Temperature test on new Ranger

[Refriedbeanz]

I'm new here, so please be kind . My 2nd cook on my new Ranger this weekend was a chuck roast cooked like a brisket. Previous cook after initial firing, (meatballs) had me searching the forum for issues with wild temperature swings. The temps were 25 to 50+ degrees up and down and all over the road like a roller coaster. Freaked me out that either I was doing something very wrong, or I had a lemon.

Yesterday, my chuck roast cook included a little test of ambient temps using 3 different thermometers. The Ranger's, a new ThermoPro and my Meater Plus. I tracked the temps and recorded what I saw from each, and when I saw it. The results speak for themselves. I thought this information might be helpful to others, thus this post and a pic of the spreadsheet.

My takeaway is that I can trust the Ranger and that as I get used to this particular unit, I can dial everything in easily. I have no clue why the Ranger was swinging so wildly in the prior cook, other than it was new. The ThermoPro looks like a waste of $39. Still love the Meater and will continue to use it for IT purposes. Will keep you posted if you're interested.

Only thing I failed to mention is that I used Traeger Signature pellets, which I will avoid in the future. I understand there are better choices. I've used a BGE for 15 years, so this is all new territory, but grilling and smoking is an art and a science that I enjoy.
Cheers!

 

[RayClem]

I am not sure where the Traeger probe is located in the Ranger, but getting differences between the Traeger RTD thermocouple and a 3rd party thermometer is not at all uncommon. The Ranger is a very small grill and it only weighs 60#, so it does not have the thermal mass or the heated chamber volume as the larger grills. Thus, there will be temperature variations from top to bottom, from side to side, and from front to back.

The ThermoPro thermometer is placed at grate level, not far above the drip tray. Thus, it might be affected by radiation from the drip tray. Also, the tip of the probe is located close to the edge of the drip tray where hot gasses from the burn pot will come up and around the tray. Thus, your frustration with the probe might be more due to probe placement than probe accuracy.

Try brewing a hot cup of coffee and then check the temperature using both your Meater probe and the ThermoPro. I suspect you will find similar results. I have a ThermoPro instant read thermometer; it appears to be accurate.

The Meater probe is stuck into the top of the roast. Thus, it will be reading the temperature near the top of the chamber. Since heat rises, it might be reading slightly high. The most accurate temperature reading will probably be obtained with the probe stuck into the side of the meat such that the exposed probe is near the middle of the chamber. I do not have a Meater probe, so I do not know how far it is supposed to be inserted into the meat to provider proper measurement of both internal meat temperature and ambient chamber temperature.

If you are planning on doing a lot of cooks of larger pieces of meat where the cook is designed to take several hours, you might want to save up to purchase one of the larger grills. Unlike your Ranger which weighs 60#, my Ironwood 885 weighs 160# which gives it more thermal mass. It also has a more sophisticated controller that costs almost as much as your entire Ranger. The larger grill also come with a 20# hoppers vs 8# for the Ranger so you can do a lengthy cook without having to refill the hopper.
You cannot expect the same results from a Ranger as you do from one of the larger, more sophisticated grills. The Ranger is designed primarily to be portable for use camping, picnicing, tailgating, etc. This is is better suited to cooking hotdogs, burgers and steaks than it is to cooking roasts and briskets low and slow.

In spite of some challenges, it looks like you overcame them and ended up with a good result. Congratulations! The set cook temperature and even swings in the chamber temperature don't really matter as long as you leave the protein in the chamber long enough to achieve the final internal temperature.