Meater vs Traeger Temp - WAY OFF?

[mcdonsco]

I'm fairly new to smoking, used our traeger probably 10 times now & always use my meaters with it (meater block).

If a cook calls for 225 & I set the Traeger (basic, no wifi/BT) to 225, it will report usually 30 or so degrees higher, while my meaters (I often use 2 or more on a single cut, just to average them out) will register ambient at 150???

So, what temp am I cooking at then?

Today I'm doing a pork butt for pulled pork, had the HEr warning shut it off a few times already causing lost cool time even though I'm only at 225. So I had to crank it up to 300 for a bit to ensure it's done in the 9 hour timeframe I planned for. Been set at 300 for about 40 minutes now, meaters (using 3 currently) are reporting 143, 151 & 158 ambient while the Traeger display is bouncing between 304 & 347.

Lid closed entire last 45 minutes or so.

So confused, which ambient reading should I rely on for the cook temp?

Today I am trying a 4th meater probe in, just the tip so the ambient portion is as far away from the meat as it can be, that probe also in for about 45 minutes now, shows nothing for ambient still, it's just a couple degrees higher than the others for internal even though those are deep in the meat and this one is just barely in.

What am I missing here?

Any/all help/advice greatly appreciated!

 

[RayClem]

It is quite common for the Traeger readings to be inaccurate. Trust the Meater readings and set the controller as needed to achieve your desired cook temp as indicated by the Meater.

 

[mcdonsco]

It is quite common for the Traeger readings to be inaccurate. Trust the Meater readings and set the controller as needed to achieve your desired cook temp as indicated by the Meater.

Yea, that's what I found in doing a ton of research on it. Ordered a replacement controller & probes.

That's what I did to finish yesterday's pork butt, but ultimately ended up finishing in the oven cause the grill would shut off from over temp at highest setting (in reality, temp was around 285 on meaters), kept shutting down constantly. Next lowest, 375 I think, would result in ambient of 200. So, I kept having to change the temp every 10-15 minutes to keep it running.

Anyway, doing away the Traeger controller,.installing a new one.

Thanks for the response!

 

[RayClem]

Your experience is not common. While egetting differences up to 50-60 F is typical, you should be able to achieve a temperature of close to 400F on the Meater probe.

 

[jayjordan]

I'm fairly new to smoking, used our traeger probably 10 times now & always use my meaters with it (meater block).

If a cook calls for 225 & I set the Traeger (basic, no wifi/BT) to 225, it will report usually 30 or so degrees higher, while my meaters (I often use 2 or more on a single cut, just to average them out) will register ambient at 150???

So, what temp am I cooking at then?

Today I'm doing a pork butt for pulled pork, had the HEr warning shut it off a few times already causing lost cool time even though I'm only at 225. So I had to crank it up to 300 for a bit to ensure it's done in the 9 hour timeframe I planned for. Been set at 300 for about 40 minutes now, meaters (using 3 currently) are reporting 143, 151 & 158 ambient while the Traeger display is bouncing between 304 & 347.

Lid closed entire last 45 minutes or so.

So confused, which ambient reading should I rely on for the cook temp?

Today I am trying a 4th meater probe in, just the tip so the ambient portion is as far away from the meat as it can be, that probe also in for about 45 minutes now, shows nothing for ambient still, it's just a couple degrees higher than the others for internal even though those are deep in the meat and this one is just barely in.

What am I missing here?

Any/all help/advice greatly appreciated!

(Disclaimer: following is based upon using Meater on Weber Smoky Mountain and Pit Barrel cooker) My understanding from using my Meater and reading the documentation, its ambient temperature is affected by the meat surface temperature it's inserted into. I don't put a lot of stock into Meater's ambient temperature since I use a Thermoworks Smoke with probe at grill level to measure the air temp close to the meat. So far on my new Traeger cooks I have only used the grill's internal temp reading and the included Traeger wired probe. I've been happy with the results I've achieved so far.

 

[RustyJake]

(Disclaimer: following is based upon using Meater on Weber Smoky Mountain and Pit Barrel cooker) My understanding from using my Meater and reading the documentation, its ambient temperature is affected by the meat surface temperature it's inserted into. I don't put a lot of stock into Meater's ambient temperature since I use a Thermoworks Smoke with probe at grill level to measure the air temp close to the meat. So far on my new Traeger cooks I have only used the grill's internal temp reading and the included Traeger wired probe. I've been happy with the results I've achieved so far.

I agree, the ambient potion of this style of probe is influenced by the temperature of the meat being cooked and shouldn't be used as a guide to your actual grill temperature.
The image I attached is from a FireBoard Pulse probe, that also utilizes an ambient probe. The top like is from the Yoder and grill temp, the next line down is from the pulse ambient probe, about 1" from the meat. The bottom is the meat temp.

You can see how as the temperature was increased on the grill, there was a bigger difference in the two grill temps. As the protein heats up, the difference would tighten up a bit, but would probably always be a bit different than the actual grill temp
If the OP wants to test, it would be better to place a probe close to the grills probe (not touching the grates), and track that difference

 

[midwest]

I like the idea of the meater probes but have never tried them. I use Ink Bird and tested them in ice water as well as boiling water and it is spot on. So I use one of the 4 probes for the ambient and the others go into whatever I am cooking.

Normally I would not trust the Traeger probes, but in your case it seems weird. I find it hard to believe the Traeger is lit and burning and only getting to the temps you stated above (143, 151, and 158). It is hard to have any size fire going and the ambient temp to only be in the 140's to 150's. I would guess if you set it out in the sun on a hot day it would be that warm inside before you started it.

 

[Shedd]

I have two Meaters and one doesn’t display the ambient for some reason but the other does however as said it’s not reliable as neither is the cook time. In my opinion they aren’t worth the money. I threw away my probe that came with my 780 because it was useless. My therm pros work better if I ever get them back from a buddy, lol. I wish a decent wireless probe with true WiFi from anywhere was available.