Epic FAIL using Minion method. What happened??


 
K

KFields

New member
Hey everyone,

So, on my 3rd ever cook on my 18.5, I decided to try for making buckboard bacon. I cured the meat as directed, and everything seemed fine. The meat was not the issue here. FYI it was about a 4lb. chunk of pork loin, and about a 7lb. Shoulder. Both placed on top rack, with ample space between meats. The day was an average California day at about 65ºF with a slight breeze.

For the cook, I was planning on keeping my WSM at 200º. I was thinking it would go up to maybe 225º at most, but after reading the Minion method tutorial, I felt comfortable that it would be an easy, low maintenance cook. Boy was I wrong....

Here is what I did, please see if you can tell me where I went wrong. I am all ears. This is my firs time ever using the minion method, my other 2 cooks have been using the standard method.

What I did: (all using KBB and mix of Hickory and Apple chunks)

- Filled charcoal ring up.
- Buried 5-6 chunks of wood into the ring at different depths and sizes of chunks.
- Lit approx 1/2 chimney of KBB briquettes.
- Let them get ashed/ grey.
- Sprinkled lit briquettes over the full charcoal ring.
- Made sure at least 1 or 2 chunks of wood was touching a lit briquette.
- Added lukewarm water to pan. Filled pan.
- Assembled cooker
- Placed meat on top grate. Placed thermometer on grate
- Placed cover on cooker
- Vents: Top = Open, Bottom = All about 1/2 open, waiting for temp to hit 200º then close slightly to keep temp around 200.
**All temps taken at grate level using a Thermoworks DOT temp with air probe)** Yes, it is accurate.

This is when things went bad. I walked away from the cooker, came back about 30 minutes later and the temp was about 300º. I closed all bottom vents, hoping it would drop. I just watched the temp climb. And climb. What the heck??? Now I am pushing 350º-360º. So, I opened the door and looked in, and pretty much had an entire ring of charcoal, all going at once. The pre lit briquettes I put in seemed to have lit ALL the charcoal in the ring. Now the thing is jamming along, and the temp will NOT go under 300.

What to do?? Well, I grabbed a long set of tongs, and started pulling lit charcoal from the ring. Obviously it was not going to work the way it was going. I removed a bunch of the lit briquettes and placed in a safe place. I closed all bottom vents, and even with about a 1/2 full ring, it was jamming along at 250-260. Too warm for buckboard. So, I pulled some more of the lit charcoal. The temps finally settled around 225. I felt I could deal with that. After about 2 hours, temps started to suffer from me removing so much fuel. So now I am under 200, around 170-180º. Not good. And the tmps of the meat would not rise. Pretty much hovered for 20-30 minutes. I placed some of the fuel I had removed, back into the cooker, and also some new fresh charcoal to try and get the temps back up to 200. Well, after a lot of fussing and working, it ended up getting to about 200, but no very easy. What a pain in the rear!! Took lots of work over the 4 hour cook, that i almost pulled the meat and finished in the oven. I kept with it and finished the cook on the WSM.

As for the meat, it came out great. Better than I had thought. Maybe a little TOO much smoke on it, but still very good. If I had walked away from the WSM and never checked it, probably would have had a different outcome.

So any idea of what happened? Maybe its obvious, but did I put too much lit charcoal on top of the unlit ring? I think my biggest problem was not counting how many briquettes I pre-lit. It honestly was not that many. Maybe 30? I didn't bury any of the charcoal into the ring either. They were just placed on top. I was surprised with how FAST the small amount of lit charcoal had lit all the other briquettes.

Any input would be greatly appreciated. I want to learn how to use this method so I can do shoulders and other lower temp foods in the future. Thanks in advance for the help. Love this site and all the help I have gotten. You guys rock!!
 
Hi KFields.

It looks to me that you did nothing wrong except get a bit heavy with the initial lit briqs, and it got big on you. No big deal. You rescued it, and it turned out fine. That was NOT an epic fail. I call that skill.
In my 14.5 WSM, when doing Minion, I never put on more than 10-12 lit briqs.
Imagine if you hadn't put any water in the pan. Ol' Smokey would have gone into orbit! :D

Edit: Great post. Good info.
 
Last edited:
I use the tin can minion method with 12 lit briqs and a full charcoal ring (with four small chunks around the tin can, in the top layer). I learned that I had to catch the heat on the way up or it would get too hot. My "low and slow" is at 275°. I start closing the bottom vents at 200°. I typically end up with two vents nearly closed and the third one only open about 1/3 with the top NEVER closed more than 50% (generally leave it wide open). When I am finished, I close all of the vents and use the used charcoal in my grills.

If I wanted to smoke at 225°, I would start closing at 175°. You may have to adjust this, slightly, to your smoker, but not by much, I would think.

On the other hand, my 14.5" and Mini-Joe it is necessary to allow them to reach my desired temperatures before partially closing the vents.

Your described smoke is NOT a failure - it is simply part of the learning curve. You're getting the idea. You just need to reduce the number of lit coals and "catch it on the way up".

Keep on smokin',
Dale53:wsm:
 
The guys above have you covered. I agree with them.

In Chris' tutorial; http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/fireup2.html#minion , notice he says to use 15-20 lit briquettes which is far fewer than 3 qts (half chimney).

Also, close your vents. In fact don't be afraid to close two completely and barely crack the other.

You can also close the top vent some. You can close it up to 50% but ensure its always opened more than the bottle three combined to maintain a positive chimney effect.

All is well that ends well.
 
Thanks for the help guys! I knew you would have some solutions to try and tips for next time.

As I said, the meat actually turned out great. I don't feel it was a failure of a cook, but just an absolute failure of the Minion method itself. I definitely did not want a fully lit ring of charcoal, and thats what happened. I did try closing all vents, except the top one. All bottom vents closed, and the temps still took off! I just don't think I caught it in time to slow the lighting of other charcoal. It was definitely a learning process!

Any advice on what seems to work better for a low and slow cook?? Sprinkle the lit briquettes over the top of a full ring, or the coffee can method?
 
KFields said:
Any advice on what seems to work better for a low and slow cook?? Sprinkle the lit briquettes over the top of a full ring, or the coffee can method?
Click to expand...
me personally , I'm a coffee can guy , but I think they both work. I think the key things to take from this is to start with just a few lit coals. And "catching the heat on the way up" (as mr McGee puts it) is hugely important if you want to do low and slow. It is dang hard to cool that fire down once it's roaring. I would advise you to study the posts of Robert McGee and dwain pannell....I learned a ton from those two gents.
 
Thanks for sharing. I am going to do my first Minion Method cook tomorrow. This will be my 3rd cook overall with the WSM 18.5. I'll be sure to keep a close watch on it.
 
That is not a fail.....you saved it, that is skill.

Always ask "how did it turn out?" if good then it worked.

I've had a couple get out of control in the past and every cook throws something new at you. Stay calm and let the WSM work for you.

good job.

chris
 
Well, so I have actually learned a lot from this. And thanks to all! I appreciate all the positive feedback that it wasn't an actual FAIL, but an actual successful cook. For all this postive feedback, Ill add some food ****!! Haha. I did actually take pics of the process. Ill add them. I cant wait to cook again and try this again. I know it will work!! Loveing my WSM so far and cant wait to get it down!

Buckboard shoulder. Amazing flavor!!
IMG_4201_zpsdbfc9ba0.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]

Post cook:


Pre-cook:
 
The only thing that I could think of is you have a big air leak. Like an out of round cooking section. I've done a lot of cooks using the same method you used, but I'll boil my water first so its good and hot. I also do not fill the water bowl, about a gal is all. Plus i start with all the bottom vents open 100%. Let me tell ya, in the first 30mins it has no chance of getting to 300°! It can take an hour or more to get to 250°. That being said, i am at 5000'. I assume where you are in California your closer to sea level.
 
S.Six said:
The only thing that I could think of is you have a big air leak. Like an out of round cooking section. I've done a lot of cooks using the same method you used, but I'll boil my water first so its good and hot. I also do not fill the water bowl, about a gal is all. Plus i start with all the bottom vents open 100%. Let me tell ya, in the first 30mins it has no chance of getting to 300°! It can take an hour or more to get to 250°. That being said, i am at 5000'. I assume where you are in California your closer to sea level.
Click to expand...

Well, I do get some smoke leaking from where the bottom and the middle sections meet. Also get a LOT of leaking around the door. I actually just ordered a LavaLock gasket kit today to try and seal the lower section and also the door. Im pretty sure it will make a big difference. I hope it will make a big difference. Not sure if the middle section is out of round. Even if it is Im SOL, because I bought it used on CL and its a pre- 2008 model. So, I have to deal with it.
 
Great advice so far, I have an older WSM with a very leaky door also, when I cook, I start with my bottom vents all closed, I si with it for 30 minutes or a beer or 2 to see where it wants to be temp wise and adjust accordingly.
 
You did well, imho.
I would suggest that a full charcoal ring is a bit much fuel for a 4 hour cook along with too many lit coals for the Minion start.
I know when I use too big of a charge & hit it with a lot of lit brickets, temps can get out of hand.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top