Should I trust the temp the Pit Boss 1150 pro is telling me?

brianaggie2002 · Dec 5, 2021

I am very new to pellett smoking. I was smoking some baby back ribs and wanted to cook at 250 degrees. Out of curiousity I put a digital grill probe on each side of the grill to compare their reading with the PB indicated temp. I set the PB controller temp at 250 degrees. During the cook the grill top digital temp probes read 230 degees on left side and 231 degrees on the right side. Does anyone have an opinion about which temp reading should I depend on? Is the PB built in temp probe a reliable temp reading? If so, should I count on as much as a 20 degree difference between what the PB controller temp indicates and the actual temp at grill level?? I don't want to over cook or under cook because of an innaccurate temp reading. Thanks in advance for any

ANT0407 · Dec 5, 2021

Pitboss probes are known for being inaccurate. I would recommend always using a separate external thermometer.

Avigland · Jan 1, 2022

brianaggie2002 said:
I am very new to pellett smoking. I was smoking some baby back ribs and wanted to cook at 250 degrees. Out of curiousity I put a digital grill probe on each side of the grill to compare their reading with the PB indicated temp. I set the PB controller temp at 250 degrees. During the cook the grill top digital temp probes read 230 degees on left side and 231 degrees on the right side. Does anyone have an opinion about which temp reading should I depend on? Is the PB built in temp probe a reliable temp reading? If so, should I count on as much as a 20 degree difference between what the PB controller temp indicates and the actual temp at grill level?? I don't want to over cook or under cook because of an innaccurate temp reading. Thanks in advance for any

I have been smoking on an 1150 for about a year now and have used the PitBoss temp probes the whole time. I usually have P1 on the left of the grill (using the probe clip), P2 and P3 in the meat, and P4 on the right side of the grill (using the probe clip). There is often a temp difference of as much as 20 degrees between the two sides of the grill, but this settles out over longer periods of time as long as you don't peek. As Aaron Franklin says, "If you're lookin', you aren't cookin'"! I adjust the target temp accordingly and trust the probes closer to the meat (P1 and P4). I also have an MK4 that I use to get a really accurate reading when I think I'm done, and I find the PitBoss probes that I set in the meat to be pretty accurate (or, accurate enough). Good luck, and keep experimenting!