Temperatures

[Peterk]

With the colder months arriving and cooking do you, when looking at recipe instruction say the cook temp suggest 121 and at that temperature the ambient is only 110, would you set the cook temp higher to compensate for the weather.

 

[RayClem]

I presume your temperatures are listed in degrees Celsius. Since many members are in the States and us degrees Fahrenheit, it is best to be clear.

It should not be necessary to adjust the target cooking temperature winter vs sumner. It will take more pellets to provide heat in the winter, but the cook will experience whatever the temperature is inside the cooking chamber.

Be sure you are measuring the temperature inside the cook chamber properly. As is reported by many owners, the temperature shown on the controller might not be the temperature the cook is experiencing. A reliable 3rd party thermometer is highly recommended.

 

[Jimmy Tolliver]

Yes, increase the temp a bit (5-10°C/10-20°F) to compensate for the colder ambient temperature.

 

[midwest]

The internal temp of the grill is the internal temp of the grill, no matter what the outside temps are. Set your grill at the temp you want it at, if you want to cook at 225F set it at that, it doesn't matter if it's 100 degrees outside or 15 degrees. It will take more pellets to keep temps the colder it is.
My wife does the same "math" with our thermostat. We normally keep our house at 68 in the winter. Some nights she will say "its supposed to get really cold out tonight, we need to turn the heat up a little"... 68 is 68 no matter how cold it gets outside.

 

[Klap0001]

I think it depends on the grill you have and how cold it gets where you live. I have a pro 34 and just got an ironwood xl. I live in Minnesota. The 34 has always struggled hitting max temp of 450 degrees f. Some pellets barely hit 400f when set to 450f. The 34 I put an insulation blanket on it when temps are below 30f and that helps. I don’t really use the 34 if it’s below 0F It seems to struggle especially if I try to smoke something. Does better just grilling at higher temps. But on the 34 there are times where I’ll have to up the temp setting on the controller to get the grill to stay at my desired temp.
Now I’ve only had the ironwood less than a week it’s been between 20F and 40f and it hasn’t had any issues hitting or staying at the desired temperature

 

[Manannan]

I presume your temperatures are listed in degrees Celsius. Since many members are in the States and us degrees Fahrenheit, it is best to be clear.

A lot of the best BBQ / grilling books sold here in the UK are American and it is frustrating that all temperatures are in Fahrenheit although some do at least have a conversion chart. Whenever I post on a food forum I always identify and quote in both F and C as a courtesy because the world is a much smaller place nowadays.

As RayClem says, always try and be clear whether it is C or F and ideally quote both given the international nature of the forum!

 

[Manannan]

I think it depends on the grill you have and how cold it gets where you live.

I did notice some difference when I switched from the single insulation of the Pro575 to the double insulation of the Gen 2 Ironwood but I have never altered a cook on either because of it. Traeger's excel at low and slow and if it happens to end up a tad slower because the outside temperature is lower or you use a few more pellets it just means there is a bit more time for an extra beer (or on Christmas Day mulled wine!) before the food gets to the correct internal temperature!

Colder temperatures are an extra incentive not to open the hood to have a peak!

 

[Klap0001]

I did notice some difference when I switched from the single insulation of the Pro575 to the double insulation of the Gen 2 Ironwood but I have never altered a cook on either because of it. Traeger's excel at low and slow and if it happens to end up a tad slower because the outside temperature is lower or you use a few more pellets it just means there is a bit more time for an extra beer (or on Christmas Day mulled wine!) before the food gets to the correct internal temperature!

Colder temperatures are an extra incentive not to open the hood to have a peak!

I think the pro575 has the wifire controller? It sounds like those do better than the older style controller for regulating temp. The older pro 34 really seems like it stays at a set speed range for feeding pellets based on your set temperature on the dial. At least just my speculation. For example hickory would burn hotter than mesquite. If I tried to run mesquite at 450 set temp on the grill it would never get much hotter than 400 internal grill temp even in the summer. Hickory would get up around 450.
Or in the winter I might have it set to 225 and it will run at 200 internal temp. Added the insulation blanket and that helped the cold weather cooking. Sometimes I need to bump it to the next setting to hit desired internal temp in the winter. The new ironwood xl seems to do a lot better job of regulating the internal temp of the grill. It even hit 511 degrees last night grilling steaks with it being 20 degrees outside

 

[Klap0001]

Also extra time to drink more beer is never a bad thing!