2nd Cook - Temp Spike?

[Kyle in VA]

Hi All,
New to the site but learning a lot already thanks to all your posts! Took my 22.5” out for my 2nd smoke this weekend. Did a couple of racks of spare ribs, and for the first hour the WSM was cruising along around 260-275 degrees. Bottom vents were about 25% open, water in the pan, about four chunks of hickory, and had a full basket of charcoal using minion method (maybe 8-10 coals lit in the center to start).

I try not to stress about maintaining the temp at an exact number, but next thing I know the temp spiked up to 310-315 degrees. I shut down two vents completely and left the third open just a sliver, and eventually got the temp back down after 45 min to an hour. Is this just a normal variance that happens sometimes to keep an eye on or could something have caused it that I can avoid next time?
Thanks!

 

[J Grotz]

That's pretty normal, especially the time to come back down. How long into the cook did the spike occur? If you want to keep an eye on it remotely, pick up a Themoworks Smoke or a Maverick remote thermometer. You set alarms for a temperature range and then go adjust the vents accordingly when the alarm goes off. Or get an ATC it will control the temperature for you.

Those ribs look tasty and none the worse for wear.

 

[BFletcher]

Welcome Kyle. I get spikes, too, but I'm not smart enough to be able to attribute it to any particular action that I can control. It doesn't always happen; sometimes I wonder if several adjacent coals might begin to burn simultaneously and I remember a time when I pondered if spreading-out my handful of lit coals vs placing them in close proximity might influence this... but I don't recall arriving at any conclusion on that thought.

 

[Kyle in VA]

Appreciate the input! I have a remote thermometer but haven’t utilized the alarm functions yet. Guess that’ll be my next step until I get a better feel for consistently controlling the temps throughout the cook.

 

[Dustin Dorsey]

You'll get better. With these smokers, Taking the lid off can cause these spikes if you leave it off too long. If I need to take the lid off for any reason, I'm in and out as quickly as possible.