Too hot


 
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Bought a wsm 2 wks ago. Yeah!!!!
I'm using maple chunk charcoal. Smells sweet but I don't know if this is the source of my problem. I can't get themp to go lower than 270-280-260 and this is using the minion firing method. My first cook was chicken at 225-240. Go figure but ran out of fuel a bit early. Maybe briquettes?
 
Ron
I know a lot of good cooks that cook at pit
temps in the range your talking about.
You may want to check the accuracy of the
thermometer.
You may want to try Kingsford and see what happens.
Let us know how it goes.
Jim
 
I've had my cooker for a few years now and I have the same problem with mine running hot (which means in the 250+ range) when I use a full to nearly full load of charcoal. This past weekend I cooked a pork butt using the Minion method and it ran a consistent 255? - 260? and the meat turned out great. Cooking time for a 6 pounder was 8 - 9 hours to get internal to 180?+. Lump charcoal burns hot and my experience has been just like yours, even when using the Minion method.

Here a couple of things that I do.

1. When using the Minion Method, close the bottom vents when temp gets to 170.

2. Use less charcoal on startup. For ribs I use about a 1/2 chamber of charcoal. Ribs only need about 5 - 6 hours cooking time, so less fuel is needed.

3. Jim has suggested to me in the past to use some cheaper(quality wise) brand of charcoal and he is right on. My first cook on the WSM was with the Winn Dixie brand hardwood charcoal. My problem was getting the temp high enough with that charcoal. Cheaper charcoal doesn't provide as many btu's and produces a lot more ash than Kingsford or lump.

S.C. Que
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR><font face="Verdana, Helvetica, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Jim Minion:
Ron
I know a lot of good cooks that cook at pit
temps in the range your talking about.
You may want to check the accuracy of the
thermometer.
You may want to try Kingsford and see what happens.
Let us know how it goes.
Jim
</font> <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I've bought a candy thermometer and it shows 207 degrees in boiling water. So, I thinks this part is covered. BTW, glad to meet you Jim. I'll give the briquettes a try. See what happens. But I still have a whole half of a big bag of those coals. One day , I,m sure they'll be useful.
 
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