Can we close all three lower vents?


 
G

Grant Narita

TVWBB Fan
Doing my first attempt with the WSM this very minute. Using the minion method... Temp keeps rising gradually...at 275 now and want to keep it a bit lower. I put the coals and meat on an hour ago. If I have to, can I close completely all three bottom vents, or will this possibly extinguish my coals?
 
I don't know what you're cooking or what your target cooking temp is.

But you want to catch your temps on the way up....much harder to bring them down.
If you're close to target temp close two bottom vents and leave the third at 25% open.
See if it stabilizes.
If not, you'll have to shut down more air and maybe even tamper with the top vent which I rarely do.

As you break in (season) your new WSM it will be easier to run.
It will seal up better and you will be learning its nuances at the same time.
 
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It will if you leave it that way too long, but it should be okay short term. If I get in that situation, I have closed two vents and had the third open just a crack. When temps went down, I cracked the other two.

Don't get too caught up in chasing the thermometer, or you may drive yourself crazy. If it is reasonably close to the desired temp, it will be fine.
 
One of the best pieces of advice I have incorporated into my smoking is to not get too hung up on my cooker temp. I have an idea of what temp I want to cook at, a good idea of how to get there, and then just let it run at whatever temp it likes to run. It can take several cooks to figure out where the cooker likes to settle in at. Getting comfortable cooking at that temp will take a lot of hassle out of your cooks & make them infinitely more enjoyable.
 
I put 4 pork butts on our 18.5 last night. Using the minion method I poured a ring of unlit charcoal, added a chimney of lit coal, once the temp reached 220 I added apple wood, 4 pork butts, shut 2 bottom vents and partially closed the 3rd and left the top vent wide open. I checked the temp about an hour later and was locked on at 250. Went to bed at about 11 and when I woke up this morning it was at 225. My meat temp probe alarm just went off, set at 190. The Weber stayed at 225 all morning and I'm going to go shut all the vents and rest the meat right now. Total smoke time has been right around 13 hours. If I can I'll post some pictures in a separate posting. In my opinion you should just set and forget it. I ignore my smoker once I get it up to 220.
 
Thanks. I was hoping to bbq the ribs around 250... But at least it seems to have stabilized at 275-279. I closed the back two and the front is about 25-33% open. I figure 275 is not bad?? I am doing baby back ribs... If the temp does rise again as it's supposed to be a hot day today... Would my first choice be close completely the third Lower vent so all three lowers are closed for a short time, or is it better to leave the one vent partially open and instead fiddle with the top vent? Thanks for your help.
 
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Joe F said:
I don't know what you're cooking or what your target cooking temp is.

But you want to catch your temps on the way up....much harder to bring them down.
If you're close to target temp close two bottom vents and leave the third at 25% open.
See if it stabilizes.
If not, you'll have to shut down more air and maybe even tamper with the top vent which I rarely do.

As you break in (season) your new WSM it will be easier to run.
It will seal up better and you will be learning its nuances at the same time.
Click to expand...

I think my mistake was not catching it on the way up..when it was around 225 after a few minutes, I completely closed just one of the vents, and it dropped to 210...so I panicked and opened it all the way again. Now I am thinking, if I had left it closed the temp probably would have started going higher again as more coals became lit and the meat warmed up, correct?
 
Frank Mahovlich said:
One of the best pieces of advice I have incorporated into my smoking is to not get too hung up on my cooker temp. I have an idea of what temp I want to cook at, a good idea of how to get there, and then just let it run at whatever temp it likes to run. It can take several cooks to figure out where the cooker likes to settle in at. Getting comfortable cooking at that temp will take a lot of hassle out of your cooks & make them infinitely more enjoyable.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I keep looking at my wireless temp receiver every two minutes... Had to turn the alarm off since it kept beeping.. Still, so glad I bought this wireless temp thing so I can relax upstairs, instead of running outside every minute to check the temp!
 
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I'd say as long as your top vent is fully open, there is no harm in closing all three bottom vents. Unless your smoker is perfectly air tight, your coals will not go out. With the top vent open, heat rising through the top will pull air through any small cracks. When you close it, no more convection to pull air and your WSM will go out.
 
Grant, you will be ok. 270 or so is fine, just cooks a little faster. I have many times had to close the top vent a bit, no worries.
Enjoy your ribs.

Mark
 
Don't be afraid to use the top vent in coordination with your lower vents up to 50% closed. Always ensure the top is open more than the bottom three combined. You can close one or two bottom vents and barely crack the third, or barely crack two or all three, and close the top a bit for very accurate temp control.

Bottom line: it's your cooker. You can do whatever you wanna do! Make it work for you.
 
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Russell Y said:
I'd say as long as your top vent is fully open, there is no harm in closing all three bottom vents. Unless your smoker is perfectly air tight, your coals will not go out. With the top vent open, heat rising through the top will pull air through any small cracks. When you close it, no more convection to pull air and your WSM will go out.
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After I took my ribs out to foil them the temp zoomed up from 275 to 307. I closed the third and last vent on the bottom so all three are closed now.. Temp has dropped to 293 now in 12 minutes... Will re open the one bottom vent back to 33% open when it gets close to my target range. Thanks for your help.

The ribs had a very dark, almost black color when I took them out to foil...Hope that is fine. Should have taken a pic. Oh well..
 
Dwain Pannell said:
Don't be afraid to use the top vent in coordination with your lower vents up to 50% closed. Always ensure the top is open more than the bottom three combined. You can close one or two bottom vents and barely crack the third, or barely crack two or all three, and close the top a bit for very accurate temp control.
Click to expand...

I agree with Dwain on this one. A few times I have overshot my temp by more than I wanted to. I did just as said with the vents and the top vent closed down, maybe not quite half. Saw no problems with it. After a short time was able to open the top vent back up and let it run

Grant Narita said:
After I took my ribs out to foil them the temp zoomed up from 275 to 307. I closed the third and last vent on the bottom so all three are closed now.. Temp has dropped to 293 now in 12 minutes... Will re open the one bottom vent back to 33% open when it gets close to my target range. Thanks for your help.

The ribs had a very dark, almost black color when I took them out to foil...Hope that is fine. Should have taken a pic. Oh well..
Click to expand...

Usually the color of the ribs has to do with the rub you use (the amount of sugar in the rub) and the amount of smoke. I have noticed that at higher temps I get a darker color but I attribute it to more wood burning/smoldering. Sugar in a rub will usually "burn" and cause a darker color as well

Either way it is ok and they should come out fine
 
Okay, my first venture with the WSM is now complete! The final result looks like I over cooked the ribs since when I went to pick them up with the tongs, they bent in the middle and broke in half. The main, thing is they tasted better than any ribs I have done before, even while overlooking them and the meat falling off the bones when I tried cutting them.

I cooked two slabs of baby backs, about 2.3 lbs each. Was shooting for 250, but cooked for the first 2 1/2 hours at around 275-279. I then foiled them, apple juice, brown sugar, honey for 1 hr 15 min, roughly 280-290. Then took off foil, let sit in the smoker for another 15 min, put on the sauce, and 15 min more. Total cook time was 4 hrs 15 min. Any idea what part caused me to overcook them? I am happiest that they tasted great regardless.. It's all a learning experience!
 
Grant Narita said:
Okay, my first venture with the WSM is now complete! The final result looks like I over cooked the ribs since when I went to pick them up with the tongs, they bent in the middle and broke in half. The main, thing is they tasted better than any ribs I have done before, even while overlooking them and the meat falling off the bones when I tried cutting them.

I cooked two slabs of baby backs, about 2.3 lbs each. Was shooting for 250, but cooked for the first 2 1/2 hours at around 275-279. I then foiled them, apple juice, brown sugar, honey for 1 hr 15 min, roughly 280-290. Then took off foil, let sit in the smoker for another 15 min, put on the sauce, and 15 min more. Total cook time was 4 hrs 15 min. Any idea what part caused me to overcook them? I am happiest that they tasted great regardless.. It's all a learning experience!
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Prolly running a little hot....try shooting for 225F for 3-2-1 ribs.
And the sugar content in your rub probably caused the darkening.

It was a good maiden voyage though !
Your following cooks will keep getting easier and even better !
 
Your results are pretty much what you should expect for that time/temp. Time in the foil is especially important. Lower temps or shorter times - either would push it in the direction you probably want. I prefer to do back ribs at 275, actually.

Congrats on your first cook. It only gets better.
 
Yeah I really wanted to cook them at a lesser temp, but once it got past my goal of 250 it was difficult to bring the temp down much. I don't know if it's true or not but it sounds like the WSM runs hotter the first couple of times you use it. Will try again this tue or sat with baby backs again before trying my hand at the slabs of beef ribs I already bought. Thanks for your help.
 
Definitely think your time in foil was the problem. I do my bb's at 275, but I have timed my foiling on them down to 30-45 minutes just to tenderize the a little. Any more than that and they get soft easy.

Lately I have been using no foil and just cooking straight through and they come out great to, so experiment some on your next cook.

At least they tasted good!

Oh, and I did some beef ribs last Tuesday and put them on around 260 and let them cook without foil. They came out great so both ways works
 
Careful how many coals you light initially. Minion is your friend. :) I bet they still tasted good?
 
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