WSM fails to get up to temp


 

Eric G

TVWBB Fan
Well I am about 1.5hrs into a sausage/chicken/turkey smoke. I have a full ring of K. Started out with 25-30 lit as it is about 20 degrees outside. so I set my guru etemp to 240ish. Well it hasnt gotten up to temp blower working fine no huge apparent leaks.

So I do some fiddling turn the blower off and open up the other lower vents. It starts to come up to temp nicely (mind you that the Etemp is off). I turn the Etemp back on and the temp starts to drop right away.

The only thing I can think of that is happening is that it is blowing in such cold air and blowing the warm air out that its dropping the temp. Has anyone had any experience or similar phenomenon?
 
Your theory seems plausible. Any air injected that does not participate in combustion is counter-productive as it will tend to cool rather than heat.

The trick is to get it to the coals where it can participate rather than flowing around them.

In my CG I have put a barrier rim around the basket I use to force most of the air through the charcoal. That seems to help efficiency.

I don't know where your blower inlet is relative to the fire, but you may be able to duct the air to the fire with some creative aluminum foil or disposable pan work.

That may be tricky on a hot grill, though.

Best of luck.
 
Oh it seems I did fail to mention that I am cooking on an old classic 18in WSM. the Etemp comes with a couling that forces the air downward underneath the charcoal ring/grate.
 

 

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