Professional and Amateur BBQ Thermometers

Low Heat Cooking: Professional barbecue pitmasters know the secret to their tender briskets and succulent pork shoulders is in slow cooking at stable, low temperatures. These temperatures are typically below 300°F, maintained over an extended period to develop a flavorful bark and the perfect balance of smokiness, texture, and moisture. Low temperatures also increase the smoke volume when cooking with wood, enhancing the overall flavor profile of the meat.

High Heat Cooking: For dishes like a perfectly seared steak, knowing your grill temperature is as crucial as knowing your oven temperature when roasting indoors. High heat cooking, around 600°F, is essential to achieve a crusty exterior while keeping the interior tender and juicy. Tel-Tru thermometers provide confidence with their precise measurements, ensuring your grill is at the right temperature before you start cooking.

Temperature Ranges: Tel-Tru offers thermometers with various temperature ranges suitable for different cooking needs. For high heat cooking, options include ranges of 150/750°F or 200/1000°F. For low heat cooking and smoking, ranges like 50/550°F or 100/500°F are available. Some BBQ dials include zones to help cooks quickly see the temperature from a distance. This variety ensures you can select the perfect thermometer for your specific cooking style.

Durability and Construction: A high-quality thermometer must be well-made and durable. Tel-Tru thermometers are constructed with stainless steel and manufactured in the USA to meet the ASME B40.3 industrial engineering standard for bimetal thermometers. They offer an accuracy specification of ±1% full span or better, ensuring reliable performance. Additionally, Tel-Tru provides a minimum one-year warranty on all products, with some models, like the BQ300R, offering an eight-year warranty.

Checking and Calibrating Your Thermometer: Ensuring your thermometer’s accuracy is straightforward. By using the boiling water method, you can verify and adjust the calibration as needed. Simply bring distilled water to a rolling boil, immerse the thermometer stem so that the water is above the stem groove, and compare the reading to the known boiling point of 212°F at sea level.  Use Tel-Tru’s detailed accuracy testing and calibration for step by step instructions

Selecting the Right Stem Length: The sensor’s length must be fully immersed inside the cooking chamber for accurate readings. Tel-Tru thermometers feature a 360-degree groove to indicate the sensor’s position within the stem, aiding in proper placement. You want the stem long enough so the last 2” or more are inside the cooking chamber for accurate temperature readings while avoiding coming in contact with food, cooking grate, or the heat source.

Placement on the Cooker: Install thermometer on your smoker or cooker wheer you can limit vibration. For example, prevent from installing your thermometer into a door of your cooker.

Anti-Parallax Dial: Tel-Tru BQ300R and BQ500R thermometer models are equipped with an anti-parallax dial, ensuring the pointer and scale are closely aligned for improved accuracy, even when viewed from an angle. This feature is particularly useful in achieving precise temperature readings during cooking.

Compatibility: Tel-Tru thermometers are compatible with most brands and various barbecue cooker styles, including patio grills, offset pits, stick burners, cabinet, ceramic, and barrel smokers. Easy installation and fixture fastening options to retrofit existing thermometer ports. Tel-Tru can also provide you with appropriate hole size when adding thermometer to your cooker that came without an OEM thermometer.  Versatile and easy to integrate into your cooking equipment.

Tel-Tru barbecue thermometers are essential tools for anyone serious about grilling or smoking. Their precision, durability, and user-friendly features make them invaluable for achieving perfect results, whether cooking low and slow or searing at high heat. Investing in a Tel-Tru thermometer ensures you can monitor your cooking temperatures accurately, leading to consistently delicious and expertly prepared barbecue food.

All outdoor thermometers are susceptible to this condition. You can be confident that Tel-Tru thermometers are designed for continuous accuracy and longevity during potential condensation cycles.

As with any outdoor device subjected to changing weather conditions, condensation may form on the inside of the lens of a thermometer when the temperature of the lens is at or below the dew point temperature of the air surrounding the unit. The amount of condensation depends on the level of humidity or water vapor in the air that is trapped inside the thermometer. Water vapor may begin to condense to the liquid phase when cooled. Warm moist air can accelerate the conditions of condensation formation being a byproduct of the cooking process.

The moisture may be removed by putting the thermometer in the sun, or inside a warm, dry environment. Placing the thermometer in a 170°F oven may aid in dissipating condensation.

If you believe that this is not the issue and you have a defective thermometer, please send us a picture of the thermometer with the issue again with the pin stamp on the side of the case to customerservice@teltru.com.