Alright folks, I'm pretty new here but been reading for a while. My Weber collection is modest - 18.5" WSM, Jumbo Joe, and two Smokey Joes - one I bought new, one old model I grabbed that was sitting at the dump that I plan to restore.
Today I'm probably adding a copper 22" Premium, and later a Master Touch Premium. It's a sickness...
Anyway, love the Webers, especially the WSM. That thing is simply amazing. It's really just the wife and I (and two little boys) so I mostly cook on the Jumbo Joe during the week. It gets cozy so that's why I'm adding a 22, but I digress. On both it and the Smokey I simply CANNOT get a good hot cook. On both, what ends up happening after I close the lid (and this is with a RED HOT, glowing bed of coals), there's maybe a 6" diameter "pocket" that stay red hot, the rest cool down. By cool down I mean you can hold your hand over them no problem. It has to be something I'm doing wrong and I just cannot figure it out.
Last night I did a chicken cook on the Jumbo - 3/4 of a regular chimney load of Royal Oak lump. It was an inferno when I dumped it. Let it sit with the lid off for 5 minutes or so, then closed it up and added the meat 10 minutes later. Within 20 minutes, only the left side was lit and it was red hot (all vents fully open). The right side was literally cool enough that you could pick up the charcoal with your hand that had originally been glowing red.
This happens on both grills, with all types of fuel. I've tried:
- Regular Kingsford
- Royal Oak Briquettes
- Royal Oak Lump
- Nature-Glo (Royal Oak)
I've lit it in the chimney until everything was red hot. I've lit it until you just see the bottom start to glow. I've lit only a small batch and dumped it on top of unlit in the grill. Nothing works to give me a good cook. What generally happens is once I put the lid on it immediately starts to cool down (as expected). For slow cooks like ribs, I can close the vents and it holds the temps pretty decent, but say I want to reverse sear a steak...it is not possible to go low initially and then open the vents and have it get hot enough to sear. I can only do this by taking the lid off and letting the air get to it for 10 minutes.
On the Smokey Joe, searing is not possible unless I do it immediately after dumping the coal. With all vents wide open, it simply will not stay hot enough.
Needless to say it's a bit frustrating, and it has to be user error because so many people for so many years cannot be wrong about how awesome these things are. My fuel is new and fresh - it works flawlessly in the WSM for 12-16 hour cooks so I don't *think* it's gotten damp, but I will say it's stored in my garage near the garage door which is open pretty much every day, so maybe it's absorbing humidity.
Hopefully ya'll can share some tips on what I might be doing wrong! Regardless, it does still churn out killer food. Here's some Cornell Chicken I fixed last night:
Today I'm probably adding a copper 22" Premium, and later a Master Touch Premium. It's a sickness...
Anyway, love the Webers, especially the WSM. That thing is simply amazing. It's really just the wife and I (and two little boys) so I mostly cook on the Jumbo Joe during the week. It gets cozy so that's why I'm adding a 22, but I digress. On both it and the Smokey I simply CANNOT get a good hot cook. On both, what ends up happening after I close the lid (and this is with a RED HOT, glowing bed of coals), there's maybe a 6" diameter "pocket" that stay red hot, the rest cool down. By cool down I mean you can hold your hand over them no problem. It has to be something I'm doing wrong and I just cannot figure it out.
Last night I did a chicken cook on the Jumbo - 3/4 of a regular chimney load of Royal Oak lump. It was an inferno when I dumped it. Let it sit with the lid off for 5 minutes or so, then closed it up and added the meat 10 minutes later. Within 20 minutes, only the left side was lit and it was red hot (all vents fully open). The right side was literally cool enough that you could pick up the charcoal with your hand that had originally been glowing red.
This happens on both grills, with all types of fuel. I've tried:
- Regular Kingsford
- Royal Oak Briquettes
- Royal Oak Lump
- Nature-Glo (Royal Oak)
I've lit it in the chimney until everything was red hot. I've lit it until you just see the bottom start to glow. I've lit only a small batch and dumped it on top of unlit in the grill. Nothing works to give me a good cook. What generally happens is once I put the lid on it immediately starts to cool down (as expected). For slow cooks like ribs, I can close the vents and it holds the temps pretty decent, but say I want to reverse sear a steak...it is not possible to go low initially and then open the vents and have it get hot enough to sear. I can only do this by taking the lid off and letting the air get to it for 10 minutes.
On the Smokey Joe, searing is not possible unless I do it immediately after dumping the coal. With all vents wide open, it simply will not stay hot enough.
Needless to say it's a bit frustrating, and it has to be user error because so many people for so many years cannot be wrong about how awesome these things are. My fuel is new and fresh - it works flawlessly in the WSM for 12-16 hour cooks so I don't *think* it's gotten damp, but I will say it's stored in my garage near the garage door which is open pretty much every day, so maybe it's absorbing humidity.
Hopefully ya'll can share some tips on what I might be doing wrong! Regardless, it does still churn out killer food. Here's some Cornell Chicken I fixed last night:
