A new WSM owner here

Did a brisket and am now seriously hooked on smoking

THe problem has been temperature control. I'm using RO lump and attempted to do the 1st brisket using the high heat method. I had the pan filled with water and could only get high temps leaving the door propped open and still had a bunch of unburned charcoal.

YEsterday I attempted anothe w/ similar problems. I filled the ring w/ charcoal and lit a 3/4 chimney full. Added the lit charcoal and kept all vents open ( the side door was closed ). THe temp only got to around 250. After about 1 1/2 hours, it was below 200. Took off the lid and only about 1/4 of the coals were burning. I lit another 1/2 chimney and put it in and left the side door upside down and propped up a bit.
That worked as I came back a bit later and the temp was off the gauge and the water in the pan was boiling furiously!
Seems like an issue of the coal not getting enough air

Any input would be appreciated

thanks

Welcome Steven.
For HH skip the water and just use an empty foiled pan with an airspace.

Tim

Steve, welcome to this world. For HH cooks I use at least that much hot coals, turn the door upside down and prop open an inch or two, start with all bottom vent s 100% open and top also open. I usually settle about .5-.75 hr at 325-350. I then close back bottom vent just cause it's a pain to adjust and go from there. Gotta keep an eye on the temps. Also I use lump which probably burns hotter. Good luck!

Mark

Appreciate the input on the HH.

I'm more stumped on the method to keep the coals burning @ a low temp. It seems when I try the temp goes below 200 and I get a lot of unused charcoal

thanks

Well I'm a little confused Steven. Your first post was about help on a HH cook. And now your stumped on using your WSM at low temps..

Am I missing something??

Tim

quote:

Originally posted by steven edelman:
Appreciate the input on the HH.

I'm more stumped on the method to keep the coals burning @ a low temp. It seems when I try the temp goes below 200 and I get a lot of unused charcoal

thanks

Steven, with any heat range high or low the formula is fuel,air and mass being cooked. If you want temps of 225-250 (considered low) then you adjust the lower vents accordingly. If you want higher heat, more air coming in. Top vent is usually kept open all the way to allow for movement of air and heat. You have to anticipate the direction the heat is going and readjust the inflow of air well before you get to your target. This ain't like turning on and off a gass burner. I would suggest making adjustments about 25 to 50 degrees before you hit "the zone". Watch for trends in temp movement up or down. If you got all the vents wide open and still the temp is too low then you got a fuel issue, or a big rat climbed into your fire box and is blocking the air.

Mark

What does water in the pan do?
Water in the pan acts as a heat mass to keep temperatures stable. Since water is water, it boils at 212F. The evaporating water (steam) will also help moderate temperatures.

For low and slow, water in the pan will do it's work in moderating the temperatures.

For high heat, water is a no-no. Also for HH, I would foil the pan and put it in the WSM as it will act as a heat shield and also keep drips from hitting the coals for a flare up.

I haven't used lump but when using charcoal for HH, I light all the coals and then moderate the temperature down.

quote:

Originally posted by Russell Y:
What does water in the pan do?
Water in the pan acts as a heat mass to keep temperatures stable. Since water is water, it boils at 212F. The evaporating water (steam) will also help moderate temperatures.

Water absorbs heat 25x faster than air and has 5x the storage capacity.

This property helps to 'normalize' heat spikes and dips.

This is also why you can run around in a t-shirt all day in 50º air but in 50º water you could be dead in an hour.

Timothy<

Sorry if I wasn't clear. I did mention the HH cook, but was asking in general about temperature control

quote:

I'm more stumped on the method to keep the coals burning @ a low temp. It seems when I try the temp goes below 200 and I get a lot of unused charcoal

Steven glad you joined us! HH works great but no water allowed

Low n Slow is easy, just fill the ring with unlit cc and leave a slight depression in the center and add 15-20 lit briqs, leave all your vents 100% open until you reach 200 deg then set the bottom to 1/3 open and leave the top 100% open (with water) If your using a dry foiled pan or a clay saucer in a dry pan foiled set the bottoms to 1/8-1/4 (top 100%) open and it will settle in between 225 and 275. Any temps south of 300 is good, don't worry about temps being off a few degrees!

Look around here:

http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/tipsfaq.html

and here:

http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/cook.html

Any questions just ask away

Steven,
I don't have a clue as to what happened to your cook yesterday. The temp should not have fallen back from the 250 unless you changed something. This is not typical and may never happen again.
If you follow Glenn's instructions for low n'slow cooks it should work great. I do the same as he does except I spread the lit all over the top instead of in one spot and it works everytime.

Thanks Glenn and Greg

I'mm gonna try briqs next time instead of RO lump to see if that will make a difference

Also wondering how "lit" the briqs in the starter chimney have to get?

Should they be totally ashed out?

Appreciate the input

Not totally. Don't wait for the ash-over. Get them looking well-lit; that's it.

As others note: no water with a HH cook. For low/slow you can use water, sand, a clay saucer, or (still) an empty pan. Temp control for low/slows is easier to learn, imo, with a heat sink (water, or clay/sand). I prefer the former, others the latter. Either way works.