Hello,
I did my first smoke this weekend with the 18", had fun and food tasted great but had trouble getting temps up. Please see timeline. It just seemed that whenever I looked in at the coals they were never super hot i.e. they had dark spots to them. Not sure if I fired enough at the begin and/or hot enough before assembling and adding food. Thanks for any suggestions!
temps all read at lid
1:15 3/4 lit chimney +3/4 unlit on top, closed cooker, bottom vents 50%
edit 1:30 220 deg added 3 racks ribs and 4lb bone-in turkey breast, opened vents 100%
1:35 185 deg
1:40 160 deg
1:45 175 deg
2:20 175 deg. opened cooker added 3/4 lit briqs
2:30 185 deg
2:40 180 deg opened cooker and poured out all but ~quart of water
3:25 175 deg
3:35 175 deg, added 20 unlit briqs through door and stoked with poker.
3:50 190 deg, stoke vigorously and blew into vents
3:55 205 deg
4:05 215 deg
4:15 pulled turkey at 160 deg internal temp.
4:25 235 deg.
5:00 200 deg
5:20 removed ribs
I did my first smoke this weekend with the 18", had fun and food tasted great but had trouble getting temps up. Please see timeline. It just seemed that whenever I looked in at the coals they were never super hot i.e. they had dark spots to them. Not sure if I fired enough at the begin and/or hot enough before assembling and adding food. Thanks for any suggestions!
temps all read at lid
1:15 3/4 lit chimney +3/4 unlit on top, closed cooker, bottom vents 50%
edit 1:30 220 deg added 3 racks ribs and 4lb bone-in turkey breast, opened vents 100%
1:35 185 deg
1:40 160 deg
1:45 175 deg
2:20 175 deg. opened cooker added 3/4 lit briqs
2:30 185 deg
2:40 180 deg opened cooker and poured out all but ~quart of water
3:25 175 deg
3:35 175 deg, added 20 unlit briqs through door and stoked with poker.
3:50 190 deg, stoke vigorously and blew into vents
3:55 205 deg
4:05 215 deg
4:15 pulled turkey at 160 deg internal temp.
4:25 235 deg.
5:00 200 deg
5:20 removed ribs