How do I get a lower temp


 
V

Vitto

New member
New WSM 18.5 owner with 6 smokes under my belt and I need some more advice. I plan on doing a lot of smoking this upcoming weekend and I want to smoke some pork butts at 225. So far, I have not been able to get the temp that low. Using my Maverick 732 to measure at the grate, the last smoke I was able to get it at a consistent temp of around 260 with one bottom vent fully closed, the other two just barely cracked and the top open 100%. On the last smoke, I fired up using Soo's doughnut method and 10 KB briquettes. When the white smoke is going, I do notice a ton of it coming out of the door and lid. Is this the reason for not being able to keep the temps as low as I want, since there seems to be more airflow than just the vents. I was thinking about getting some high temp gasket seal (hope I said that right) to help seal the door a little better and maybe around the lid too. Is this a good idea or is there something else I should do to get the lower temps? Thanks for the all the help that is provided by the more experienced pitmasters.
 
Thank you for the link to the article which I find to be very informative. It was my understanding that the top vent should always be open 100% and the lower vents are used to control the temp. Harry's article suggests a different approach which I will try this weekend. As far as the water pan, I have yet to put any thing in it. Just double wrapped it in foil for all of my cooks so far.
 
Vitto said:
As far as the water pan, I have yet to put any thing in it. Just double wrapped it in foil for all of my cooks so far.
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Fill the pan with water. Mine is easy to keep at a low temp with a couple gallons of water in the pan.
 
Agree that water in the pan will help stabilize the temps. If you are worried about the door, first try reshaping it for less air flow. If that doesn't get rid of most of the smoke from the door, you could use nomex gaskets. Much better than just high temp silicon. Some of us have ordered the Cajun Bandit stainless steel door. Looks great and should work well. I have been smoking for quite a few years now and still use water in the pan. I will try no water in the future but there is a reason that it is called a water smoker. Also, keep detailed notes of your cooks. That will help you diagnose issues. And if you are going to change something in your process, only change one thing at a time. That way you know if it helps. Good luck.
 
I love water in the pan! I don't get the clean up concern. I foil the pan. it takes me 30 seconds to clean.

if you already aren't using the minon method, start doing it. if you are doing it, use significantly less coals and start closing the vents well before it gets to the temp you want it to get to. I had the same problem until I started doing this.
 
Bob Ivey said:
Agree that water in the pan will help stabilize the temps. If you are worried about the door, first try reshaping it for less air flow. If that doesn't get rid of most of the smoke from the door, you could use nomex gaskets. Much better than just high temp silicon. Some of us have ordered the Cajun Bandit stainless steel door. Looks great and should work well. I have been smoking for quite a few years now and still use water in the pan. I will try no water in the future but there is a reason that it is called a water smoker. Also, keep detailed notes of your cooks. That will help you diagnose issues. And if you are going to change something in your process, only change one thing at a time. That way you know if it helps. Good luck.
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I just bent my door slightly and have never had problems with smoke coming out since.
 
Matt H. said:
I love water in the pan! I don't get the clean up concern. I foil the pan. it takes me 30 seconds to clean.

if you already aren't using the minon method, start doing it. if you are doing it, use significantly less coals and start closing the vents well before it gets to the temp you want it to get to. I had the same problem until I started doing this.
Click to expand...

I don't use water as it's not so much cleaning the bowl but what to do with all that greasy water. Can't pour it down the drain and putting it in the "lower 40" really doesn't appeal to me (though it does appeal to little critters that tend to come 'round when they smell supper).
 
Vitto, how many (volume) briquettes are you lighting and are you using the Minion Method ?

I light about a coffee can worth of briquettes and they burn from the middle outwards.
Do not have any trouble holding lower temps.
And I choke down the top vent as needed.
 
On my last smoke I used Harry Soo's doughnut method and lit 10 briquettes in my chimney. This weekend, I am going to follow the article written by Harry that Erik posted. Thanks for the replies.
 
I have an 18.5 and for 225 degree I would foil the pan and fill with water. Use the Minion Method put 1/2 a chimney of lit on top with full unlit coals at bottom.. You will easily get 8+ hours at 225 on that. I use KBB coals btw and it is very consistent in the WSM... Good Luck with your cook!! post some photos..
 
Here is an update. Following Harry's article, I was able to get the temp to stabilize at 237 and that was without water in the bowl just foiled. Only problem I ran into was that for some reason my coals went out. My alarm went off when the grate temp went down to 200 so I had to add 5 lit coals and stir them up a little bit. After that, temp rose to 259 where it stayed consistent once again. After it was all said and done, the pork butt came out fantastic. Thanks for everyone's help and next time I will try to post some pics.
 
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