First Cook......


 
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Dan M.

TVWBB Member
Tonight I'm doing 2 shoulders for an overnight cook. I put them on around 7, it's now 9:30 and the temp. is still low around 180. How long does it typically take to come up to 200 before I can close the vents partially? I'm doing the Minion method, full of unlit, with a few chunks of hickory and about 15-20 lit on top. It's now 2.5 hours and holding around 180 still. Any thoughts? BTW, the vents are fully open, and the top vent was open, but I just closed it 50%. Thanks!

- Also, have a Brinkmann charcoal pan full of water in there too!! Using two thermometers mounted in the lid, one reads 195, the other better quality one reads 180. Maybe I shouldn't have put the meat on right away, instead put the meat on after the temp. rose to 300-350????
 
If you're having trouble getting your temp up, why close the top vent? With two shoulders and a full Brinkmann pan of water, you have a lot of mass-- more lit briquettes to start are called for.

Wait for temp to rise to 300-350??? Where does that come from? The MM calls for putting the meat on when you assemble the cooker, and controlling the temps on the way up, not after letting temps peak.
 
I usually do a minion method with LOTS of meat (30-35 lbs) and cold water in a Brinkman pan. It is not unusual for the temps to take 3 hours to climb - so long as I have a 70-100 degree difference between the meat and the smoker, I am happy.

I have gotten enough experience now to know that once it gets to 190 or 200, I can close the three bottom vents to about 33% or so and go to bed, reasonably confident that it will reach 230 and stay there - and if it doesn't, the Maverick will wake me up.

Like Doug said, though...leave that top vent open.
 
Well.......it's going to be a long night, not necessarily a bad thing. 11:35pm and holding steady at 205. Bottom vents fully open, top vent closed. I'll close the bottom to 1/3 closed. I'm so used to the ECB fluctuating from 190 to 350 or so. Time for a Padron and some relaxation. Can't wait 'til tomorrow! Throwing on some ribs in the morning as well. Thanks for the help!
 
Howdy Dan, another Californian doing an over nighter. You need to open that top vent 100% and leave it that way. Closing it down will cause your smoker to create some nasty creosote forming smoke that you don't want on your bbq. If you have temp fluctuations between 190 and 350 something is wrong. Don't be surprised if you wind up with your bottom vents just barely cracked to maintain your temp. I've been stable now at 225* grate temp for a few hours and my vents are- top 100%, 1 bottom closed, 2 open about 1/4" or less.
 
There is no reason for the top vent to be closed even a little bit.

205 is quite a low temp, especially for butts.

The meat should go on when you add the lit when doing the Minion and assemble the cooker--it's kind of the point of the Minion method. Two hours and still not up to temp is on the long side--but possible if the butts were quite cold and you used cold water in the pan--use hot. Leave all vents open till your lid temp hits ~200 then start closing lower vents only. Again, leave the top vent alone and open.
 
Hey guys, it's now 6:45am, it never got above 210 all night...???? Adding more fuel now, I did start with cold meat, and the pan water was tap on the colder side. Next time I'll add more lit at the beginning. Had the bottom vents open 100% all night also.
 
I had it open 100% all night. Only had it to 50% for a short period to see if it would affect the temps. Even though the temps were low, it's amazing to see how well they hold vs. the ECB. I would be all over the place with the ECB. I've got a Smokey Joe temp. that is now reading about 215, and a cheap Lowe's one that is at 275. Vents are now at 33% open, just put spare ribs on.
 
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