Vent/Water/Temp Questions


 
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Dan Crafton

TVWBB Member
I got an 18in WSM this past fall and have done about six cooks so far. I love it. On my long/low temp cooks for brisket and pork butts I've noticed something that I want to ask you all about.

For my low temp long cooks I always use a mostly full pan of water. When I start the smoker I start with all the vents wide open and the temp usually climbs to about 205-215 and stays there. If I close any vents the temp will drop so I end up leaving all the vents open the entire cook. After many hours when the temp drops a little I will tap the pan to make some ash fall down and the temp comes back up just fine.

I'm not complaining at all....I love the way the temp stays put. I just don't understand when I read on here that you guys are adjusting your vents...my vents are all 100% open all the time when ever I use the water pan? Is the water pan keeping the temp from climbing any higher? Are there any benefits to using something other than water so I can control the temp using the vents?

Thank you for your thoughts on this,
Dan
 
I use a foiled clay flower pot base in the foiled water pan.
I do most of my cooks at 250-275F. To keep the temperature steady in that range, I will have 2 of the bottom vents fully closed and the 3rd one about 1/2 closed. The top vent is always fully open.
 
Dan, your cooker has to heat all that water up, which uses up energy for the fuel. When you close your vents your choking down the air causing the coals slowly burn allowing the water to suck up all that heat which drops the temp. If you foil the water pan and place a clay saucer foiled in it with no water it heats up faster and acts like a heat sink and holds heat much better. In turn you don't need to run vents wide open. You can then close them off partially to control your cook better. Also using less fuel(coals) and it will last longer. Lots of guys do this and lots do it your way to nothing wrong with it.
 
Thank you both. I may try the clay saucers if it will cut down on my kingsford consumption. How many clay saucers do I use? Thanks Tim for the explanation, that makes sense to me now......the clay would act less like a heat sink so to keep the same low temps I would have to turn down the vents where as with water they're wide open???

Thanks again,
Dan
 
You can control the temps with the vents when using clay. Usually closing 1 or 2 vents and using the remaining to control your temps. The clay saucer is acting like a heat sink just more efficient than water in the bowl.
 
Dan Crafton said:
Thank you both. I may try the clay saucers if it will cut down on my kingsford consumption. How many clay saucers do I use? Thanks Tim for the explanation, that makes sense to me now......the clay would act less like a heat sink so to keep the same low temps I would have to turn down the vents where as with water they're wide open???

Thanks again,
Dan
Click to expand...


You only need one saucer and I believe the 18" WSM uses a 12 1/4" or 12 1/2" saucer so it sits in the water pan. A 14" will sit on top of the water pan but then your grate may end up sitting on it.
I use a 16" in my 22.5 WSM and it works great in helping control temps. Just be sure to foil them up as Bob mentioned so its easier to keep clean and clean..
 
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You can also just foil the empty water pan, that's how I do almost all of my cooks.
 
I use a full water pan all of the time. My vents are mostly closed to maintain 250. Note sure where I went wrong? ;)
 
A 14" clay saucer fits well in my water pan(18 WSM) and does not interfere with the middle grate. I found mine at Home Depot. Lowes did not have a 14". Also you may try buying a oven thermometer and putting it on the cooking grate to check temperature. It's possible your lid thermometer is off. It took me a while to figure out mine reads about 30-40 degrees lower than the grate temp.
 
I'm using a 14" saucer from HD as in my 18.5 as well, it fits in the water pan perfect l but am constantly chasing temperatures. Does anyone have any guidance as to how far off a target temp it should be prior to adjusting it. Once I get it dialed in it seems to be fine but it takes four of five hours for this to happen.
Thanks
 
I have the 22 and don't even know where my water pan is. I just use a clay pot that sits in the holders for the water pan, foiled of course. Like Mr. Mann above, I have 2 closed and the other one about a third to a half, depending on target. I usually operate in the 250 to 275 zone. I foil my pot, then lay another piece of foil on top of it, an on the second grate, if not in use, I put an aluminum pan, also foiled on top of the pot.....triple foiling. I buy those 500 feet rolls of foil at Sam's......................d
 
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