Temp low


 
C

Chuck Bench

TVWBB Fan
for some reason I can't get my temp to come up much past 200-220 even with all my lower vents and upper vent wide open...and this is the whole time I'm cooking, so it's not ash build up or anything like that...

Here's how I start my 18.5 WSM....

1. shake all the ash out of the charcoal basket....it's wired to the charcoal grate...
2. Fill the charcoal basket the rest of the way with new KBB...
3. Take enough briquets out of the center to fill a chimney starter...
4. Light the chimney and let it burn until the edges of the top briquets are ashed over...
5. Pour the chimney into the center hole in the charcoal basket...
6. Put the middle body on, water pan in, and top grate...usually I put the bottom grate in also, but didn't need it today...
7. Put a pitcher of warm water in the water pan and put the lid on...
8. I let it come up to temp which it usually stalls out at 220 and won't go any higher than that...
9. Put the meat on and close the lid...
10. open the door and put my hickory chunks on the lit briquets...


What am I doing wrong?
Another question I have is should I let the wood burn for a little while before putting the meat on?

Thanks
 
is the temperature you are giving on the built in dial thermometer or on a digital probe? Try a digital probe in the the top vent and see what it reads. The dial thermometer on my 22.5" WSM reads over 50F less than what a digital probe will show through the vent.
 
The temp I'm reading is on the built in thermo on the lid...

All I have as far as probes is my Weber digital instant meat probe...I don't have a Maverick or anything like that to monitor grate temp
 
My 18in WSM dome gage consistently reads 30dg lower than my IGrill grate temp. I use water in my pan for most cooks and have no trouble reaching and holding 275-250 it just takes a while to get up to temp with the water pan.

Also any wind at all will suck the heat right out.


Dan
 
Take a coffee can with both ends cut off.
Put the plastic lid on one end.
Fill this up with quality briquettes and dump these into your chimney starter.
Torch off your chimney starter.

Take the plastic cap off of the can and place the can in the center of your charcoal ring.
Now fill up the area outside of the can with briquettes.

Once your briquettes are burning well, not just white outlines on the edges, pour the burning briqs into the open-ended can.
Lift out the can...I use leather gloves and/or pliers.

Open all vents and start closing them down as you get to within 20 +/- degrees of your desired temp.
 
thanks for the advice everyone...I'm gonna try what you said Joe...especially making sure the briquets are going really good before I dump them in the coffee can
 
Assuming your thermometer is close to actual temp the only thing I can think of is bad fuel. As for waiting, I don't soon as I get to at least 200 I cook. I don't use water
 
Chuck Bench said:
All I have as far as probes is my Weber digital instant meat probe...I don't have a Maverick or anything like that to monitor grate temp
Click to expand...

That's all I use at present. I have several of the Weber digital meat probes and check with 2 (if you have them) to be sure that they are reading correctly. I did borrow a friends DigiQ to check that the Weber ones were reading accurate before relying solely on them.
 
Charcoal briquettes soak up moisture and humidity readily, so you might not be able to get so much leftover charcoal to burn fast enough, at least with water in the pan. Also, it's highly likely that your temp gauge is sticking and reading low. It's only a wingnut holding it, so check it for accuracy in boiling water. I've had a couple do that on my 18.
 
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all of those are excellent suggestions and solutions...I'm doing another cook right now with some butt on the top grill and having no problem holding 240...seems like maybe it was a fluke or maybe it's finally broken in

thanks again fellas
 
Chuck, I'm new here but have been beating my head against a regular charcoal grill for smoking for a while before purchasing the same smoker that you have. Regular grills are a chore to maintain any sort of low smoking temperature! ( Joe's suggestion is now in my memory banks for the 18.5 WSM - Thanks Joe!). I'm still learning with this smoker too...

But; I found the lid temperature gauge in my 18.5 WSM very inaccurate. I used to wonder why my smoking would get to 'done' temperature so fast - the thermometer reading is very low! I even tried calibrating it - using the boiling water method....no good. Then it became non-linear.

Try sticking a known good digital thermometer in the top vent, insulated from the lid with some foil or what you may have.....see what the temp is. You may be surprised with your findings. This is much fun!
 
Good advice Bill...I'm gonna go out there now with my Weber digital instant meat probe and stick it in the top vent and see what exactly it says...thanks
 
But then hey Chuck, now you know... I attempted twisting the probe on the temperature gauge using a small vice-grip set so it would not lock but increased grip at the ball tip of the probe until it would move (it's pretty stout at that point). This will move the needle above the scale but doing this did not succeed in making the temperature gauge accurate. I used the boiling water method so only the boiling point became accurate. I don't know what the answer is...Why is it that Weber would.....?

There are other thermometers out there but none will actually fit the grill unless you have the capability to make another bezel to fit a different sized gauge. I'm still using the Weber Temp gauge for aesthetics but making compensations when making a reading....but like you say - not good.

Good luck to you with your smoker! Try smoking a hamburger...this is too much fun!

BTW Chuck, I have a son and his wife that live in Blythwood. A neighbor!
 
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The 'tin can' minion method is one I use on a regular basis simply because I like the concept. Except last night when I forgot the can and just did it ol' school style by dumping the 12ish briquettes on top of the unlit. Worked the same as the can, minus the can. lol

And yeah, my lid thermometers are just decoration.
 
Looks great Chuck! It's all about the results anyhow - shoot, there's a learned technique to boiling an egg! Thanks for the link for the thermometer, might have to do up one of those.

Chad, we better buy these tin cans now because they are becoming a thing of the past. I'm now looking for the correct sized can - peaches? No such thing as a 'coffee can' any more... The thermometer is the only kick I have with this smoker. It's a jewel otherwise!
 
Dumb question: the top vent is wide open, right? The second cook I did was about 30 minutes in when I noticed the temp dropped to 150 with the bottom vents wide open. Then I noticed no smoke coming from the top, so I cranked that open and the temp jumped right back up. I'm only asking because you didn't mention anything about the top vent.
 
ChadV, you can close the top vent down some if you need to get the temp down a little, but never close it all the way. You will get creosote on your food. You should be able to control your temps with just the bottom 3 vents. And if you cant get the temp up will all three bottom vents open, you can always open the door for a short time and the temp will come up
 
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