Cannot get my temps down - any ideas?


 
C

Chris from OHIO

TVWBB Member
I am cooking a butt tonight and I put a full ring of Kingsford in along with about 2 fist-sized chunks of Hickory. I had the bottom vents all the way open and the top as well until it came up to 250. I closed the bottoms to 25% and the temps kept rising. I now have it at all vents closed on bottom - top vent closed, door sealed and I am still at 305 degrees. Any Ideas? My water pan is in but has 3 fire bricks in it - no water and no foil. Oh and mine's a 22.5" THe lid seems to leak around the base (smoke escaping)
 
Nothing wrong with 250
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My bad I see your at 305, that case hold on like Brian says and don't open the lid "til they come down!
 
Smoke leaking at the lid is a non-issue. How did you start the cook? Standard? Minion? If Minion, how many lit?

The problem was waiting to close vents till the cooker hit 250.
 
The cooker hit 250, you made a vent adjustment and the temperature went to 305*. Next time try the same vent adjustment when the cooker hits 200* then wait 30-45 minutes to see what happens
 
Thanks for the responses. I used the minion method and started with a full ring and a chimney of about 24 briquettes. I will close vents down in the future earlier but even with the vents closed I never really dropped down below 300 until about 6 hours in.
 
That's because the temps were allowed to get too high before vents were closed. The firebricks thus became part of the problem. Unlike water, firebricks can absorb lots of heat and can get very hot. This heat gets transferred to the surrounding air. Water can get to boiling (212) only. Excess heat is then released as steam. If you are going to use firebricks (or ceramics or sand) it is important not to allow the temp to climb too high before restricting air intake or all that heat that gets absorbed up front keeps emanating for some time, as you discovered.
 
As others have written the advice I give when going dry is to "catch your temps on the way up." It's much easier to raise the temp using this method than lower it. I use the clay saucer, start my MM with about 8 - 10 lit, when my cooker hits 200 I close down all bottom vents, see where she settles in and then adjust as needed (slowly) to reach my desired temperature. As Kevin wrote, your firebricks absorbed a lot of heat and will take time to cool down, regardless of the vent positions. Again, catch temps on the way up and you're golden.
 
[ Again, catch temps on the way up and you're golden.[/QUOTE]

Is this the same technique WHEN using the water pan filled with water?

Richard
 
I'm laughing as I read your message Richard, not at your question but at the fact that I don't remember the answer. I only used water in my WSM maybe two cooks. WOW, I feel pretty "dumb" at this point.
 
Don't mind if I do,
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. Let me rephrase; Yes, I just don't remember how close to your target temp you want to start adjusting vents, and with water I doubt you would shut the bottom vents 100% as I do with my saucer cooks, but I could be wrong . . .
 
I did my first saucer cook last night and I was surprised when I had to close all my bottom vents when I got close to temp. Sure enough, though, it held rock-steady 250* all night with the bottom vents closed.

I'm sold on the saucer mod.
 
My 2 pennies... you started with too many lit coals. Catching on the way up only works if you aren't starting with too much heat. For someone starting with only 14 lit coals it's easier to "catch" the temp then someone who has almost twice that many.

My Minion starts are typically 14-16 TOPS if i'm aiming low and slow. Just remember that if you miss your temps with firebrick, sand, clay, etc it will take a while for your adjustment to take hold. Don't fully choke off the fire or you'll find in an hour you have to start the chimney again!!
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by richard garcia:
Is this the same technique WHEN using the water pan filled with water?

Richard </div></BLOCKQUOTE>Yes.
 
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