help wsm to hot


 
D

Derrick Llewellyn

TVWBB Fan
Doing first cook and temp keeps rising. Have all intakes closed and top just cracked. Almost at 300*. Going to go add cool water now but could use ideas. Placed half chimney lit into ring.
 
I was told to never use more than 10 lit coals to start, so half a chimney might be part of it. If you don't have a lot of air leaks, leaving the vents closed should shut it down pretty quick.
Is the 300° at the dome thermo? If so you're probably 250° to 275° at the grate which is fine for cooking.
Don't panic
 
I had some water in pan. Temp was grate level with maveric. No not very air tight st all in fact surprised to all the smoke leaking. Added ice water and down to 275. Doing bbr so will watch them and adjusg cook time.
 
It sounds like you put too many lit coals in the cooker in the beginning.

I set up my cooks using the Minion method, with 4 or 5 wood chunks mixed in.
I start my charcoal with a high output propane torch in 2 different spots.
With all the vents wide open, I let it come up to temperature slowly.
When it gets within about 25 degrees of my target, I start to close off the bottom vents, slowly walking the temperature into the target.
I wait until the temperature is stable before putting any meat on. By that time the thick white smoke usually has stopped.

I don't use water. I use a foiled clay flower pot base in the foiled water pan. I find temperature control much easier.

Good luck.

Bob
 
At a competition this spring my Keg got away from me and with the insulation it takes a while to cool back down. I cooked spares in about 2 hours and figured I was hosed but they placed better than I thought they would.
Moral of the story is your ribs should be fine.
If your WSM is not grossly out of round it will seal up after a few cooks.
 
I found out the same way, they will cook a little hotter until they get good and gunky inside, for me it took about 6-7 long cooks.
 
As others have pointed out, it sounds like you started with too many lit coals. If you still have trouble with it running hot after 6 or 7 long cooks using fewer lit coals, there is a gasket seal mod that will help you hold low temperatures: http://tvwbb.com/eve/forums/a/...0069052/m/8711017716

I don't think that is your issue for now though, so I wouldn't recommend the gasket mod until you've tried fewer lit coals and seasoned the wsm with a few more cooks.
 
Derrick,
Next time go with fewer chimney coals 8-12 at the beginning. With external temps what they are around here, I'd close my bottom vents to about 50 percent when about 50-75 degrees from target pit temp. Then to 25 percent or less when within 25 degrees or so.

As mentioned above, the WSM tends to cook hot until it's seasoned a bit. Also, I've noticed that external temps are important, especially in open sun. I had to cut a shade tree in my backyard and now my WSM is in direct light. I think (know) it's cooking quite a bit hotter.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Derrick Llewellyn:
Doing first cook and temp keeps rising. Have all intakes closed and top just cracked. Almost at 300*. Going to go add cool water now but could use ideas. Placed half chimney lit into ring. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

---The 300 Temp. is what I shoot for before adding my meat to my WSM Classic.

Rick
 
I am noticing that WSM gets a better seal after every cook. Maybe #9 tomorrow will really seal the deal (ribs and beer can chicken).
 
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