I currently have two whole chickens in my OBS and the thermometer in the door is reading 65 degrees lower than my my maverick. the sensor for the Maverick is in the left rear corner of the box, suspended from the top rack. It is not touching anything in the box. Is this sort of variance normal? This setup has worked for me just fine previously with only a variance of 5-10 degrees. The only thing tht has changed is that the outside ambient temp is significantly lower now (45 degrees or so) than it was before.
Any help on this would be appreciated.
Recce6
So if I understand this correctly the Maverick is reading close to your set temp?
The other thing I would try is moving the Maverick TC around a bit inside the tower closer to your chicken but not touching it to see if there is any variance in cabinet temps. The thermometer on the front of the OBS is well noted for it's inaccuracy. If your Maverick is reading in your set temp range your good to go.
Mike
PS
The other thing is with the ambient temp change it could very well be effecting the built in thermometer because of the exposed metal on the thermometer itself. Especially if there is a breeze blowing on it. This would not be effecting the Maverick because it is inside the cabinet.
Another thing that can impact the door gauge is smoke build up on the sensor.
I normally place my Maverick close (usually a little below) the meat being smoked. This will give an accurate reading of the heat that the meat is being exposed to.
Go with your mavrick reading - will be more accurate than the door thermometer. The rear of the tower is going to be hotter than the front. Heat source is on the back wall and heat will up the back faster than how it distributes through the rest of the tower.
As wc says do position your probe central location near food.
Welcome to the forum. Let us know how it goes ;D
Sixty-five degrees variance is a lot. Is it possible that the door thermometer is in contact with one of the chickens.
Well, this turned out to be a very weird smoke.
I gave up on the thermometer in the door, and just used my maverick. t\The OBS maintained a box temp of around 210 with the maverick's sensor moved to about mid-box on the left-hand side (above the smoke generator) at the same level as the upper of the two birds.
What got weird was that it took twelve hours to get the birds to an internal temp of 165 deg. I expected a longer smoke, as the ambient temp is lower now than the last time I did whole chickens, but not twelve hours!
Any body have an idea as to what I did to cause the super-long smoke time?
Recce6
I have done many chickens in the BS, and for two birds 12 hours is a long time, almost twice the time. Which makes me suspect that the cabinet temperature was not at 210°F, and the door may have been closer to the true temperature. Unless it took the smoker an extremely long time to get up to your set temperature.
I now smoke my birds at the highest temperature I can get the cabinet, which is often only around 225°F when I have whole chickens in the cabinet.
You can't calibrate the Maverick, but you should check it for accuracy. Before checking the accuracy, make sure the batteries are good. Low batteries can mess up your readings. This is a good thread that will help you calibrate the Maverick.
http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=4061.0
Some good advice here as usual.
-Brian
I don't have a Maverick, but this is what I do when I am suspect about my thermometer.
1) Check the batteries.
2) Get a pot of water to a rolling boil, and check the temp with my thermometer. As long as it is reasonably close to 212F or 100C you should be good. Elevation can cause some variance in this, as well as air pressure, but it should still be close.
I don't know how the Maverick works, or if the probes can be immersed, so don't do this without checking that out first. Somebody who has one can probably give you a better idea.
I recommend that you do not let water get into the area where the probe meets the wire on the Maverick.
I actually drilled a hole through a block of ice (just big enough around so the Maverick probe fits snugly without forcing it in) deep enough to fit the probe all the way to the bend. It read 31 degrees until the ice started melting and enlarging the hole, so I was satisfied. Pretty close to being right on the money in my opinion.