Stampede Does your smoker hold temp?

[Steves55]

9 months old & right on target.

 

[BillsCamino]

Smoke 'n mirrors....smoke 'n mirrors....

 

[SmokeOCD]

It holds at least as good as any other smoker I've ever owned; probably better. The people who want plus or minus one degree for the entirety of the cook need to switch to gas - and even then, like your oven - there's swings. Chill out - have a drink - cook some great food.

 

[Greg Jones]

It holds at least as good as any other smoker I've ever owned; probably better. The people who want plus or minus one degree for the entirety of the cook need to switch to gas - and even then, like your oven - there's swings. Chill out - have a drink - cook some great food.

Exactly. The controller intentionally lies, but it doesn’t matter. Enjoy the food that you make for your family and friends.

 

[Gonefishin]

Holds a lot better than my Smokey Mountian does. The only time it didn’t it was a windy 10 degrees, it was just too much for it in my opinion.

 

[Steves55]

Holds better than my Traeger ever did.

 

[Greg Jones]

Holds better than my Traeger ever did.

Until Traeger started fudging their numbers in the controller to match the numbers other manufactures were reporting. Now they all lie. This is discussed here on a frequent basis.

Recent discussion

 

[Steves55]

Until Traeger started fudging their numbers in the controller to match the numbers other manufactures were reporting. Now they all lie. This is discussed here on a frequent basis.

Recent discussion

And so are all the discussions here of temp nowhere near set temp.
I don't know why I even bother........

 

[Greg Jones]

And so are all the discussions here of temp nowhere near set temp.
I don't know why I even bother........

So, you have no interest in knowing what your grill temp actually is? That’s fine, as mentioned it doesn’t matter. Just cook on and enjoy. But if you think 200° equals 200° because your recteq controller tells you so, that just might, as @BillsCamino says, be smoke and mirrors.

 

[Steves55]

So, you have no interest in knowing what your grill temp actually is? That’s fine, as mentioned it doesn’t matter. Just cook on and enjoy. But if you think 200° equals 200° because your recteq controller tells you so, that just might, as @BillsCamino says, be smoke and mirrors.

I have several probes to check actual temps but then we will get the "probes aren't accurate either" group.

 

[Greg Jones]

I have several probes to check actual temps but then we will get the "probes aren't accurate either" group.

Or you could just test actual temps with the aftermarket probes you have and be done with it.

 

[Steves55]

Tough crowd. Maybe a mod could just delete thread.

 

[C. Keeper]

 

[Greg Jones]

Tough crowd. Maybe a mod could just delete thread.

Not a tough crowd, just an educated one. No one is calling you out and no one is making this personal, but for perhaps you. For the most part, this is a very savvy group of recteq (and other grills) users. People here usually test their theories with some nod to a scientific method to arrive at a conclusion.

Just taking a picture of your controller when the set point and reported temp align is far from scientific and does not prove your smoker holds temp. But perhaps it does hold temp, perhaps it does not, but if you, your family, and your friends are happy with the food you cook with it-what does it matter?

I hope you continue to contribute to the ‘crowd‘ here. What would be a problem with recording your temps with a third party probe and reporting the results here? I’m sure we would be interested in seeing what you discover. Cheers.

 

[okie]

The PID control does not actually lie.(or is not meant to ) It is set to "average" the actual temps over time. If not we would all be worried about the temp swings. You would thus be misled into thinking you are overcooking at one reading and undercooking at other times. If you use a separate accurate probe, you would find gentle swings up and down, and swings would vary depending on the settings available. Some units now can be adjusted if desired to make more smoke, by making wider swings. Most are programmed to make wider swings on low/slow cooks to produce the desired smoke. If temps are set higher, then less smoke and more heat is called for. Of course some producers use more accurate probes and try to set them to record the average temp over the whole volume of cooking area (which takes some engineering skill). If you try to check them out, you have to use a fast and accurate oven probe to catch the swings, and multiple such probes to sample the cooking areas simultaneously. I have done all the above and have concluded:
Set the temp on control for the temp you use for low/slow. Place the external digital (analogs are too slow, even if accurate) probe in central part of your most used area for smoking. Start up cooker and let it stabilize at the desired temp, i.e. 225*, or what you like to use for 20 -30 minutes. If the probe stays around 225* +-5-10* for the next 30 minutes, you are good to go. If not all RT controls can be adjusted up or down to compensate. For higher temps I would not adjust this setting, because 1. It does not matter that much. and 2. you will be changing your low/slow accuracy. The high temp cooks are shorter, and easier to complete with meat probes etc. Also, makes little difference if it varies 20-30* or such, so time will vary.
For me, once I have the central grill temp accurate at low/slow temps, start cooking!! I found that all the meticulous multiple area checking that I did was interesting but not necessary.

And bottom line: I found the RT controls to be the most accurate and stable that I have used. Traeger, Memphis Beale Street, were less reliable and or accurate and had no user adjustments available. Blaz'n was good but not user adjustable.

 

[okie]

The PID control does not actually lie.(or is not meant to ) It is set to "average" the actual temps over time. If not we would all be worried about the temp swings. You would thus be misled into thinking you are overcooking at one reading and undercooking at other times. If you use a separate accurate probe, you would find gentle swings up and down, and swings would vary depending on the settings available. Some units now can be adjusted if desired to make more smoke, by making wider swings. Most are programmed to make wider swings on low/slow cooks to produce the desired smoke. If temps are set higher, then less smoke and more heat is called for. Of course some producers use more accurate probes and try to set them to record the average temp over the whole volume of cooking area (which takes some engineering skill). If you try to check them out, you have to use a fast and accurate oven probe to catch the swings, and multiple such probes to sample the cooking areas simultaneously. I have done all the above and have concluded:
Set the temp on control for the temp you use for low/slow. Place the external digital (analogs are too slow, even if accurate) probe in central part of your most used area for smoking. Start up cooker and let it stabilize at the desired temp, i.e. 225*, or what you like to use for 20 -30 minutes. If the probe stays around 225* +-5-10* for the next 30 minutes, you are good to go. If not all RT controls can be adjusted up or down to compensate. For higher temps I would not adjust this setting, because 1. It does not matter that much. and 2. you will be changing your low/slow accuracy. The high temp cooks are shorter, and easier to complete with meat probes etc. Also, makes little difference if it varies 20-30* or such, so time will vary.
For me, once I have the central grill temp accurate at low/slow temps, start cooking!! I found that all the meticulous multiple area checking that I did was interesting but not necessary.

And bottom line: I found the RT controls to be the most accurate and stable that I have used. Traeger, Memphis Beale Street, were less reliable and or accurate and had no user adjustments available. Blaz'n was good but not user adjustable.

I could have said all the windy above with. "Check it out, set it and forget it" as per Greg.

 

[Steves55]

From this morning 1" above grate in center.

 

[okie]

Please explain the pic.

 

[Jim6820]

There seems to be a perception that if temperature fluctuates at all, there must be something wrong. That is simply not true; they cycle above and below a set point to maintain an average near the set point. Even high-end, lab-grade scientific and industrial ovens do this. It is the nature of the beast.

A former employer of mine in a laboratory setting spent big bucks on a lab-grade oven for testing they were doing. It was stable within a couple of degrees on either side of the set point, and that was when it was used in a controlled environment. We’d see temperature fluctuations (though relatively slight) when a door to the lab space was opened and closed, or when a person walked past the oven, creating air currents.

The same is true of our grlls, but to a lesser extent. They are not lab-grade instruments and that level of heat regulation is unnecessary for cooking/grilling/smoking use. Wind currents will still alter their performance to some extent, as will opening the lid frequently. “If you are looking, you aren’t cooking” comes to mind.

Cooking grills function much like a kitchen oven; they turn the hear source on and off in a pattern that results in an average temperature around the set point. Taking a temperature reading at a given point only tells you what the temperature is at that moment. If you really want to see how your grill/smoker is holding temperature, you have to spend the “big bucks” for a lab-grade charting thermometer.

As has been said by others, it really doesn’t matter. My grandmother never even used a cheap oven thermometer and she never burned a pie! She “knew” her oven and how long it took to bake a pie. In the winter, when the kitchen was a little cooler, she added a few minutes to compensate. And, let me repeat, she never burned a pie!

Despite possessing a bunch of high-tech temperature measuring tools, I think the real art of cooking is learning how your grill/smoker functions with the various proteins you cook. Over time, you get a “feel” for things and I think that’s the real “cooking skill.”

 

[pungo]

I find these "temp stays dead on" posts comical. If the average stays close to set temp, even with mild temp swings, all is good and the food will cook as expected. Think about it, we're talking pellets on fire, the temps are going to fluctuate, fact...smh