Dave in Tatamy
New member
Howdy folks,
I've been grilling for 40+ years and have been smoking on a Weber kettle for about 10 years. I'd like to say I was pretty dang good at smoking on that thing. I've done tons of briskets and the vast majority were quiet tasty. It was more done by feel than by anything else. I didn't monitor the grill temp, the meat temp, I didn't know what a stall was, I just put on a rub and cooked. Things were good. Then just recently, I finally took the plunge and got a "real" smoker, the WSM 18.5.
The learning curve has been a bit of a pain. So far I've had two marginal performances. The first was a brisket (~10 pounds) that took about 14 hours at temps between 220-250. It had a stall at around 153 that seemed to last 5+ hours. The second was a 7 pound pork butt that took around 13 hours at temps around 265 or so.
Both of these had an odd moment when the charcoal seemed to start dying. In both I loaded the ring full with KBB. Everything was clean and the bottom was free of any ash. In one (brisket), I added about 1/3 a chimney of well lit KBB to a slight depression in the middle, and the other (butt) I added 1/2 chimney spread all over the charcoal. Both used a full water pan. Around 10-12 hours in each, the temps just started dropping. No major weather changes, but the temp gradually started to fall. (Was being run with top wide open and 2 bottoms closed. One bottom around 50%.) Even when I opened the single bottom to 100% temps kept going down. I looked in and could only see a lot of ashes and some unenthusiastic coals. I started up a new chimney and added that, full, and some additional unlit coals. I did the same thing both times.
After the cook, I checked and both had over 2 chimneys of unconsumed coals remaining. Clearly, I didn't need to add the extra chimneys but what accounts for the charcoal just getting lazy? On my kettle, I never had any issues with the coals not being completely consumed. Here, it seems like they run for a while then just take a break.
Is it just a matter of needing to get some poker and stir everything around? I worry about stirring the coals and sending a plume of ash up. Do you switch vents after a period? (Run the 4:00 vent for a while, then run the 8:00, then the 12:00?)
Is this a common occurrence?
Thanks.
I've been grilling for 40+ years and have been smoking on a Weber kettle for about 10 years. I'd like to say I was pretty dang good at smoking on that thing. I've done tons of briskets and the vast majority were quiet tasty. It was more done by feel than by anything else. I didn't monitor the grill temp, the meat temp, I didn't know what a stall was, I just put on a rub and cooked. Things were good. Then just recently, I finally took the plunge and got a "real" smoker, the WSM 18.5.
The learning curve has been a bit of a pain. So far I've had two marginal performances. The first was a brisket (~10 pounds) that took about 14 hours at temps between 220-250. It had a stall at around 153 that seemed to last 5+ hours. The second was a 7 pound pork butt that took around 13 hours at temps around 265 or so.
Both of these had an odd moment when the charcoal seemed to start dying. In both I loaded the ring full with KBB. Everything was clean and the bottom was free of any ash. In one (brisket), I added about 1/3 a chimney of well lit KBB to a slight depression in the middle, and the other (butt) I added 1/2 chimney spread all over the charcoal. Both used a full water pan. Around 10-12 hours in each, the temps just started dropping. No major weather changes, but the temp gradually started to fall. (Was being run with top wide open and 2 bottoms closed. One bottom around 50%.) Even when I opened the single bottom to 100% temps kept going down. I looked in and could only see a lot of ashes and some unenthusiastic coals. I started up a new chimney and added that, full, and some additional unlit coals. I did the same thing both times.
After the cook, I checked and both had over 2 chimneys of unconsumed coals remaining. Clearly, I didn't need to add the extra chimneys but what accounts for the charcoal just getting lazy? On my kettle, I never had any issues with the coals not being completely consumed. Here, it seems like they run for a while then just take a break.
Is it just a matter of needing to get some poker and stir everything around? I worry about stirring the coals and sending a plume of ash up. Do you switch vents after a period? (Run the 4:00 vent for a while, then run the 8:00, then the 12:00?)
Is this a common occurrence?
Thanks.