Got a Hunsaker rib hanger and vortex plate for my 22 a couple years ago. Have cooked 6 racks of St. Louis style ribs with hanging strips of rib tips multiple times with fantastic results. Usually lean toward the hot & fast route (275-290) for 3 hours using Rockwood lump charcoal and a couple chunks of pecan.
Whelp, stepped it up this weekend and tried a 9 rack run. About 2 hours in I noticed A LOT of smoke coming out. Took a whiff and it did not smell good. Typically the smoke fades to minimal after the 1 hour mark (though it did take a little longer than normal to get up to temp yesterday).
I left the bottom vents mostly open at 1 hour to get the smoker above 250 (which was a struggle... in Phoenix). I think I lit too few coals to compensate for extra meat. Usually do a full ring and sprinkle 10 lits coals over the top and then manage temp with the bottom vents. Had a Thermoworks probe hanging from the hanger and a new TellTru on the lid. Both were pretty close to start but the probe was a solid 50 degrees cooler once the smoker got over 200. I'm conditioned to trust the probe but it was maybe 3 inches away from a couple racks and might have read cooler than the upper dome.
Pulled couple racks and noticed surface charring across the lower half of some of the racks. All were heavily covered in rendering fat (never noticed before) to the point of being greasy. My theory is the smoker was running hotter than I thought once it finally got going and fat rendered faster than normal causing it to build up on the vortex plate and establish some sustained grease flares which charred the racks.
Curious others thoughts on the theory or if they have experienced similar? I'm pretty bummed, I had what seemed to be a trusted method. Sucks to not only ruin the meat but I'm totally confused by how it all played out.
Whelp, stepped it up this weekend and tried a 9 rack run. About 2 hours in I noticed A LOT of smoke coming out. Took a whiff and it did not smell good. Typically the smoke fades to minimal after the 1 hour mark (though it did take a little longer than normal to get up to temp yesterday).
I left the bottom vents mostly open at 1 hour to get the smoker above 250 (which was a struggle... in Phoenix). I think I lit too few coals to compensate for extra meat. Usually do a full ring and sprinkle 10 lits coals over the top and then manage temp with the bottom vents. Had a Thermoworks probe hanging from the hanger and a new TellTru on the lid. Both were pretty close to start but the probe was a solid 50 degrees cooler once the smoker got over 200. I'm conditioned to trust the probe but it was maybe 3 inches away from a couple racks and might have read cooler than the upper dome.
Pulled couple racks and noticed surface charring across the lower half of some of the racks. All were heavily covered in rendering fat (never noticed before) to the point of being greasy. My theory is the smoker was running hotter than I thought once it finally got going and fat rendered faster than normal causing it to build up on the vortex plate and establish some sustained grease flares which charred the racks.
Curious others thoughts on the theory or if they have experienced similar? I'm pretty bummed, I had what seemed to be a trusted method. Sucks to not only ruin the meat but I'm totally confused by how it all played out.
