Help!!! Middle of cook - Can't get my 18.5 to come to temp


 
J

Joe Tucker

New member
Help - I can't get my 18.5 to temp. I'm using Minion to the letter with Kingsford blue bag. Weather is rainy and damp - about 55 degrees. Roughly 30 lbs of butts. Water pan about 80% full. Added a chimney full of hot coals 30 minutes ago and temp went to 207 and now is back down to 195. Started at 7:45am ET. Someone help please! Post here or call me at 615-727-3699.
 
Try opening up all three bottom vents and wait 20 minutes. If that doesn't work, try cracking the door a bit. This will provide more oxygen to the fire.

How long are you into the cook? If the meat is still very cold, it may take a bit for you to get the temps up with the cold mass of the meat.
 
Thanks for the reply Larry. The vents are open. Have been for an hour. I'm 5 hours in. Meat temp is 165. Still no progress. Don't have a clue. Also - sorry for choppy replies. Writing from iPhone.
 
Hi Joe,
If you have 30lbs of butts on (I am assuming 8-9 pounders) and your meat temps are 165F after 5 hours, I think you are doing OK.
Check your WSM temp with a second thermo if you can, maybe the one you're using is reading low??

Burt
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Joe T... As Larry pointed out it may lack oxygen give it a try. I think eliminating the water pan may help. Don't know if Q'ers using UDS make use of a water pan. Is the WSM "protected" from the elements? Wind swirling around certainly has effect on heat loss. Mine sits on a corner away from the prevailing winds and haven't have too much problems...

joe
 
I've done the best I could to sheild it from wind. One vent is exposed but the wind isn't blowing from that direction. It has crept up to 205. I'm using a Maverick Et-73 to monitor both smoker and meat temp. I'll crack the door and see why happens. What happens if I can't get it above 205 when The meat temp needs to start moving to 195? Can the weather really make this much of a difference?
 
hey Joe,

removing the door completely for a couple of mins should bring more air into smoker and temp should rise after.

Make sure top and bottom vents are all fully open and do you still have enough unlit charcoal left in charcoal bowl?

Do you have a temp gauge on your WSM, check to see if it is showing different temp than the maverick.

Good luck and let us know what happens.

elmo
 
Weather can make a difference. 30 lbs of butts on a cool day don't really need water in the pan (an empty foiled pan would do).

Flip the door upside down so that the knob is on the bottom and prop it open a half-inch. If there is adequate fuel in the cooker the temp should rise.
 
Hi Joe

You have a big heat sink in the system with 30 lbs of cold meat and a water pan. The Minion Method can have trouble in situations like this. However, if you are at 165 meat temp, that should not be as big an issue as when you just put the meat on the cooker. How does your fuel look? Do you have plenty of unburned coal left? Was the charcoal dry? Could it have gotten damp? Damp coal cooks slow!

I would prop your charcoal door open for a while. Give the cooker a few good taps to clear the ash coating on the briquettes. You can remove the whole upper section to do this if you are worried about flying ash. If there is any chance that your charcoal might be damp, go get a new bag and throw a good 20-30 briquettes on the fuel pile.

Good Luck
Lou
 
One other thing that you can try is to offset the lid a little bit. This allows more oxygen into the WSM, and you dont have to worry about the door falling off or something like that.
 
Thanks to everyone who responded. After struggling most of the day, I finally pulled out the water pan, emptied it and put it back in. The temp then hovered in the 240s and the butts turned out great. Thanks again.
 
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