36 hours into a brisket smoke and found a thermometer trick that saved it

Honestly, I was fighting temp swings on my offset smoker for 8 hours straight with a cheap probe. Stuck an oven thermometer next to the meat at grate level and realized I was reading 30 degrees off the whole time. Has anyone else had a bad probe throw their whole cook off?

3 comments

3 Comments

jamie9401mo ago

Saw a pitmaster say grate temp can vary 50 degrees from the dome.

jason_lewis31mo ago

Oh yeah for sure, my offset can be like 40-50 degrees off between the grate and dome depending on where the coals are sitting lol. The dome thermometer is just giving you a rough ballpark, you gotta trust a probe at grate level for real cooking.

betty_wells1mo ago

Oh man, that 30 degree swing is brutal and I feel for you, @jason_lewis3 is right that dome thermometers are basically just decoration sometimes. That grate level trick saved my last pork butt too after I kept pulling it too early for weeks. Always good to hear someone else has fought the same fight and came out with a brisket that wasn't ruined.