First time BRITU on my brand new WSM - some questions


 
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Doug Parizo

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I just christened my new WSM with my first smoke: six slabs of COSTCO baby back ribs. Thanks to the good advice from the regulars on this board, I was able to avoid common mistakes, as well as deal with a downpour throughout the smoke. Thank you!

The ribs came out great and were very popular, but I still have some questions from the experience. Thanks in advance for any answers.

1) Starting out, I was a little confused at what temp to target (I was measuring at the lid with a Weber replacement thermometer) and somehow I settled on 240. Well, thruout the smoke I barely got to that temp. Instead, I fluctuated between 210 and 230. Does that sound right?

2) Also, I did the whole smoke with the bottom vents partially or fully open. I know that's not the right way, but everytime I closed the bottom vents, the temp took a dive towards 210 (and possibly lower) and since I had it in my head that 240 was my target, I kept freaking out and opening the vents. (FYI, I was using Big Green Egg Charcoal and about 4:20 into the smoke I added a load of hot coals, figuring I was probably burning em out with the vents open.) Was I doing something wrong?

So, I wasn't exactly the master of heat control. From my reading on this board, I guess I expected the WSM to settle into a temp around 240 and hold it with the bottom vents closed, but that's not what happened at all. I was suprised at how quickly the temperature jumped around when I fooled with the lower vents. One last clue: the few times I opened up the WSM (once to foil the ribs and once to load fresh coals) once I put it back together the temp shot up to 230-240 both times. I was suprised that it would reach it's hottest points right after I had the whole thing apart.

Anyway, I totally expected the ribs to be completely undercooked at 6PM, but I got a lucky suprise: they were perfectly cooked! /infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif So I guess I lucked out.

Thanks again for all the great advice!
 
It's normal for the bottom vents to remain open a little. Roughly 25-30%.

240? is ok for a lid vent temperature.

Opening the lid will let in oxygen, causing a temporary temperature spike.

It sounds like you kept over correcting, and too fast. You need to anticipate what will happen, and adjust the vents slowly.

I would bring the smoker up to temperature using the Minion Method, and I would be very slow to make any vent adjstments after that.
 
Doug
Welcome. Like Fred said and you found out, small adjustments make differences but you need to give them time stabilize before readjusting the vents.
Once you make a change give a 1/2 hour or more to settle (you normally will only have to make a couple adjustments during a rib cook).
Jim
 
Congrats!

Lucky for us all that pork can be very forgiving!

Temps taken at the top vent in the lib are typically about 20*F hotter than at the top grate. If you're only seeing 210*F at the top, then the ribs are probably only seeing 190*F. What was your total cook time?

Several factors can account for how much heat you get and for how long.
- How much charcoal did you start with?
- What method did you use?
- What was the air temp?
- How much rain?
- How much wind?

The lower vents should only require small changes. Large changes make large temp swings. I grilled steaks on Monday and choked off a searing lump charcoal fire to smoldering in less than 15 minutes with all the vents closed.

Opening the lid provides a huge air flow to the fire below and will naturally cause temps to soar. When this happens, you wind up fighting a temp "rollercoaster". That's why it's important to keep the lid on as much as possible.

The important thing is to not "freak out". Make minor changes in vent settings and give the temp time to react. Soon you too can be a "master of heat control". /infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif
 
Greetings Doug,
I cannot give advise yet as I only have 1 cooking under my belt. I took the shine off my first bullet last sunday. I can say that the "Minion Method" described here on this website worked for me. My temps were so consistant that a cook log would have been TOO boring to read..!!! I am serious !!! I still have my old offset, but probably will NEVER use it again. Temp control in the offset is a logistic nightmare for me !! Anyway, lots of excellent tips here on the forum, made my first cook "textbook" smooth.
 
Thanks for all the replies -- very helpful! Travis, here are some answers to your questions:

What was your total cook time? 6 hours

- How much charcoal did you start with? 2 chimneys overflowing of lump
- What method did you use? Standard Method
- What was the air temp? 55-65
- How much rain? 40% of the cook time; big downpours
- How much wind? not much

Lastly, here's what I'm still confused about: Folks have advised me to be patient in letting the WSM settle down after making a vent adjustment. Does that mean that an initial big drop in temperature (after closing vents) could actually reverse itself given time? I didn't consider that possibility...

Many thanks, as always!
 
Doug
When you are adjusting the vents small movements makes a difference, going from open to closed will cause you to continually chase the pit temp around.
You don't need to use all the vents on the bottom, normally I will have one or two of the bottom vents closed and control the temps by using only one vent, it would be the down wind vent.
Try using small changes in the setting and see how the pit temps react. You will get the hang of it.
Jim
 
Doug,

You mention the the temps were hard to keep up...is it possible that you had the water pan on the coals? The water pan sits on the same rack as the lower grate, many people have made the common mistake of putting the water pan under that rack. Even with rain, using lump coal your temps should have been higher.
 
Jim -- thanks for your advice -- I'm honored! /infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

Gail -- nope, I got the water pan part right, thank goodness.
 
Hi Doug,

When I said the vents should be open 25-30%, that was a rough estimate; more to illustrate that you can't cook with all of the vents closed. Most of the questions Travis asked, will affect the real vent percentages.

No, the smoker will not "reverse itself" after "closing the vents." The point is, you need to make small adjustments, and you wouldn't normally ever close them all.

Likewise, the vents would rarely be open "all the way," except towards the end of the smoke, if you were running low on fuel and needed a boost.

Try the Minion Method. It is much easier to bring the temperature up gradually, than it is to bring a hot smoker temperature down.

The charcoal is burning. If you open a vent a little more, you add oxygen, giving it more life, and it burns hotter. If you close a vent a little, the opposite happens. Do the adjustments slowly, and give the smoker time to react.
 
Doug

You may experience better control on your first cooks using briquets rather than lump. Two overflowing chimneys of lump, using what are considered average vent settings, should have produced some rather hot temps rather than too low.

My guess is that with that combination of fuel and the vents closed, the temps you were getting were the result of an air leak somewhere. Might want to inspect the center section for out-of-roundness, or the access door for warpage.
 
Fred -- thanks -- that makes good sense.

Doug -- I noticed right out of the box that the access door didn't fit very precisely! I never considered that it would cause a cooking problem. Maybe that's it!
 
Doug,

I agree with Doug. Use Kingsford, at least 'til you get the hang of this gizmo.

And a leaky door could be a problem. It doesn't take much air to make a big difference. Kind of like when I first drove a car. I was amazed at what a little movement of the steering wheel made to the direction of the car.
 
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