Hi heat

[Glenn Lyman]

Can I get convection style cooking in the WSM 22 1/2" at higher temps..say 375 degrees for 1 hour without raging direct heat? Can I keep similar heat on both grates?

Chicken is my mission with this.

I'll do some experimenting, but what temp reads do you get from a full pan of hot coals, all vents open. I am looking for as hot as possible (Convection).

Thanks,
G

 

[JimK]

I can get over 400 with a full lit chimney, all vents open, and a dry, foiled water pan.

 

[Glenn Lyman]

That's what I'm talking about!!!

 

[Steve Cutchen]

To quote Inigo Montoya, "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."

Convection is heat transfer between mediums through movement of one with respect to the other. It is not a temperature-related property. A convection oven has a fan that circulates the air inside the oven, creating forced convection. As heat rises from a hot surface in air, the heat transfer mechanism is natural convection. Due to the lower density of the hot air, it rises from the surface, which then allows cooler air to come in contact, and thus more heat transfer.

With forced convection, you get more even temperatures due to better mixing, and you get faster heat transfer due to higher heat transfer coefficients at the surface due to the faster movement. Baking in a convection oven is more even because a lower proportion of the heat transfered is radiant from the oven surfaces, and so position in the oven is less critical.

So if you are looking for convection in your WSM, you will want to force-circulate the air inside. This is not the same as circulating air from outside, which is an oxygen-supplying mechanism. You might, for example, have a fan mounted on the top grate, and your meat on the lower grate.