I've had a WSM 22.5 for few years now and it really likes to run hot. Seems to be getting worse instead of better too, which strikes me as kind of odd. Body fit is pretty good (never any visible smoke leaking), door fit is so so. Outside conditions don't seem to make any differnce here.
Always bring it up slow, 1 to 1.5 hours, lump charcoal and always have water in the pan at the start. I use a propane torch to light just a couple coals to start. It'll run 225 to 240 for a couple hours and then start climbing even with all the bottoms vents shut completely down.
It really starts to run wild if I have to open it up mid cook to throw on some additional food, pull off a brisket to wrap, etc. At that point the temp will shoot up to 300ish and stay there till the fuel starts to burn out at which point the temp dives quickly.
I've learned to deal and adjust cook times and whatnot but I'd really like to have more control of my cooker. Just looking for some suggestions from the much more experienced community here. Thanks.
- Anthony
Always bring it up slow, 1 to 1.5 hours, lump charcoal and always have water in the pan at the start. I use a propane torch to light just a couple coals to start. It'll run 225 to 240 for a couple hours and then start climbing even with all the bottoms vents shut completely down.
It really starts to run wild if I have to open it up mid cook to throw on some additional food, pull off a brisket to wrap, etc. At that point the temp will shoot up to 300ish and stay there till the fuel starts to burn out at which point the temp dives quickly.
I've learned to deal and adjust cook times and whatnot but I'd really like to have more control of my cooker. Just looking for some suggestions from the much more experienced community here. Thanks.
- Anthony