{"id":5463,"date":"2025-05-01T06:42:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-01T12:42:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mickeylieberman.com\/bbq\/?p=5463"},"modified":"2025-05-01T07:22:16","modified_gmt":"2025-05-01T13:22:16","slug":"grill-temperature-on-a-gas-grill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mickeylieberman.com\/bbq\/grill-temperature-on-a-gas-grill\/","title":{"rendered":"Grill Temperature on a Gas Grill"},"content":{"rendered":"

Grill Temperature\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

First and most important is that great looking thermometer in your grill hood is useless other than in a binary way of “is the grill hot, yes or no?” The numbers are meaningless.<\/span><\/p>\n

That thermometer is a cheap thermometer that has a tube probe. It will give an average reading along that probe. But it can’t even measure that accurately.<\/span><\/p>\n

So the hood thermometer measures (inaccurately) the air temperature near the top of the hood (remember heat rises). <\/span><\/p>\n

Not where the food is cooking. Never rely on it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Surface Temperature<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

You need to know the temperature at the grill surface where the food is cooking, not 12-inches away.<\/span><\/p>\n

And you need to know it reasonably accurately.<\/span><\/p>\n

Some grill experts say you can tell the temperature by putting your hand 3 inches over the grill and counting until you have to remove your hand. Don’t even waste the time trying this.<\/span><\/p>\n

Measuring Temperature<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Grills vary greatly, so the dial setting doesn’t work well, either. <\/span><\/p>\n

A grill surface thermometer is required.<\/span><\/p>\n

You can get one for about $10 from Amazon, Home Depot, Lowe’s, or most hardware stores (link at the end of the post).<\/span><\/p>\n

They will get grimy, and after 2-3 months of use, they usually need to be replaced so you can read them.<\/span><\/p>\n

Thermoworks ThermoQ is a remote monitor of both the surface and meat temperatures\u2014very slick.<\/span><\/p>\n

IR thermometers are fine, but you will get the grill metal temp, not the air temperature; you need to hit the metal with the beam, and you may need to leave the hood up longer.<\/span><\/p>\n

What Temperature To Use<\/span><\/p>\n

Many sites will give a range in most grill recipes. But this is not a kitchen oven, so you can’t be exact.<\/span><\/p>\n

Just open the top of a grill releases lots of heat. All this means is it is a little more an art than a science.<\/span><\/p>\n

Always remember to never cook or grill by yourself alone.<\/span><\/p>\n

For most grilling, both an instant-read and a surface thermometer are required to get it right.<\/span><\/p>\n

This is as hot as it goes. Some grills can get to 700\u00b0 plus, and lesser grills may only get 550\u00b0.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here are a couple of examples:<\/span><\/p>\n

How to Grill a Strip Steak on a Gas Grill<\/span><\/p>\n

Medium<\/span><\/p>\n

This is 450\u00b0-500\u00b0 to me and where I usually cook chicken, most pork, and veggies.<\/span><\/p>\n

Low<\/span><\/p>\n

225\u00b0 up to 300\u00b0 this is the low and slow cooking for ribs, pulled pork, brisket, etc. It is usually done by indirect cooking.<\/span><\/p>\n

How To Set Up Your Gas Grill for Smoking and Low and Slow Cooking, adding wood chips to the smoker box<\/span><\/p>\n

Grill Hood – Open or Closed?<\/span><\/p>\n

It is usually closed unless stated otherwise.<\/span><\/p>\n

Things less than \u00bd inch thick can usually be grilled open.<\/span><\/p>\n

Between \u00bd to 1 inch thick, open is possible but harder to control. Over 1 inch, closed. Low and slow, always closed.<\/span><\/p>\n

So those generic grills you see in the parks can cook hot dogs, burgers, and, if you are careful, a skinless chicken breast. But not thick stuff.<\/span><\/p>\n

Final Words<\/span><\/p>\n

It takes some practice to improve your grilling skills.<\/span><\/p>\n

It requires knowledge of the surface temperature and an instant-read meat thermometer.<\/span><\/p>\n

Those two things will improve your grilling skills 1000% instantly.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Grill Temperature\u00a0 First and most important is that great looking thermometer in your grill hood is useless other than in a binary way of “is…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"slim_seo":{"title":"Grill Temperature on a Gas Grill - BBQ, Grilling and Smoking","description":"Grill Temperature\u00a0 First and most important is that great looking thermometer in your grill hood is useless other than in a binary way of \"is the grill hot, yes"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5463","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bbq","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mickeylieberman.com\/bbq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5463","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mickeylieberman.com\/bbq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mickeylieberman.com\/bbq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mickeylieberman.com\/bbq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mickeylieberman.com\/bbq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5463"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mickeylieberman.com\/bbq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5463\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mickeylieberman.com\/bbq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5463"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mickeylieberman.com\/bbq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5463"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mickeylieberman.com\/bbq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5463"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}