But, my built-in thermometer is just so pretty!
Please do not underestimate the necessity of a good thermometer. In so many cases that I have seen, even on $400-$700 grills, the thermometer is horribly inaccurate. Maybe fine for chicken, but not fine for coffee roasting as we need good temperature control. These thermometers cannot even be depended upon to be accurately inaccurate. On many cases I have seen, people will roast thinking that they are at, say, 500 degrees F only to finish their roast late, and realize that they were not hot enough. Except then on Roast #2, after bumping up the temp to say 525 to compensate find that they are even longer on their roast time.
It just makes no sense. What in reality happened here, was that on roast #1, the temperature indicated 500 but was really at 450. On roast #2, even though our roaster bumps the temperature to 525 to compensate for the late roast, in reality the temperature this time wasn’t 50 degrees to low, but now 75 degrees too low, and thus was roasting at 425F. All this is to say, that if you use the built in thermometer, you have a good chance of chasing a ghost and will end up frustrated in the end. You won’t know how much you are off, or if you are off at all until you get a good one to compare to. I love the Tel-Tru brands of thermometers, but any quality thermometer will do. I’ve seen supposedly high dollar thermocouples be off as well, so just so you know. Roasting at the wrong temperature can also then be a cause for uneven roasts.
About RK Drums
RK Drums has been providing roasting advice for coffee aficionados and small business owners for over 15 years. We specialize in making coffee roasting accessible to anyone who wants to roast, and sell complete solutions to roast coffee using a barbecue grill.
