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Cold weather smoke
- Thread starter T Muotka
- Start date
Larry Wolfe
Closed Account
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by T Muotka:
I am planning on smoking a brisket overnight and the forecast calls for temps in the low 20's. Is there anything I need to be aware of? Should I be more concerned with the wind or the low temps?
Duke </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Yes, the wind will effect your temps more than anything else. Create a wind break if you can out of some plywood or put the WSM somewhere it will be less effected by the wind. Fill your charcoal ring with as much coal as you can get in it as well. You will burn more coal in windy conditions. Good luck!
I am planning on smoking a brisket overnight and the forecast calls for temps in the low 20's. Is there anything I need to be aware of? Should I be more concerned with the wind or the low temps?
Duke </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Yes, the wind will effect your temps more than anything else. Create a wind break if you can out of some plywood or put the WSM somewhere it will be less effected by the wind. Fill your charcoal ring with as much coal as you can get in it as well. You will burn more coal in windy conditions. Good luck!
Lou Tarnay
TVWBB Fan
You will use more fuel in cold weather. At 20 degrees you will use approximately 15% more fuel than you would at 60 degrees to maintain 250 degrees at the lid. This figure will go up if you have wind. Wind robs heat. Precipitation on the cooker will increase the figure further. Water is a great conductor of heat, and will cool your cooker (as you might guess)! I've smoked in the snow (under the overhang of my houses eaves). The snow blew on to the cooker. It was a successful cook, but I was out of fuel after 10 hours, and had to replenish when I woke up in the morning. Smoker temp was below 170!
Ron Hunter
TVWBB Member
Lou
Regarding the problem of running out of fuel after 10 hours - Do you remember the weather temps and how much the vents were open? This last June I got my WSM, haven't had a cold cook yet.
Also, I've used the brinkman water pan for all but my 1st smoke. At what temps would you suggest using the piedmont or some other waterless method?
thanks
Regarding the problem of running out of fuel after 10 hours - Do you remember the weather temps and how much the vents were open? This last June I got my WSM, haven't had a cold cook yet.
Also, I've used the brinkman water pan for all but my 1st smoke. At what temps would you suggest using the piedmont or some other waterless method?
thanks
Lou Tarnay
TVWBB Fan
Hi Ron
That night we were in the high twenties with snow. It was last winter, so I don't remember my vent settings. My cooker is easy to regulate to 250 degrees at the lid. It usually loses 10 to 15 degrees during the night (7 to 8 hours). I have never gotten up in the middle of the night to check it since my first cook! When I get up in the morning it is usually perking along at between 225 and 230 at the lid. I give each of the legs a tap with a 2x4 and open one of the bottom vents about 1/4 more, and she usually starts back up to 240 for 3 to 5 hours without additional fuel. That's why I was amazed when I woke up on that snowy morning to find her at 170 with only a few briquettes left. I remember that I did have my vents open farther than normal when I got her regulated the previous evening. I didn't connect the higher oxygen requirement to a higher fuel burn until after I had got her running again and then sat down to think about it. Makes perfect sense now. I've had a few cold cooks sense. Now I just pile in more fuel. The rest works as normal.
I'm kind of fundamental about water. I always use it. I file that one under "It ain't broke, I ain't fixin' it"! I use the larger Brinkman pan (I've lost the little one that came with the cooker). The great thing about a long cook with butts or brisket is that the pan will fill 1/4 to 1/3 with rendered fat, and still do it's job using the fat as the heat sink!
Cheers
Lou
That night we were in the high twenties with snow. It was last winter, so I don't remember my vent settings. My cooker is easy to regulate to 250 degrees at the lid. It usually loses 10 to 15 degrees during the night (7 to 8 hours). I have never gotten up in the middle of the night to check it since my first cook! When I get up in the morning it is usually perking along at between 225 and 230 at the lid. I give each of the legs a tap with a 2x4 and open one of the bottom vents about 1/4 more, and she usually starts back up to 240 for 3 to 5 hours without additional fuel. That's why I was amazed when I woke up on that snowy morning to find her at 170 with only a few briquettes left. I remember that I did have my vents open farther than normal when I got her regulated the previous evening. I didn't connect the higher oxygen requirement to a higher fuel burn until after I had got her running again and then sat down to think about it. Makes perfect sense now. I've had a few cold cooks sense. Now I just pile in more fuel. The rest works as normal.
I'm kind of fundamental about water. I always use it. I file that one under "It ain't broke, I ain't fixin' it"! I use the larger Brinkman pan (I've lost the little one that came with the cooker). The great thing about a long cook with butts or brisket is that the pan will fill 1/4 to 1/3 with rendered fat, and still do it's job using the fat as the heat sink!
Cheers
Lou
C. Howlett
TVWBB Super Fan
I haven't put water in the water pan for almost a year and I find temperature control to be pretty easy.