature readings. I see a number of people say grilling in the hot sun can cause the temperature reading to be high. Sounds reasonable, but I have to question it. The built in temperature probe senses the amount of heat inside the cooking area. It does not know the difference between the sun’s heat or the fire’s heat. So if the temperature controller is working properly, wouldn’t you expect the auger to deliver the correct amount pellets to maintain the set temperature?

This is correct. However, here is the problem. The Traeger needs a minimum pellet feed rate so that the fire does not go out. Under normal conditions this minimum feed rate will produce 165 degrees in the grill, the minimum setting.

If you grill in the hot sun it is equivalent of about 35 degrees added to the grill (Timmy measured this). So at the minimum feed rate the lowest temperature you can get is 200 degrees. If you are trying to smoke at temperatures below 200 degrees it will lead to a lot frustration if you are doing this in direct sunlight. This is what happened to me when I first tried to do this. Moving the grill to the shade solved this issue.