Callow temp gage

[Mikey B]

Hey guys

just in the process of curing my Callow and I’ve noticed the lid temp gage is WAY off

my probes are reading 340f and 336f on the upper and lower grates but the lid temp gage hasn’t got above 290f

makes me glad I have a stand alone unit because this could seriously screw up a session if you were going for low and slow

Mikey B

[Mikey B]

Temps have now levelled at 333f and 331f 

lid temp gage still hasn’t peaked above 290f

Mikey B

[AdamG]

1 hour ago, Mikey B said:

Temps have now levelled at 333f and 331f 

lid temp gage still hasn’t peaked above 290f

Mikey B

I had the same experience with my kamado, probes at 240f grate level and 190f dome temp for the 1st couple of hours, after about 5 hours they were within 10 degrees of each other....but both registered within 4 degrees with boiling water aswell🤯

I would have thought it would be the other way around due to heat rising and building inside the dome 1st.

In the end I put it down to how the air is moving inside and the body of the lid absorbing the heat out of the air....but this is just a wild guess from me lol🤔🧐

Edited April 26, 2020 by AdamG

[dl8860]

Yours sounds much more accurate than mine, sadly it's a fact of life that manufacturers (even biggers ones like weber) continue to ship BBQs with temp gauges that are miles off. Their only use is if you can sort of calibrate it against a good thermometer so you can roughly know the actual temp of the pit on cooks when you don't want to use a thermom probe. How are you liking the callow so far otherwise?

[Mikey B]

It’s a great piece of kit, I can’t wait to actually cook on it lol

unfortunately I work 12 nights straight and get 2 days off so I won’t get to play with it again for a couple of weeks

though that does give time for me to buy some sauces and rubs I’ve seen and get some decent briquettes on order 👍

Mikey B

[Smokin Monkey]

Do not take any notice of any thermometer fitted to any lid, no matter what the make of equipment is, get a reliable thermometer, something like an Inkbird, and place the probe on the rack you are cooking on, as that’s the heat your are cooking with.

[Mikey B]

3 hours ago, Smokin Monkey said:

Do not take any notice of any thermometer fitted to any lid, no matter what the make of equipment is, get a reliable thermometer, something like an Inkbird, and place the probe on the rack you are cooking on, as that’s the heat your are cooking with.

Yeah I’ve got an Inkbird 4xs, very impressed with how accurate it is

Mikey B

[Wade]

When initially reviewing the Callow I noticed that the lid thermometer was way out so I tested the thermometers that were in several other brands. I also ordered a selection (~10) of different manufacturers thermometers to test from different places online. Guess what - they were also very inaccurate - even the Weber thermometers. The only way to go is to use a digital thermometer - preferably dual probe. 

[hoogl]

2 hours ago, Wade said:

The only way to go is to use a digital thermometer - preferably dual probe. 

I'd second this. I only use my lid thermometers as a rough guide. I use my Dual probes for accurate reading. I used to worry about exact cooking temp in the beginning now i just shoot for a range and let probes tell me when food is done. 

[Mikey B]

I need to do a test on my offset smoker now too. I could never get it up to temperature using the fire box but if the lid thermometer is as bad as the one on my Callow I might have actually been up to temp the whole time.

Mikey B

[Wade]

Check the thermometer first by placing the tip into boiling water for a ninute or so - it should read 100 C +- a degree or two. What fuel are you using in your offset? If it is not too far out you may also need to look at the fuel you are using and try something that burns a little hotter.

[Mikey B]

6 hours ago, Wade said:

Check the thermometer first by placing the tip into boiling water for a ninute or so - it should read 100 C +- a degree or two. What fuel are you using in your offset? If it is not too far out you may also need to look at the fuel you are using and try something that burns a little hotter.

So far I’ve just been running it on lumpwood or BigK briquettes 

I only recently found out there are different qualities of charcoal so I haven’t had chance to experiment with changing the fuel yet

Mikey B

[Wade]

You need to look for the densest briquettes you can find as they will usually burn hotter. Not a definitive test - but if you drop one from head height onto a stone slab and it bounces without breaking then it will be quite dense. If it splits or shatters then it isn't likely to be good quality. Also look in the bottom of the bag they came in. You will always get a little, but if you see a lot of charcoal powder in the bottom then it it an indication of poor quality briquettes.