WSM 22"- Minion method too hot


 

Brad B

New member
Hi all,

When I use the minion method I can maintain a steady temp 225~250 for the first 2 hours (water pan in). After 2 hours as more coals light the temp starts to raise and its get to the point where I've had to remove most of them, which defeats the purpose if trying to do a long cook.

Just wondering if others have this issue? Is it worth trying to put a metal bowl in the middle of the grate, creating a kind of snake, which would reduce the amount of coals that could be lit at the same time.

Thanks
 
This happens regardless of how many lit coals you start with?

Hi all,

When I use the minion method I can maintain a steady temp 225~250 for the first 2 hours (water pan in). After 2 hours as more coals light the temp starts to raise and its get to the point where I've had to remove most of them, which defeats the purpose if trying to do a long cook.

Just wondering if others have this issue? Is it worth trying to put a metal bowl in the middle of the grate, creating a kind of snake, which would reduce the amount of coals that could be lit at the same time.

Thanks
 
After 2 hours as more coals light the temp starts to raise and its get to the point where I've had to remove most of them, which defeats the purpose if trying to do a long cook
When I start my 22, I start with about a dozen fully lit charcoals. I spread them out over the top of unlit charcoal. You can do less lit charcoal, but I use a dozen because it speeds up the time it takes to come up to 200+ pit temp. When starting my 22, all vents are wide open and as soon as my pit gets to 200+, I close all the bottom vents to just slivers. I basically close them fully, and then open them the slightest. Some might think they were still fully closed, but that sliver will allow enough air into the pit, to hold temp. As the temp gets to 250, that's about when the smoke changes from white to blue. That's when I put my food on, and that's how I run the 22 until it's all done. I've gotten 15 hours out of a full 18LBS bag of Kingsford, before having to add. Rarely do my cooks go the full 15 hours before the fuel is exhausted, but once or twice they have. I add fully lit charcoal, when adding is needed
 
Thanks for the replies. I usually start with 8-12 lit, all vents open until temp comes up, then close 2 bottom ones off leaving a single vent 1/3rd open.
Do you use water in the pan, or just run without water?
 
I only open the vents slightly while the smoker is coming up to temp. Having the vents fully open seems to light too many of the surrounding coals and creates a sort of "runaway" situation, making it difficult to avoid a high temp condition. The downside is it takes quite a bit longer for it to come up to temp, but when smoking at a low temperature, say 225, I've found no better way.

Once I approach my target temp, I typically completely close all the vents. My 22" seems to have enough leakage alone for sufficient air induction.

I use either a terra cotta plate or hot water.
 
Alright, I'm going TOTALY against the grain here, but......I realized long ago that I really didn't like watching my Maverick chug ever so slowly twords my desired temp. I now light 3/4 of a weber chimney. While it's getting hot, I fill the ring of my 22" almost all the way full and add my wood chunks. When the chimney is rolling hot, I pour all of it on top of my unlit, assemble the smoker, and it's game on!! I have all the vents, both top and bottom all the way open, and I let it do its thing. About 25* from my desired temp, I go outside and close all 3 bottom vents all but all the way closed. I lnow that with my smoker, this will result in it settling in at 270*-275* which is where I do smoker of my smoking. Also, I abandoned the water in the pan as well. I felt like it was robbing me of heat, and I was waisting precious fuel heating water instead of the meat I was smoking.
Stick with it, this journey is one with endless curves and surprises,
Tim
 
Brad, are you using water in the water pan? And how much meat do you typically cook in your 22" WSM? If you're cooking a small amount of meat in that big cooker and not using water, you don't have enough "stuff" in there to absorb all the energy from the coals.

And I suspect you've got air entering from around the door or between the bowl and middle section, so the damper advice from Tom is probably good advice. If you have a gap between bowl and middle, you can try filling it with a "gasket" made from aluminum foil and see if that solves your problem. If so, you can consider a permanent solution using one of the available gasket kits on the market.

Good luck!
 
Brad, are you using water in the water pan? And how much meat do you typically cook in your 22" WSM? If you're cooking a small amount of meat in that big cooker and not using water, you don't have enough "stuff" in there to absorb all the energy from the coals.

And I suspect you've got air entering from around the door or between the bowl and middle section, so the damper advice from Tom is probably good advice. If you have a gap between bowl and middle, you can try filling it with a "gasket" made from aluminum foil and see if that solves your problem. If so, you can consider a permanent solution using one of the available gasket kits on the market.

Good luck!

Hi Chris,

Yes I have been using water in the pan, I typically only cook smaller cuts of meat.
I'll defiantly look into the gasket kits!

Cheers
 
Has anyone ever experienced the fire dying out in the WSM if you leave the bottom vents open to just a sliver?
 

 

Back
Top