After fighting temperature with my first two cooks. I found a big leak by the charcoal bowl. Weber replaced the middle section. Temp control was night and day. The smoker with a full water pan and lighting 15 coals over a full ring of unlit the temp settled at 235 for a couple hours. Never went above 260 or below 225. I did a 5.5 pound pork butt. It took 7 hours. The fire was stable for 6 hours. I added about 20 unlit coals through the door left for an hour came back temp was recovered to 250 from 225. Butt was done let cooker run another 45 minutes then temp dropped again.
I kept shaking the smoker every couple hours to try and keep ash down. At some point I'm going to want to do a longer cook. Is it common to have to add coals after 6 hours. If so is it better to add lit or unlit coals through the door? I don't want to have to break the whole thing down and start the fire over again.
Thanks
I kept shaking the smoker every couple hours to try and keep ash down. At some point I'm going to want to do a longer cook. Is it common to have to add coals after 6 hours. If so is it better to add lit or unlit coals through the door? I don't want to have to break the whole thing down and start the fire over again.
Thanks