Posted on

How To Calibrate Your Kamado Joe Thermometer

I have been grilling for 13 years now. One of the things that I have heard repeatedly is that grill thermometers are incredibly inaccurate. Until recently, I had never owned a grill with a dome thermometer. That changed with my purchase of a Kamado Joe Classic II. For my first cook on my shiny used Kamado Joe, I noticed that there was a 100f temperature disparity between my dome thermometer and the Redi Check temperature probe that I had placed on my grill grate. So my first order of business after my first cook was to calibrate the dome thermometer. The solution is a quick and easy calibration. Continue reading to find out how to calibrate a Kamado Joe Theomerter.

The first step is to go ahead and open your grill. On the inside of the grill dome, there is a nut and washer that hold the thermometer in place. Loosen the nut and hold on to the washer with one hand while holding the thermometer with the other. While the stem end on the thermometer looks long the threads do not run the full length.

This is what the inside of the grill looks like with the thermometer in place.
As you can see here the thread is actually pretty short.

The second step is to take your thermometer inside your kitchen. Grab a pot full of water and place it on the stove. Turn the heat to high and wait for the water to boil. Water boils at 100c. Place the thermometer into the boiling water. If the thermometer does not read 100c it’s time to calibrate!

The third step is to note the temperature that the thermometer reads. You will need to know this so you can see how far to turn the thermometer.

I like to place the thermometer between two wooden spoons so that it can rest in the water without touching the bottom of the pan.

With temperature noted grab a flat head screwdriver and locate the screw on the backside of the thermometer. Turn the screw until the thermometer reads 100c when it is placed in boiling water.

You can see the adjustment screw here.

Now that was simple! With four simple steps, you have calibrated your thermometer. Now get out there and get to grilling! Calibrating a thermometer is easy. My next blog post will be about when to trust your dome thermometer. So stay tuned!

The Grill Bum aka Nick Bumgardner is a commercial food and beverage photographer based outside of Nashville, TN. In his spare time he likes to fire up the grill and cook up some delicious food.