adjusting the lower vents


 
J

John Noble

TVWBB Member
Just finished a lovely chicken from my 18 wsm.

And it led to a question about whether it's better to finely tune each of the three bottom vents, or just fully open and fully close, some others.

It seems to me that there really are two settings. The top vent is always fully open by the way. Always. I only touch the bottom vents.

For low and slow, I crack open each bottom vent, about a quarter way open.

For high temp, such as roasting a chicken, I open all three vents, all the way.

Both methods work great.

But I'm thinking. Fiddling with the three vents for low and slow is a bit tricky. Perhaps it is easier for low and slow, to just open one vent all the way and close the other two entirely. It's exact and easy.

I know, there is talk about how it's important to have air coming in equally in three directions, over the coals. But I don't really buy that. The air comes in, not too fast, it mixes with the thermal current inside, it feeds all the coals regardless of which side of originally came from.

So. Comments, questions, suggestions, all welcome.
 
You'll find lots of people who agree with you and use just a single vent on the bottom. In fact, the automatic temperature control devices work this way. All bottom vents are closed and the blower introduces air through a single vent.

The only reason I choose to use all 3 vents partially open is because I have had a few occasions where I used a single vent, shut it down at the end of a cook, and opened up the cooker the next day only to find all the charcoal burned on one side and none burned on the other. I'm not sure that has any effect on the cooking results, to be honest, but for me and my peace of mind, I just like to promote an even burn.
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To each his/her own...

Regards,
Chris
 
Well my wsm stands next to a wall so i often close the one next to the wall so i have 2 vents that i can adjust without any hassle.

But i always let it come up to temp before i close 1 vent.

Works for me.
 
I always use one vent, but Chris makes an point regarding even burn.

Even in the dead of winter of Chicago, i've never used a windbreak and it's always worked fine.

My question is (and maybe i should have started another thread) when using a windbreak, do you allow any cutouts or open areas at the base of the windbreak to allow air to draft across and up thru the WSM? Draft is the whole principle on how it all works.
 
I have to get all 3 vents open exactly the same. It's not because it cooks better that way, it's because I'm anal!
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Mike Durso:
...
My question is (and maybe i should have started another thread) when using a windbreak, do you allow any cutouts or open areas at the base of the windbreak to allow air to draft across and up thru the WSM? Draft is the whole principle on how it all works. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Mike, if you have a relatively tight windbreak seal around your WSM, you might want a cutout or gap (a few pieces of wood to add space at the bottom would do it). But if the shield isn't air tight, there really shouldn't be a need. A shield that protects only one side or leaves one side open will certainly not prevent air from coming in low. In my case, I'm on a deck and even with all the above, I'd get plenty of air in through the decking spaces.

Frankly, unless you really have an airtight housing all around including the top, I don't think you have to worry about air flow.

Rich
 
Thanks guys.

I think I'll keep on my practice of adjusting all three vents. I mean, I rarely do high temp on the wsm anyway. I have a weber kettle for high temp cooking. I was just curious about doing a roast chicken in the wsm.

So the wsm, just spends almost all its time with the top vent fully open, and the bottom three vents, just open a quarter. Since I only use it for low n slow, that seems to be the only setting I need.

I'm happily surprised at how simple this wsm is. I have sealed the door permanently shut, and replaced the water bowl with a pizza stone and ceramic bowl. I have replaced the bottom grill with one of the top grill style, so it rests on the bolts, and has handles. The fire ring is wired together.

It's so easy now. I can concentrate on rubs and recipes, different woods and charcoals. The cooking itself is just taken care of.
 
I don't have a wind break and prolly won't use one. I just set it up and go and cross my fingers. i didn't know if they have 4 walls or what.

When we did testing at weber it was done without the added accoutrements, sometimes indoors, sometimes out.
 
I use all 3 vents open a little bit, about the thickness of a dime to a nickel, to maintain ~250º, depending on wind and weather.
 
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