HELP: 2nd cook, trouble keeping my temperature up above 225F without mods.


 
E

euge.lee

TVWBB Member
So I just completed my second smoke... a midnight brisket cook. The meat looks fantastic and the smoker did very well overnight, temps were between 220 and 245 the whole time with very little intervention from me over the 11.5 hours.

During the cook, I did stir the coals twice and prop open the inverted access door to get temps up for about 30 minutes.

The problem is, I had to invert the access door and leave the bottom vents open 100% the entire time to maintain those temperatures. With the bottom vents 100% open and the access door in the normal closed position, the built-in smoker lid thermometer would be 200-210 at most.

Like I said, the cook turned out great since I was able to keep the temps proper, but I don't see how I could ever get the smoker's temps up to 300F if I ever needed to without a lot of work on my part. Is this normal?


Here are details of the cook:
- Yes there was plenty of fuel in the cooker, a full grate of charcoal lit via Minion Method.

- SoCal weather, so 50-60F ambient overnight with no wind.

- Very hot water in the 2-gallon water bowl, was consistently boiling throughout the cook.

- 1 brisket on top, bottom grill not used.

- Top vent 100% open the whole time and brand new, dry Kingsford Blue Bag briquettes.

- Weber built-in thermometer verified to read 211F in boiling water.

- Had issues keeping temps up on my first cook too CLICK HERE
 
In my limited experience, you will never get the WSM over 300 with any water in the pan. If you want high heat I would suggest just covering the pan with foil, no water.
 
No, it's not normal.

What size brisket?

First guess is that the coal was not dry despite appearances; second, that temps were actually higher.

How many lit did you start with? Did you add the lit, assemble the cooker, and load the meat in at the same time?
 
brisket.jpg


10lbs. brisket after trimming.

I don't see why the coal wouldn't be dry... new bag in Southern California with humidity of 50%.

25 lit coals... started in a Weber chimney. I added the lit coals, assembled the cooler and waited for temps to reach 235F before adding meat.

By the way, just finished dinner and it was awesome! Thanks so much to this site for the guidance!
 
I added the lit coals, assembled the cooler and waited for temps to reach 235F before adding meat.
Click to expand...
Don't. Add the meat when you assemble. It's a key part of the point of the Minion. Adding cold meat to a warm cooker and you are adding a new heat sink.

As for the K, it can be be moist irrespective of location.
 
Don't. Add the meat when you assemble. It's a key part of the point of the Minion. Adding cold meat to a warm cooker and you are adding a new heat sink.
Click to expand...

Interesting... not what it says in the instructions for the "midnight cook brisket" but I do see it stated as such in the section describing the Minion Method.

Regardless, that would be moot after a few hours anyhow... why was I required to do an inverted door and vents open at 100% the entire cook? You really think coals? How do you find out for sure and/or mitigate this issue? This is the third bag of charcoal I've used between my Weber Kettle and WSM. Two different cooks in the WSM used two different bags of charcoal... but both had problems getting heat up to proper temp without manipulation of the access door.
 
I'm with Kevin, only thing I can figure is that you had moist coals. They very well may have gotten wet long ago on the way to wherever you bought them and still had some residual moisture left. A full ring, plus 25 light, with the door propped, should get to 300+ pretty quick, even with water in the pan. I would also get a remote thermometer and not rely on the lid thermometer.

When I'm shooting for 225ish cooks, my bottom vents are normally all about 25% open, at the most. I don't put water in the pan very often, so I can't really speak expertly on that subject or the variation in temps with water, but without water, keeping 225 is usually a "vents closed" operation.

I keep my coals in the house at all times too, winter and summer, and they are in the entryway area, in front of vent, so they are always being dried. A little humidity can really screw up your coals.
 
i find temp control is easier without water. i use an empty pan and catch the temps on the way up and it holds just fine.

gives me lots of room to go up or down depending on what i am cooking. i dont have to worry about refilling the pan and temps rising as the water evaporates over time.

anyway opening the vents or starting with more lit will get temps up higher just make sure your top vent is full open. i only close that when i need to drop temps faster than just closing the bottom will allow.
 
Yeah it's tough to achieve the temperatures you're talking about if you have water in the pan. I generally can't get above 260 degrees with water in the pan, no matter how much charcoal I have.
 
Euge.lee, I experienced the same thing when I first got my WSM and had the same responses, moist charcoal. However, things didn't change much for me after getting new charcoal. I've concluded that for my cooks, I simply had so much meat in the WSM that I was limiting the airflow most of the time. Your 10lbs of meat shouldn't be effecting your airflow though.

I also would have to agree with Kevin to let the WSM build up some temperature before putting the meat on. I usually let it come up to at least 225 before putting wood and meat in. When I smoke brisket, I'm aiming for a 225 lid temperature on my smoker which will put me at an average of 1 hour per pound for a whole packet, almost everytime.

After adding my briskets, I'll monitor it for an hour to make sure the temps settle. If they dip low, I'll crack the lid which will pull the temps up. I find that if I have the smoker rolling between the 240 to 260 mark, when I add the brisket it'll settle around the 220 to 230. Of course that's my WSM here in the Seattle area. Once you find a process that works, it's not this frustrating to use the WSM.
 
Thanks for the replies so far everyone.

I'm also wondering if 225 on the 2009 WSM lid thermometer is the same as 225 on a older WSMs with temperature probes stuck through the top vent.

If I stick in a 5" probe through the top vent, I get a much higher (like 20+ degrees) reading than on my built-in thermometer. Both thermometers read properly when inserted in boiling water.
 
Euge, there really shouldn't be too big of a spread between the thermos in that situation. I'd say something may be off with your gauge.

Have you tested the thermos in icewater baths as well? I don't trust your built-in one given what you just said. Weird...
 
Wow, 25 lit is a lot. I go with 13-15, with 2 open vents. I wait until 200 then fully close all vents, ,throw the meat on and it will hold 235-250 all day. Was waiting until 220, but was getting temp creep. Did you use the same bag of charcoal for both smokes? Maybe it's a bad bag, if there is such a thing.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top