I'm wondering if anyone else has had similar experiences. I decided to give the WSM a rest and use the kettle to cook chicken thighs indirect with heat only on one side.

I decided to monitor temps both with my digital (at the grill) and with a thermometer stuck into the vent hole.

There was a big difference between the temps at the grill versus the vent.

Below are temps taken at the same time.

grill/vent/difference
230-300-70
254-320-66
271-340-69
274-350-76
275-340-65
273-340-67

I then tested both thermometers in boiling water and the Maverick RediCheck ET73 was right on while the dial type was about 10 degrees low. So the differences above should be higher by about 10 degrees for total differences ranging from 75 to 86 degrees.

What's this mean... I guess know your cooker and if a recipe from someone else calls for a certain temperature, check further where the temp is taken from. The grill temp is most consistent but will usually require a digital thermostat of some sort.

John

whats this mean? ... now I dont trust my the thermometer on my kettle at all.... doh!

interesting findings though... thanks for the heads up...

In a thread about mounting a thermometer in the lid of the WSM, I stated that the lid and grate temps were DIFFERENT.

Thanks for posting the data.