Why doesn't Traeger recognize and FIX the MAJOR PROBLEM with the ambient temp probe being off by 25-30 degrees?

[Whjones71]

Traegers are EXPENSIVE. I didn't know or expect that their ambient temp thermometer located on the wall of the cooking area would be off by 25-30 degrees. I ruined two meals due to undercooking them before I found this forum and found that this is a COMMON issue and that I had to shell out MORE of my hard earned money to by a third party probe to compensate for the Traeger's inaccurate probe. What a joke! I'd return my Traeger if I could. WHY DON'T THEY FIX THIS!?!?!?

 

[RayClem]

internal ambient temp probe???

The Traeger has to different temperature probes. One measure the ambient temperature in the cook chamber. The other is an internal probe that you can insert into your protein to measure temperature.

Never attempt to cook to time and temperature as you might in your kitchen over. There are too many variables when cooking outdoors.

Part of the issue with the RTD thermocouple used to measure cook temperature is that the probe is located at a specific position along the side of the grill chamber. The temperature within the chamber will vary right to left, front to back, and top to bottom, so there is no fixed location that will give you an accurate representation of the temperature your cook is experiencing.

The internal temperature probe can normally be calibrated using an ice/water bath. Once calibrated, the temperature will be accurate at the freezing point of water (0C/32F). However, that is not a point of interest when cooking. Calibrating a thermometer using the boiling point of water is more useful, but since that temperature varies depending upon the mineral content of the water and the barometric pressure, that method is fraught with complexity.

The best way to measure temperature is to measure the temperature with multiple thermometers and use an average of the results.

 

[Whjones71]

internal ambient temp probe???

The Traeger has to different temperature probes. One measure the ambient temperature in the cook chamber. The other is an internal probe that you can insert into your protein to measure temperature.

Never attempt to cook to time and temperature as you might in your kitchen over. There are too many variables when cooking outdoors.

Part of the issue with the RTD thermocouple used to measure cook temperature is that the probe is located at a specific position along the side of the grill chamber. The temperature within the chamber will vary right to left, front to back, and top to bottom, so there is no fixed location that will give you an accurate representation of the temperature your cook is experiencing.

The internal temperature probe can normally be calibrated using an ice/water bath. Once calibrated, the temperature will be accurate at the freezing point of water (0C/32F). However, that is not a point of interest when cooking. Calibrating a thermometer using the boiling point of water is more useful, but since that temperature varies depending upon the mineral content of the water and the barometric pressure, that method is fraught with complexity.

The best way to measure temperature is to measure the temperature with multiple thermometers and use an average of the results.

By "internal ambient temp probe" I meant internal to the Traeger cooking area. The meat probe seems to be reasonably accurate. And quite frankly, for the money we're paying they should have multiple ambient thermometers in the unit already! So far this Traeger 575 Pro isn't work the nearly $800 I paid for it. Pretty sure I'm not going to recommend it to anyone looking.

Bill

 

[Shedd]

In all honesty, it doesn’t make a difference what grill you buy, everyone needs to use third party probes it’s extremely common for anyone that cooks on grills, ovens and stoves. More so for BBQing. Wasting money on learning how to cook ribs, butts ,etc is part of the process that involves more than a recipe. Especially when you get a new grill that you need to get acquainted to. It’s easy nowadays with all the technology, especially forums like this one. Now that you know what you know, your ribs will be much better next time!

 

[Murphy's Law]

I’m curious why nobody complains when they buy a $1000 Weber gas grill and get a $25 analog thermometer.

 

[RayClem]

If you purchase a charcoal grill, it comes with an analog dial thermometer if it comes with one at all.
If you purchase a gas gril, it comes with an analog dial thermometer.
If you purchase an offset smoker, it comes with an analog dial thermometer.
A 1000 gallon offset smoker will come with several analog dial thermometers.

Do you see the pattern here?

I drilled a hole in the lid of my Ironwood and mounted an analog dial thermometer with the measuring tip just above the top rack. These analog tjhermometers are inexpensive. While I added one in the center of the grill, you could add multiple ones if desired. Just be careful in placing the thermometer so the probe does not contact the metal grates of the food being cooked as that will cause inaccurate readings.

Pellet grills have to have a digital thermometer as it is needed to provide feedback to the controller to adjust the fan and auger speeds for controlling the fuel and air mixture. The complication is finding a good place to locate it.

The ideal spot for a thermometer is in the very center of the cook chamber, but placing a permanently mounted temperature probe in that position would interfere with moving food in and out of the grill. Furthermore, it is highly likely that such a probe would be damaged removing grates and drip trays during the cleaning process. Thus, grill manufacturers mount the temperature probes along the side of the grill where they are out of the way and less likely to get damaged. However, the probes can still be damaged. I bumped my probe removing the grates and cracked the ceramic cap. Rather than replace the probe, I decided to cover the exposed thermocouple junction with high temperature silicone gasket cement.

While the actual cook temperature will seldom be what the controller shows due to the placement of the temperature probe, once you learn how your grill operates, you can get some great cooks. Yesterday, I cooked a couple of large chicken breasts. I wanted the cook temperature to be 400F, but to achieve that level, I had to set the controller to 450F. My analog dial thermometer indicated 400F a couple of inches away from the chicken. I marinated the chicken in Alabama white sauce before the cook and basted with the same sauce during the cook. I used a Instant digital probe to measure the internal temperature of the chicken breasts and rremoved them when they reached a minimum of 165F. The chicken turned out great, tender and juicy.

 

[Lbeberdick]

Traegers are EXPENSIVE. I didn't know or expect that their ambient temp thermometer located on the wall of the cooking area would be off by 25-30 degrees. I ruined two meals due to undercooking them before I found this forum and found that this is a COMMON issue and that I had to shell out MORE of my hard earned money to by a third party probe to compensate for the Traeger's inaccurate probe. What a joke! I'd return my Traeger if I could. WHY DON'T THEY FIX THIS!?!?!?

Had the same complaint when mine was new. After purchasing 3 ThermoWorks setups, I found that the RTD is within 15 drgreed of the average Temps on the far left and far right. My major complaint is super smoke won't work above 225 set temp. Whan you need to set the temp to 240 (+) to get a good 225 cook temp. That is what really needs fixing, which should be an easy software update.

 

[Paperplate 4]

Just my two cents worth, the long drawn out discussion of other grills, ice water, etc., is irrelevant to the question! Why doesnt the Traeger temp show an accurate temperature? Yes, we all know that temp tells the control to add or stop adding pellets, so if it is 20-30 degrees off then FIX IT!!! Mine is about 20-25 degrees low on the average, at 250 it runs about 230! I have a large aftermarket temp 'dial' in the center of the top and as to location, the fan is blowing everything around so I would assume, under normal outdoor conditions, the temps are within 10-15 degrees throughout the chamber. It isnt rocket science, if the Traeger gauge is low, then cook at a higher or lower temp as preferred!

 

[RayClem]

Just my two cents worth, the long drawn out discussion of other grills, ice water, etc., is irrelevant to the question! Why doesnt the Traeger temp show an accurate temperature? Yes, we all know that temp tells the control to add or stop adding pellets, so if it is 20-30 degrees off then FIX IT!!! Mine is about 20-25 degrees low on the average, at 250 it runs about 230! I have a large aftermarket temp 'dial' in the center of the top and as to location, the fan is blowing everything around so I would assume, under normal outdoor conditions, the temps are within 10-15 degrees throughout the chamber. It isnt rocket science, if the Traeger gauge is low, then cook at a higher or lower temp as preferred!

If you mount a 3rd party thermometer adjacent to the Traeger thermocouple, you will likely find that they read similarly. However, that will not be the temperature in the center of the grill where you are trying to cook. Because the thermocouple is mounted on a side wall, the mass of the metal wall will affect the temperature. The air flow along the side of the grill can be either laminar flow or turbulent flow depending upon the fan speed. Because of this effect, the temperature discrepancy between the actual cook temperature and the measured thermocouple reading will vary depending upon the controller setpoint. Perhaps Traeger could program in a non-linear calibration curve, but this curve might need to be adjusted based on the ambient temperature outside the grill as that affects the fuel-air usage. Also, filling the grill chamber with food will affect air flow, humidity and the air-fuel usage. Thus, what you ask of Traeger is far more difficult than you surmise. In order to insure accuracy, you would need to add a number of other sensors for outside temperature, weight of food, humidity levels, etc. and supply the data to a computer far more sophisticated than the D2 controller. It is a lot less expensive to purchase a 3rd party digital or analog thermometer and adjust the controller setpoint to obtain the cook temperature you want.

 

[Clint62]

I read that you should "scrub" the soot/smoke/grease off the ambient probe every few cooks. Prob wont fix the issue but might make it a *little* more accurate lol

 

[Shedd]

By "internal ambient temp probe" I meant internal to the Traeger cooking area. The meat probe seems to be reasonably accurate. And quite frankly, for the money we're paying they should have multiple ambient thermometers in the unit already! So far this Traeger 575 Pro isn't work the nearly $800 I paid for it. Pretty sure I'm not going to recommend it to anyone looking.

Bill

Have you had any success or did you take your grill back?

 

[Slimpicker]

Mine is about 20-25 degrees low on the average, at 250 it runs about 230! I have a large aftermarket temp 'dial' in the center of the top and as to location, the fan is blowing everything around so I would assume, under normal outdoor conditions, the temps are within 10-15 degrees throughout the chamber. It isnt rocket science, if the Traeger gauge is low, then cook at a higher or lower temp as preferred!

EXACTLY!!!!
besides, there is NEVER (besides jerky) a meat that cannot be cooked at a +/- 30° constant temp and still not turn out just fine!!!
Temps on recipes are again just guide lines... I almost ALWAYS cook higher than anyone's recipe, WHY? Because I can and it makes no freaking difference!!! 50° off, YES, but 25 or so, no. I have never ruined a meat with the wrong temp unless it's TOO LOW, then you cook higher. That's what the backup 3rd party probes are for!!!

 

[RayClem]

I read that you should "scrub" the soot/smoke/grease off the ambient probe every few cooks. Prob wont fix the issue but might make it a *little* more accurate lol

If your temp probe still has the ceramic shell around the thermocouple junction, be careful cleaning the probe as the ceramic is fragile. I broke my ceramic tip removing grates from the grill. I covered the junction in red high temperature silicone RTV. The silicone is slightly flexible, so it is not quite as fragile.

 

[CMTiger]

I’m curious why nobody complains when they buy a $1000 Weber gas grill and get a $25 analog thermometer.

I've never once even tested the analog temp on my Weber grill. A fwiw in the last month or so it has been reading about 675 degrees before even igniting it. I think it may be off.

 

[Murphy's Law]

I've never once even tested the analog temp on my Weber grill. A fwiw in the last month or so it has been reading about 675 degrees before even igniting it. I think it may be off.

That’s a pretty big offset!