Cooking a brisket today so I set the WSM up for 275 the way I have countless times. An hour and a half later, I checked it and it was 241. Opened the left bottom vent a little, and 30 minutes later, it was still 241. Looked at my top vent and it was 3/4 closed (it was dark when I started)! Opened it all the way and adjusted the center and left bottom vents back where they were supposed to be. An hour later, it was 310! Played with the front vent and the top vent for another hour but kept chasing temps. Maybe it's the Hunsaker plate, I thought. Then, I looked at the right vent, and it was 100% open; it was supposed to be closed. Closed it and all was right with the world.
The vents on my old WSM spin freely and leak a little. Never bothered me, but today, just putting it together caused the top vent to partially close and the right vent to spin open. Admittedly I partied late into the night and got up early, so assembling the WSM may have been a little more jarring to the vents than normal, and I didn't double check the vents after the meat was on. Going to buy some new vents from Weber so this doesn't happen again. It's that or stop partying. Brisket turned out great btw.
The vents on my old WSM spin freely and leak a little. Never bothered me, but today, just putting it together caused the top vent to partially close and the right vent to spin open. Admittedly I partied late into the night and got up early, so assembling the WSM may have been a little more jarring to the vents than normal, and I didn't double check the vents after the meat was on. Going to buy some new vents from Weber so this doesn't happen again. It's that or stop partying. Brisket turned out great btw.