Need to get my temperatures up


 

ChrisABBQ

New member
All,

I am having a hard time getting my WSM above 215. I live at a mile high, so I have found I need to increase the temp due to lesser oxygen levels.

What are your best tips to get your WSM to 300 f to cook?

I would like any advice on charcoal set up, type of charcoal wood set up, vents , water levels in the pan. Nothing off the table. Thanks everyone!
 
Well first of all skip the water if your shooting for 300.
Use more lit like the standard method, ( one chimney of unlit followed by a chimney of lit)
Increase air flow, all vents open and if you have to, crack the lid open with a metal skewer or spatula.
Edit: http://virtualweberbullet.com/fireup1.html

Tim
 
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If lack of oxygen is the problem,an automatic temp controller should do the trick. As Tim said skip the water. A temp controller blowing air over the coals shouldn't have any problem hitting 300 even at a mile high. I have an IQ 110. They are fairly cheap. You just turn the knob like an 'old fashion' radio dial. I used mine today as a matter of fact. It will move some air.
 
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All,

I am having a hard time getting my WSM above 215. I live at a mile high, so I have found I need to increase the temp due to lesser oxygen levels.

What are your best tips to get your WSM to 300 f to cook?

I would like any advice on charcoal set up, type of charcoal wood set up, vents , water levels in the pan. Nothing off the table. Thanks everyone!

First..............ditch the water pan if you want to get above the gray temp on the WSM built in temperature gauge, which is 275 degrees F on my WSM. The WSM has three in vents at the bottom and only one out vent at the top. This limits the air flow through the smoker, ie the amount of O2 for combustion.

Second................even at 5000 feet above sea level our atmosphere contains 21% oxygen! Please google partial pressure. For those of us that spent most of our lives at sea level, going to a mile high and then doing any exercise requiring work the effect of partial pressure becomes clear as air. Less barometric pressure results in less O2 dissolved into our blood stream. Added to this there is less O2 per the same volume at 5000 feet than at sea level.

What I have noticed at 4240 feet above sea level is the effects of boiling points. Water boils at about 203-204 degrees F. Smoked baby back ribs are done at 189 degrees.

So ditch the water pan. Then see what temp can be achieved. Load the charcoal basket almost full and a 1/3 to 1/2 chimney of Kingsford blue on top should get that 300-350 degree range. This should be a piece of cake if using a stoker.

Craig,H in La Pine
 
You never mentioned what size WSM you have. ( that could be helpful):)
My 18.5" WSM is easier to dial in temps than my 22.5" WSM cause that one is a fuel hog.

Tim
 
Ok so the newer ones have a deeper water pan compared to the shallow pan on my 08. Weber likes to re-purpose parts and on the older ones they used the lid from a SJ, but after some minor complaints about adding water they switched to the deeper SJ charcoal bowl.
That might have something to do with air-flow, but i dunno. Maybe switching to a shallower deflector, drip pan might help.
I wouldn't use a terra cota or pizza stone cause that's a sink and you already have problems getting temps up.
And may I ask how are you measuring temps? Reason I ask is the built in therm has been known to read 50-60 degs cooler at the beginning of a cook.
I like to measure @ the top vent with a turkey fryer therm or a remote. It's always consistent between 12-15 degrees higher than top grate.


Tim
 
I added two more top vents to the lid. That did the trick for me. I can get both the 18 and 22 up to 400 plus easy. Oh and no water in the pan...
 
On my first and second cook, I thought I was going to have to work to keep the temps DOWN. Turns out, keeping it at or above 200 takes some doing, even with the vents WIDE open.

I might have to do as somebody suggested, and put in more top vents. I will probably remove the water pan as well.

I don't have Kingsford charcoal available at my nearest store, so I got some Royal oak hardwood lump charcoal. I heard lump burns hotter, so I thought it would be an improvement on my first cook which used No Name briquettes. It wasn't until the sunlight started getting onto the smoker that temps stabilized :(
 
On my first and second cook, I thought I was going to have to work to keep the temps DOWN. Turns out, keeping it at or above 200 takes some doing, even with the vents WIDE open.

I might have to do as somebody suggested, and put in more top vents. I will probably remove the water pan as well.

I don't have Kingsford charcoal available at my nearest store, so I got some Royal oak hardwood lump charcoal. I heard lump burns hotter, so I thought it would be an improvement on my first cook which used No Name briquettes. It wasn't until the sunlight started getting onto the smoker that temps stabilized :(
Welcome to the forum John.
There's no reason I can think of that your lump was keeping the temperatures so low, unless it was defective, maybe damp?
Did you put a fair amount of lit on top of a full load of unlit to get things going?
 
Welcome to the forum John.
There's no reason I can think of that your lump was keeping the temperatures so low, unless it was defective, maybe damp?
Did you put a fair amount of lit on top of a full load of unlit to get things going?

I filled up the charcoal ring, and put a small well in the middle of it to dump the lit charcoal from the chimney. The charcoal was dry.

I might do as BabyBackManiac suggested in a youtube video and also get a second charcoal grate to keep the pieces from falling thru after they've burned a bit.

If it helps, Ottawa's general altitude is about 200 ft from sealevel, but I'm guessing that's not gonna affect much, as water would then boil at 99.99 degrees instead of 100.
 
If you don't want to get a temp control,find an old computer,and rob the power supply,and processor fan. Rig it up to blow in one of the bottom vents. That will get oxygen in there.
 

 

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