First Cook with DigiQ


 
J

Jake D.

New member
It went well. 3 racks of back ribs. I started around 11 am, and have only 1 gripe. The temperature didn't come up as quick as I wanted. I was trying to pull the ribs before the Carolina/OU game (which gave 6 hours, thought I only needed around 4.5). The temperature came up really slow. I had to add more coals (lit and unlit) to speed up things. Temp finally got to 225 between 12 and 12:30. Pulled the ribs a little sooner than I wanted, but they were still good, and the DigiQ did great to maintain 225.

Any pointers on bringing the temp up quickly? I started out with about a 1/4 full chimney of lit, 1/3 to 1/2 full ring of unlit.
 
You need to get your unit up to temp before you turn the ATC on. Assuming you are using a WSM use a FULL WEBER chimney to start. The cheaper chimneys are smaller than a weber. (This costed me $50K in another contest) For ribs I usually top a fully lit chimney with another full load of unlit briqs but I've been experimenting with lump lately which burns hotter and cleaner the blue-K. This is all done 3-2-1. That's just for fuel though. I add hickory, cherry, oak and maple for flavor and it works quite well for ribs on the WSM.

Don't rely on the ATC to get your unit to a starting temp. Get your unit up to temp THEN turn it on. The ATC's will do this for you but it's always best to wake them up under "ideal" conditions.
 
Rob I'm curious why you suggest getting up to temperature before turning on the ATC. I always have the ATC bring the smoker up to temperature. As long as I have had the smoker vents closed more than the desired temp the ATC with fan is able to hit the desired temperature.
 
If cooking on my WSM I dump my lit (usually 8 - 12 Rancher briquettes, add my meat, close her up and let my Stoker bring her up to temp. on 100% of my cooks. On my ceramic I let Stoker bring her up to temp 90% of my cooks.

I'll assume you're using a WSM. When doing 3 racks of BB my WSM would be up to temp in about 30 minutes (225). I have the 18" with a 5 CFM fan. You weren't using your water pan filled with water were you?
 
I guess I should have specified my hardware:

WSM
10 cfm fan
Weber Charcoal
Nothing in the pan (aside from foil)
Air flow pointed down per instructions

Like I said, it took a while to get up to temp, so much that I added more fuel. Once at 225, it controlled very well.
 
That seems odd.

I do exactly like Larry. Light a handful of briquettes and dump them on a ring of unlit. Add meat. Close up, power on stoker. It brings it up to temp fairly quickly, and I've never thought it took too long.

With a 10 CFM fan on an 18" WSM, only loaded with ribs, I think something is wrong. The guru has a damper, if I recall - do you know if that was open or partially closed?
 
I started with the damper at half closed. When I realized it wasn't coming up quickly, I opened all the way. Once that was slow, I added more fuel.

I think the airflow as fine as it went to about 250 on the way up before getting back to 225-230.

Next time I will be sure to add at least half a chimney worth of lit to a more full ring.
 
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