Traeger Cooking temps

[Atl_Buckeye]

I am new to Traeger and see that their is a lot of discussion/complaining about temps. I am not new to smoking and every cooking method seems to have their own issues with temps. For example, the old electric smokers would vary wildly depending on if the element was on or not which made a consistent temp impossible and similar to Traeger, the big green egg dome temp is different than grate temps.

So, when people here are talking about temps. Are they refering to the temp set on the controller? Or do most people use a probe mounted to the grate (pit temp)? I was playing around last night and see that these temps are different by 25-50 deg. I just want to be sure that if I'm following some recipes from here I am understanding temps that are being talked about

 

[KirkP]

The concerns about inaccurate temperatures are specific to the new Pro 575 and 780 grills. In these cases the temperature reported by the controller is 50-100 deg higher than what people measure using independent probes inside the grill. The differences seem to vary with temperature, with the worst effect perhaps being that at the highest setting on the controller (450 deg), the grill can only reach about 375-390. But overall it makes it difficult to figure out what to set the controller at to get the desired cooking temp. The Ironwood series got a firmware update that fixed what seemed to be a similar problem that existed there early on. I think if Traeger wouldn't advertise a +/- 5 deg stability on these new grills with a "set and forget" claim, people might not be so upset. Traeger also does not admit there is really a problem but hopefully they are working on it behind the scenes and a software fix is in these grills' future.

 

[Atl_Buckeye]

I did a test the other night just so that I understand the temps. I will keep one of my probes monitoring the grate temps for my first several cooks. During my tests the temps seemed to stay pretty stable which is far more important to me over what the grill is reporting (i'll monitor that with my more trusted methods)

 

[KirkP]

I did a test the other night just so that I understand the temps. I will keep one of my probes monitoring the grate temps for my first several cooks. During my tests the temps seemed to stay pretty stable which is far more important to me over what the grill is reporting (i'll monitor that with my more trusted methods)

My grill was also fairly stable in maintaining temp, but the issue was knowing what to set the controller at to get the desired internal grill temp. Others have reported that the variance was also very sensitive to external temperatures as well, so just making a new calibration curve doesn't seem to be the solution either.

Also it looks like you own the Elite 34, which I don't think has the specific problems related to this thread. I also own an older Traeger, which was just fine.

 

[Atl_Buckeye]

Sounds like it should just be standard practice to keep my own probe monitoring the grate. I could see how external conditions would have a big impact on this grill.

I assume that in standard conversations on this forum that when people refer to the temperature that they are referring to the temp on the controller (or at least what they set it to)?

 

[ndfan6464]

The issue I had with my 575 was that the set temp at the controller was 40-70 degrees higher then what the actual cooking temp (inside the cooking chamber) read at food level, at the grate.

So for example. If I set the 575 to 225 the cooking chamber would only be at 175. To me thats unacceptable for a $900 cooker.

Weather was not a big enough factor. Even if it was the two times I cooked the air temp was 75 degrees and no wind (because of where the grill was located).

 

[Atl_Buckeye]

Where is the temp measured in the 575?

In my Big Green Egg the thermometer is mounted in the dome. In this location the temp is ~50 deg hotter than at the grate. The thermometer is accurate but the difference is the simple physics of the grill. So, as long as it is consistent then it isn't that big of a deal for me. However, I can understand how some might be put off by that considering the cost of the product.

 

[KirkP]

Where is the temp measured in the 575?

In my Big Green Egg the thermometer is mounted in the dome. In this location the temp is ~50 deg hotter than at the grate. The thermometer is accurate but the difference is the simple physics of the grill. So, as long as it is consistent then it isn't that big of a deal for me. However, I can understand how some might be put off by that considering the cost of the product.

The thermocouple in the 575 is on the right hand side, about 6" up from the grill surface (if I remember right, mine is back at HD). I used my 3rd-party temperature probe to measure pretty close to their thermocouple and still got the very different readings that people have been reporting.

 

[ndfan6464]

On the 575 the installed thermometer is on the right hand side of the cooking chamber aprox 6-7" up from the grate,