Ambient Temperature

[camfraley11]

So I'm a new kettle owner and have only 3 cooks on my Weber 22" Master Touch. A lot of people I've seen on YouTube put a temperature probe near the meat being cooked. How important is this? Do I need to do this every time I cook on my Weber and if so where do I put it?


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[LiquidOcelot]

Cook, get to know how your grill cooks and you won't need a grill temp probe. Experience is the best tool you can have for your weber

So I'm a new kettle owner and have only 3 cooks on my Weber 22" Master Touch. A lot of people I've seen on YouTube put a temperature probe near the meat being cooked. How important is this? Do I need to do this every time I cook on my Weber and if so where do I put it?


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Sent from my SM-G973U using Weber Kettle Club mobile app

[michaelmilitello]

+1 on just cook on it.   I cook nearly everything indirect until I need to sear or give food color.  This approach is very forgiving and works fine for a variety of temps.   If I had to guess, my indirect zone is usually 400.  That's starting with 3/4 lit chimney and vents wide open.   

If you can master 250, 350, and warp speed you're good.  If you want absolute accuracy, there's always the oven but that's no fun. 

Another approach that's more technical and suits my scientific side, is to keep some simple notes on how you set things up, conditions, and approximate time of cook.   That helped me in the beginning.  That will make it easier to replicate success.  For example, if I am cooking pork chops (1.25 inches thick), I know I need to cook them indirect for 15-20 minutes then sear at the end over high direct heat for about a minute per side.  That will get me ~140 F internal. 

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[Mr.CPHo]

Hello and welcome.  I don't believe monitoring ambient temps are absolutely necessary every time, but I do think it's a good way of learning your cooker's capabilities quickly.  Place your pit probe on the indirect side close to, but not touching, your food, and ensure your cables are not over the direct side.   FWIW, I think monitoring internal food temps is more important than ambient temp but many popular digital thermometers can handle both. 

[frankpitts]

Great question and about where I am at on this kttle journey.  Find myself starting to obsess about keeping ambient temp steady and realizing it is no fun.  I agree on need to be able to do "low," "medium," and "high" heat cooks.  Beyond that I am not sure about the need for constant ambient monitoring or temp maintenance. Its not like my kettle is air tight or anything anyway.  I am going to stop using the ambient tempt probe for a while and just leave a meat probe and get back to not worrying too much and just cooking.

[Kneab]

I mostly use my ambient probe when I am monitoring temps for overnight brisket cooks in my 26, or when smoking beef jerky in my Wsm.
Only because of the ability to monitor temps from inside of the house from the couch or from bed.

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[JEBIV]

I do monitor on some cooks, but I mainly make sure the ambient temp in my cocktail is cold and that i'm having fun

[SMOKE FREAK]

I realize that lid temp and grate temp will be different but the lid therm is the only one I use. It is merely an indicator of what I've got going inside.

[HoosierKettle]

I do monitor on some cooks, but I mainly make sure the ambient temp in my cocktail is cold and that i'm having fun

The mountains on my coors light cans help me keep track.


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[Foster Dahlet]

The only time I worry about ambient temp is if I am doing low and slow.

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