Any theories about why fire went out?


 
J

Jamie B

TVWBB Member
Had a nice fire going for around 6 hours at roughly 260-270*, then the fire went out.
Basket loaded with about +/- 13 lbs regular Kingsford charcoal. Minion method, put about 22 hot coals into hole in center of unlit charcoal.
Using water in water pan. Using homemade reflectix style jacket with air holes. Top vent fully open.
About 1/3 of the charcoal gone when fire died. Had 1 bottom vent about 1/2 open the whole time, vent not clogged with ash.
Done the same cook before without the fire going out. Usually about 6 hours I have to start opening up more bottom vents,
so when I saw the temperature dropping I went to open up vents and discovered fire out. Any theories why fire went out? Thanks.
(Possibly/probably something to do with only having 1 vent open, and I can try experimenting with 2 vents,
but as I said I've done this cook before with only 1 vent for a longer period of time without fire going out). :confused:
 
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The ash probably choked the fire out because it didn't fall through the grate. Maybe it was humid and clumped up. That's I'll I can think. You maybe needed to tap the leg of the wsm to let the ash fall through.
 
What was the relationship of the lid vent to the open bowl vent? I like to use at least 2 of the 3 bowl vents whenever possible but if for some reason I have only 1 vent open I try to make sure the lid vent is 180 degrees in relation.

Otherwise, how fresh is your charcoal?
 
where do you live (elevation) and what was the weather like? I haven't had problems with even snakes going out (just used a few times though). A quick/easy way to relight is with mapp gas - a few seconds with this & "your minion's" restarted.

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thanks for all the replies. charcoal freshly bought, anyhow. top vent approximately 180* to bottom vent. After all was cooled I had a good look at the charcoal tray. I think maybe the ash was choking the fire. There wasn't tons of ash, but I had the coals packed very tightly so the ash probably couldn't fall too far. And I've been experimenting with a reflectix jacket which increases the humidity a lot, so I guess the ash probably clumped a bit. Weird since it hasn't happened before, but I'll keep experimenting. Thanks again. edit: Clint, I've got a torch like that, never thought to use it - thanks.
 
Never had much luck with just one open vent. Mine are usually wide open unless the wind is up, and then I'll close the upwind vent.

Never had much luck with Kingsford coals, either, due to excessive ash content. You that use it with good success have my admiration.
 
Did you use a drip pan?
If not, then maybe the fat dripping from the meat extinguished the fire?

Other than that, I think lack of air movement has to be the issue
 
Anne M. said:
Did you use a drip pan?
If not, then maybe the fat dripping from the meat extinguished the fire?

Other than that, I think lack of air movement has to be the issue
Click to expand...

Thanks a lot for the input Anne. I didn't notice any evidence of fat dripping, I think the culprit may have been ash build up in very tightly packed coals, with possible clumping ash from extra humidity due to the jacket.....
 
Jacket? You didn’t say anything about that in your first post.
I’ve never had fat even come close to extinguishing a fire, mine always flares. Do you know something I don’t Anne?
I really love the fact that I can ask someone in Zambia a grilling question, Pretty cool!
 
:D

Sometime ago, in July, I used my WSm without waterpan and drip tray, just to try things out. It's colder that time of year.
I had to look it up, but I did beef ribs at that time. Here they come as slices. I had the top tray full and initially there was no issue at all.
No flames as the top cover was on.
Just further in the cook, they started dripping a lot of fat and I had to open the vents a bit more.
It was quite a funny cook, cause the moment you would open the top cover, you would have some nice flames shooting through, so checking doneness by eye was a bit of a mission....
 
Just call me eagle eye, does your jacket extend all the way down to ground level all the way around? That may have been a serious contributing factor. Where I actually like the concept of the reflectix jacket, positioning of it may be a little problematic.
Anne, beef fat on coals still should not extinguish the fire, at least it’s never happened to me. I’ve had the same problem though as far as the billowing clouds of smoke bursting into flames, when it’s fun after several cocktails late in the evening, a really good cook can be hindered by poor visibility!
 
Timothy F. Lewis said:
Just call me eagle eye, does your jacket extend all the way down to ground level all the way around? !
Click to expand...

Thanks. My jacket extends to the ground, although it isn't a tight seal to ground, and I do have air hole cutouts in the jacket at ground level. The lid is a separate and loosely fitting piece, and allows airflow. I have done the exact same cook, jacket and all, for longer than the time of this cook without problems so I find that confusing. The outside temperature was a several degrees colder this cook, wondering if that contributed to more condensation inside smoker, causing more clumping of ash.......
 
Try putting a small wedge under the lower lip of the jacket, that might allow a little more airflow.
Do you have any pictures of the jacket?
There’s a member who built a plywood wind screen which is not a jacket but, will create an area of “breeze free” warmth that makes great sense unless it’s sub zero. I’ve not done any cool weather work with a WSM yet so, I’m only speaking theoretically. I intend to change that PDQ though. Temperatures dropping like a stone around here.
 
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