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Gary Hodgin
07-13-2011, 9:21 PM
I'd like to add a thermometer to my Char-Broil two-burner gas grill. The grill didn't come with one but I've noticed some after-market thermometers that may work. Can I add a thermometer to my grill and if so do you have any recommendations?

I realize that if it's possible I'd have to drill a hole or two into my grill. I also doubt the thing would be terribly accurate because the heat on my grill is not all that consistent. I'd just like something to give me a ball park number that's tells me more than the low to high dial on my burners.

P.S. I do have a meat temperature gauge that I use to test doneness.

Mike Henderson
07-13-2011, 11:24 PM
Sure - I don't see any reason why you couldn't add a thermometer to your grill. You could always buy a thermometer that's a spare part for another grill and fit it to yours.

Mike

Ken Fitzgerald
07-13-2011, 11:37 PM
Gary,

I don't know if your grill is steel or aluminum but they do make magnetic thermomters. We used them on wood stoves in elk camp years ago.

Gary Hodgin
07-14-2011, 12:33 AM
Mike and Ken,
Thanks for the responses. I'm not sure which route I'll take but I'm pretty sure I could go either way. I didn't know about the magnetic gauges. The ones I looked at attached directly to the grates, which are magnetic. My cover is not magnetic. I don't use my top grate very often and I don't believe there would be a problem. Either way the costs is $10-$15, so if the magnetic one doesn't work well I can go the other route.

I recently bought a smoker cooker that has a gauge and I like it. That's why I wanted to add one to my grill. If you're ever in Murfreesboro, let me know. I'll grill you a burger.

Ken Fitzgerald
07-14-2011, 12:39 AM
Gary,

We bought a new grill about 2 years ago. It has a built in thermometer and I enjoy using it too.

Gary Hodgin
07-14-2011, 12:54 AM
My next one will have one too.

Andy Pogue
07-14-2011, 11:00 AM
Gary,
Years ago I bought a Holland Grill. LOVE IT! But, it didn't come with a thermometer. (Now they all do) I bought a thermometer from holland for a newer grill and drilled a hole, instructions said best location is 2/3rds up on top. it is great.

Greg Portland
07-14-2011, 1:04 PM
For grill temps, the Tel-Tru brand is the top of the line. It sounds like you already have a meat thermometer. If not, there are combo grill/meat thermometers with alarms & even remote capability (Maverick line of equipment).

Edit: with the grill thermometer make sure the stem is an appropriate size. It should be long enough to be a few inches away from the lid yet not hit the grill or meat.

Gary Hodgin
07-14-2011, 2:55 PM
For grill temps, the Tel-Tru brand is the top of the line. It sounds like you already have a meat thermometer. If not, there are combo grill/meat thermometers with alarms & even remote capability (Maverick line of equipment).

Edit: with the grill thermometer make sure the stem is an appropriate size. It should be long enough to be a few inches away from the lid yet not hit the grill or meat.

A couple of months ago I got a Weber Digital Thermometer and really like it. There's a sensor that the probe is wired to that can be read by a digital monitor several feet away. I don't know what the range is but I can go in the kitchen or sit on the porch and monitor the temp. It beeps when things are done. I didn't trust the accuracy for a while but it seems to be very accurate, at least for now. I paid $35 for it but it works with my grill and smoker as well as inside. We had a small probe but it was very slow and I had to have a magnifying glass to read it.

Thanks for the info on the length of the grill thermometer. I'd wondered about that.

Eric DeSilva
07-14-2011, 3:26 PM
I don't actually use a thermometer for my grill, but I do use thermometers for other cooking applications and became quite dissatisfied with what is out there--the accuracy of the five thermometers in my kitchen varied by almost 20*F and every single one of them took a good 30s or so to get to an accurate temperature readout. After a considerable amount of research on accuracy and speed, I ended up buying a Thermoworks Therma 3. It has interchangeable probes, so I can replace them if necessary. The one I typically use is a needle probe on a 1m wire. I've got a clip for it and can attach it to almost anything. No alarm, nothing other than a temperature reading. But it is accurate to about a tenth of a degree after about 1s, which is pretty critical if you are, say, boiling sugar for candy. If you invest in a decent thermometer with a wired probe, you can use it for almost anything--including inserting into meat and leaving the wire running to the unit outside the oven/grill/smoker. It has replaced every other thermometer in my kitchen except for a Thermoworks infrared I use to measure surface temperatures.

Greg Portland
07-14-2011, 4:41 PM
I didn't trust the accuracy for a while but it seems to be very accurate, at least for now..A simple method is to stick the tip of the probe into boiling water. @ sea level it should read 212.