Smokey Joe Silver steady temps probems


 
M

Mark D.

New member
This will be long so brace yourself..

I acquired a smokey joe that had been sitting in my aunts garage unused since the last time the cowboys won the super bowl, and so I took it off her hands for her. Got a new grat and was set to go. I scrubbed it out, then I seasoned it a few times. The model has the ashpan, bottom and top vents.

I recently moved out of my parents and into my own place and left my ECB,as well as my parents gasser that was used for everything at their place, and have been cooking on this thing. I have been having constant temperature problems with it, at first I was using sams choice charcoal, which has been very good to me on smoke sessions and always delivered me good results, start up about a quarter of chimney, let the coals get glowing orange.. then bank all the coals to one side, and indirect cook my food until its ready for a quick direct flame finish. now I noticed with both vents wide open.. even with nice breezes as son at the top goes on, within a minute the coals no longer glow and everything just dies out.. so I made some changes waited a bit longer before putting the lid on, and then I thouhgt mayeby im not giving it enough fuel, nope that wasnt the case as I filed a half chimney of RO lump last night and they were definitely hot, let them sit a bit before putting the ld on both vetns open, and then I put the lid on walk back in ot get the food for the grill and then I open the lid bakc up and hardly any of the coals are glowing.. and I do the hand heat test, had a medium low fire (4 missisippi) what am I doing wrong.. any ideas?
 
If your fuel is fresh AND is not already spent before putting the lid on, you may have an airflow problem.

I used to use those for tailgating, and that was a fairly common occurrence. To solve that, I would just leave the lid slightly ajar to increase the airflow.
 
This sounds more like the problem associated with the Smokey Joe gold or platinum.

Are you sure it's a Smokey Joe Silver (vent on bottom) and not a gold or platinum which has vents on the side.

The side vents on the gold and platinum sit above the charcoal which limits the air flow.
 
Nope it is definitely the one with the vent on the bottom.. I emptied alot of the ash out of it, and it seems to be running a bit better now.. I thought I had cleaned all the ash out but apparently not.. eaiter way.. its running a bit better, but still touch n go.. I wonder if I could make something like the fan blade lookign thin for the 18 and 22? that woudl be pretty weet as muc has I use this thing, as as long as it will be a fixture on my porch (not getting a bigger family any time soon)

eitehr way when I do I got that Smokey Joe Platinum waiting in the garage never been used.. jsut sittign there biding its time..
 
Several people here (including myself) have modified their SJP's for much better air flow. Here is an extensive thread on the subject.

Also, check out JD McGee's version of the modification...he used the One Touch system and it looks great.

It's a fairly easy modification and improves the performance a great deal.
 
yeah I have checked that thread out extensively it amazes me what you all can do with a wanderign mind and a power drill. Until I get the fortitude to touch a drill bit to my SJP, I might tinker some with the Smokey Joe I got, its got the tiny ash pan (almost pointles) and the bottom vent.. one mod I'd like ot make is drill a tiny hole in the vent thing so I can jsut put a metal coat hangar into it and use it to turn the vent open and closed since I have trouble doing it while cooking.

I wonder how hard it would be to put that one touch system (the blades part) at least inside the SJ bowl.. I figure most of you couldnt see the point in doing so much to a tiny grill though.. maybe I am crazy
icon_smile.gif
 
The one touch system wouldn't fit the SJ silver or gold which is 14.5". The smallest one touch grill Weber makes is an 18" which is what the same size (or close to it anyway) as the SJP.
 
Originally posted by Mark D.:
This will be long so brace yourself..

I acquired a smokey joe that had been sitting in my aunts garage unused since the last time the cowboys won the super bowl, and so I took it off her hands for her. Got a new grat and was set to go. I scrubbed it out, then I seasoned it a few times. The model has the ashpan, bottom and top vents.

I recently moved out of my parents and into my own place and left my ECB,as well as my parents gasser that was used for everything at their place, and have been cooking on this thing. I have been having constant temperature problems with it, at first I was using sams choice charcoal, which has been very good to me on smoke sessions and always delivered me good results, start up about a quarter of chimney, let the coals get glowing orange.. then bank all the coals to one side, and indirect cook my food until its ready for a quick direct flame finish. now I noticed with both vents wide open.. even with nice breezes as son at the top goes on, within a minute the coals no longer glow and everything just dies out.. so I made some changes waited a bit longer before putting the lid on, and then I thouhgt mayeby im not giving it enough fuel, nope that wasnt the case as I filed a half chimney of RO lump last night and they were definitely hot, let them sit a bit before putting the ld on both vetns open, and then I put the lid on walk back in ot get the food for the grill and then I open the lid bakc up and hardly any of the coals are glowing.. and I do the hand heat test, had a medium low fire (4 missisippi) what am I doing wrong.. any ideas?
Click to expand...

I have the same issue with my SJS as does a good friend. As soon as the lid goes on the coals begin to die.
 
With the lid on, you're got going to see red hot, glowing briqs like you do before putting the lid on. The plus, of course, is you won't have the flame-up problem. I suspect you have more heat than you realize. If you have a therm, test the heat. Last weekend i used a SJS with a pretty good amount of lump because i wanted to finish the bag. The lid got so hot i had to use a glove to remove it when tending the meat.

The SJS has the best air-flow set up of any of the SJs, ime.

Paul
 
sounds like its working the way its supposed to. especially given that you had more ash than you originally thought. even my 22.5 kettle will do that. its mucho heat to cook without becoming an inferno as mentioned. if you really want a one touch 18, just get one off of craigslist and cut the legs shorter. better "mod" and you keep things original.
 
I just bought a SJS and have had the same problem. First cook I used a half chimney and it went out after I put the lid on with all vents full open. Second cook I took the remaining charcoal and added enough for 3/4 chimney. Temp dropped off and some charcoal went out with the lid on. Third cook, I took the remaininc charcoal and addenough to make a full chimney. It maintained heat enough to cook the meat almost but not quite enough to brown the hamburger. Fourth cook almost exactly duplicated the third cook. The temp starts hot but gradually drifts down. A steak would definitely find the temp on the low side. So has anyone found a way to get the temp up and keep it there long enough to do a good steak or even brown a burger without over cooking the inside?
PS all the ash was removed between each cook.
 
In general I like Weber's product design, but in this case, I think they should have made the bottom vents larger. It doesn't take long for SJ vents to get half way clogged with ash, and then you just don't have enough air flow.

To increase the air flow, take a piece of foil and fold it over a few times until it is about an eighth of an inch thick and a couple inches long. Fold it over the rim so that the lid wont fit tight all the way around. That might give you enough air flow to keep it going a little better. Unfortunately, this access point will be a little higher than what is ideal.

You could also use a hanger hook to reach up inside the bottom vents every 5 minutes or so and try to knock any ash out if any is stuck in the vent hole.
 
I recently rescued a SJS and on my first cook noticed the temps were not as hot as I thought they would be with a single layer of briquettes. I'm thinking of drilling some additional holes through the lower vent cover and kettle to increase airflow.
 
I've cooked a lot on my SJS since the last post (see above). Now I just start 3/4 chimney of charcoal and when it's hot I put it in the SJS and give it a couple of minutes before adding the meat. Cook a steak four minutes on a side for med rare or a hamburger 3 minutes twice over. The lid, I just lay it on the grass until it's time to turn off the fire. Cooks just right. Bottom vent wide open except for haslf closed on the 3rd and 4th sides of hamburger. It's almost like an old cast iron hibachi.
 
Has anyone tried using the SJS without the ash catcher in place? The ash catcher looks like it limits the air flow quit a bit since its so close to the bottom of the bowl. I think I will take mine off and try it.

Wayne
 
I've noticed that if I use 1/2 chimney or less, OR bank the coals to one side my temps stay up. I also do the coat hanger deal and knock the ashes out of the hole frequently.
 
When I cook on my SJS, I just less than half a chimney of charcoal. I usually light it with my weed burner, and I've not had any temp or ash problems, but for those that have, I wonder if using lump charcoal instead of briquettes would help the problem. The lump generally burns a little hotter and produces noticeably less ash.

Ironically, I just bought a "new" 1981 model SJS (in the box with all the original paperwork, including the warranty registration card and Weber grill cookbook - sweet!). It has three bottom vents instead of the single bottom vent of the newer models.

Pat
 
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