Why top vent always open?.....


 
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Hey guys. I have a question.
Before buying my WSM I used a Brinkman tower.
As you know the Brinkman has no top vents.
All cookings were great, but feeding
coal every 3 hours was a pain!

Enter the new WSM!
The 2 times I have cooked on the WSM with
top vents full open things turned out great, BUT my smoke ring was smaller than on the Brinkman.
Also my moisture loss and cook temp
was a little more than I like.

I hear everyone say "keep the top vents all
the way open, all the time". Why? Why not close them atleast half down for more smoke?
There was never a problem on the Brinkman.

Thanks!

Jon
 
The "conventional wisdom" is to leave the top vent fully open at all times and adjust only the bottom vents for temperature control. I think people do this to avoid oversmoking their meat and to avoid the formation of creosote caused by poor fuel combustion, which can result in taste problems.

Interestingly, the WSM owner's manual suggests that all vents should be partially closed during smoking, including the top vent.

I would suggest that you experiment with top vent adjustments to see if you get more smoke flavor and smoke ring without detrimental effects, and let us know of your results. I'm sure others will post their experiences, too, which you may find helpful.

Regards,
Chris
 
With good fire control you can control the pit temps with the bottom vents, leaving the top vent open. If your going to have a problem with dirty smoke it will happen when you close down the top vent.
You may be able to get away with closing the top vent down when using mild woods but if you are using hickory,pecan, or oak for example there is a larger chance of problems that you simply wouldn't have to deal with by leaving the top vent open.
Jim
 
Jon
One other thing, your only going to produce smoke ring while the meat temp is below 140?
internal. Once that temp is reached smoke ring is done, so if that's your aim put the meat on straight out of the frig and put on
before pit gets up to temp. You will be in the ring forming range for a longer time.
A WSM does not produce smoke ring like an offset but I've not found it to be problem while making good Q.
Jim
 
Jon,

I also graduated to the WSM from an ECB. On my ECB, the gap between the cover and the body of the smoker far exceeded the three holes in the top of the WSM. So I don't think the problem is in the smoke leaving the top vent.

What are you using for smoke, chips or chunks? I use the fist sized pieces of wood. Also, with the ECB I always soaked the wood, because if you didn't it would burst into flame after about 5 minutes. With the WSM, I don't soak because the reduced air flow eliminates the flame up problem. I think if you soak you will get less smoke from a chunk of wood, and it may take so long to dry out and start smoking that you are a good ways toward that 140? that Jim talked about.

Just a couple of ideas, let me know if it helps.

Doug W.
 
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