Tip Top Temp Test

I purchased a Tip Top Temp from Urban Griller (thanks for the fast postage Chris....2 days from Perth to Melbourne ) and was really keen to give it a try so today is as good as any.

I had some venison in the freezer so I thought I'd cook that at the same time and that meant a pit temp of about 150c. I can set the BGE at that and pretty much get it locked on but there's always the possibility that it will creep one way or the other and for the cost of the TTT, why not see if it works as well as they say.

Once it was lit and almost at 150c, I attached the TTT and watched as the lid started to close straight away. A bit of adjustment and soon it was holding steady and not moving much at all. I must say that closing the bottom vent completely doesn't seem right to me and like others who have reviewed this online, I cracked the bottom vent open by about 15mm. One reason I did this was becasue the fuel I'm using is just robot turds (formed compressed charcoal for those who don't know the term) and that stuff burns for ages but does take a bit to light and I didn't want it to die down too much in case it went out. That stuff needs air.

Anyway, it held temperature perfectly during the cook and as the following video shows, it compensates really well when you open the lid. That's something my previous fan forced controller struggled with. It used to start blasting air when the lid opened and that shot the pit temp way past the setting when it should have been waiting until the pit stabilised.

The quality of this isn't great and you'll need to go to full screen to see the lid operating.

The verdict ? I think it's brilliant and while temp control on a ceramic kamado isn't that difficult, I think the fact that the TTT is there gives me more confidence to leave it alone for hours if I need to go out. When you consider the cost of some fan controllers, this thing is a no-brainer.

Another hour has gone past after since I made that video and it's still there at 150c.

No daisy wheel, just the TTT. If yours doesn't have anything, then this is ideal. You'd probably need the gasket you can see on mine but Chris would know.

I wanted to do pizza in the BGE tonight so I opened the TTT a bit and it gradually came up to around 170c, at which point I took it off because I needed to get the pit up to 230c. I used the Smokeware cap once it got up to that temp and had that fully open for the pizza cook.

So I feel the TTT is great for low and slow, medium roasts at 150c like the venison and also normal roasts at 180c. It would probably work at higher temps but when you get to those you are generally doing quicker cooks and don't need to worry about leaving it alone for long periods.

The result of the venison cooking is in another thread here......Venison in the BGE

I want to give mine a try on the kettle too. Did you use the clips to hold it in place or can it just sit there ?

I had a look and I think pulling the silicon ring down a bit so it hangs below the rim would also help seal it.

Only one way to find out Dave.