Calling all who use empty pan


 
Jeff R

Jeff R

TVWBB Pro
I have often read to shut down vents 25* away from your target but I don't think that is soon enough when running an empty pan. Just wondering what your routine is. Number of lit and when do you shut down the vents and to what

I just did my first high heat cook albeit not planned.
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Jeff, I am using an empty pan right now with Minion Method. Two of my vent where open all the way and one was at 50% to keep my temps in the 225% to 265% degree range. I start with about 25 lite. But that is me. This is the first time using this method on a 22 WSM
 
When I cook with an empty pan I look for high heat so don't bother with closing vents. For low I use water. I cook most things in high heat.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by mk evenson:
Jeff, last night smoked a rack of spares. Started with cold lump and put about 1/3 small chimney of hot on top. I never use water, sand or anything else in the water pan.All vents open till about 200. My target for this cook was 225-240. At about 200 I closed all lower vents, keeping one open about 10 per cent. I occasionally had to close upper vent 1/2 to keep temps in my target range.
There are many factors that will influence how you set your vents including ambient temp, wind, type of coal etc. With time you will figure out what works for you. It is always easier to bring the cooker temp up, rather than bring it down.

Mark </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
 
To stress Mark's point, start with minimal lit. I use 5-6 pieces of medium lump maximum on a full ring. Temperature overshoots take lots of time to correct. Start slow and save a few hours of grief.
 
Yeah, I really know better but didn't follow my knowledge last time. I set my firt target temp on the maverick but forgot to turn on the alarm. Got busy on projects and moments later was at 250 before shutting down. You can imagine where things went from there.

Next time I am going to shut down around 200 to try to stabilize around 275 at the lid.
 
Just gets to show you how every-ones WSM acts a little different.
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Mine has a sweet spot of 275 with minimum fuss, 1/4 chimney of lit and I shut my vents to 1/4 -1/2 depending on outside conditions @250deg.I might get a small spike from full sun hitting it later on in the cook, but I've never had runaway temps on an empty pan that couldn't be countered by simply closing the lower vents more.

Tim
 
I put 3/4 chimney of lit K on top of a ring full of unlit K. I never use water. If I have a brisket, 3 racks of ribs or a few chickens I leave my vents wide open and don't hit 250 for at least 45 minutes.

...But I'm at 5900 ft in Denver.

If i leave the vents at 100% open top and 25% open bottome I won't get to 225 for 90 minutes or more.

But once the meat starts heating up after a couple hours I definitely need to dial the vents down to maybe 20% open on the bottom and 100 or 75% on top.

I agree with the approach to dial back on the lit coals slightly if your exceeding 250 within the first 15 minutes with all the vents open.

Keep track of this based on the quantity of meat. Last month I decided I just do one rack of spares instead of the usual 3 racks and a couple chickens for good measure. My temps shot up to 280 before I even checked back.

The WSM is small enough that it responds to the pure mass of meat that's in it, compared to a gigantic pit. So you have to adjust the amount of lit and when you dial back the vents based on that. And everybody will tell you that once you get into chasing the temps up/down/up/down you tend to seesaw. Don't try to dial it into 225 vs 250; just live in the range it wants to sit 225-260 vs 300+ etc. Best to get it stable and then adjust the time.
 
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