Higher Temps on WSM


 
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Gary Sabino

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I did a test run yesterday on a Turkey for Thanksgiving. I used a recipe from the Weber site with flavored butter under the skin. I had alot of problems getting temps above 325. I had to put 4 full chimney of lit lump and leave the door open to get it to 325. From what I've been reading here, it seems like most folks can get those temps much easier. It was a windy day, but mild. It was a 10 pound bird. Anybody want to offer some advice?
Thanks
 
If you had water or sand in the pan and couldn't get up to temp, take it out and use an empty pan. If that doesn't work, take out the pan.
 
Gary, where are you located? If you're in the mountains that could be a factor. If not, I'm able to maintain 340 degrees with sand only and with more lit charcoals at the start.Good Luck!

Dave S.
 
The pan was empty. On the second rack was a pan with carrots and onions to collect the drippins'. At first, there was two cups of chicken stock as well, but I realized that that was acting as a heat sink, so I took it out after an hour. Still, the temp refused to climb. I am in NJ, about 1 mile above sea level.
 
IMHO the WSM is not well suited for Turkeylurkey. Yes, it can be done...obviously with much success (just see Keri's pics), but if you have a kettle, why not just use it?

I am going to use my kettle - indirect heat and with some smoke wood for good measure - and leave my WSM for the low and slow recipes.

I guess I just haven't read a compelling reason to use the WSM over the kettle yet.

AR
 
Gary

I've done turkeys on my WSM at 325* and up with no problem. I use lump charcoal, which burns hotter. I put a webber chimney full of lit lump charcoal in the ring and top it off with unlit. I don't put the body on til it starts burning pretty good. I leave all vents open and put the body on with the door closed. I put an empty water pan in and put the lid on. I have the turkey out of the frig for about 1/2 hr to air dry. This also warms it up a little so it's not to cold when you put the bird on. When my temp is high enough, I lift the lid and put the bird on and close it fast. Your temp will drop some. Leave all the vents open and door closed. Use a wind break to help keep the heat in. A couple sheets of plywood will do the job. Hope this helps.
 
Thanks for all the input. I only have a small Meco grill, so the WSM will have to do. I can put it in the garage near the open door when I need to. The wind picked up in the middle of the cook. Thats why they say don't cook your first bird on Thanksgiving!
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Gary Sabino:
I am in NJ, about 1 mile above sea level. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Gary: Check here on the Boiling Point Calculator and the URL there to the USGS will help you find your altitude.
 
I did a turkey yesterday too on my WSM. I don't have a kettle, but this turned out great but I did put it in the oven at 450 for about 10 minutes to optimize the skin. Moist and flavorful results with good color.

Using about two chimneys of Kingsford for a 10 pound bird, I had sand in the pan and kept the door open. No wind, 60 degrees. I could maintain nearly 350 degrees for over 3 hours. When I installed the door the temp dropped to 275 (all vents wide open).

One mistake: I tried using a sheet of aluminum foil on the top grate, below the turkey since in the past the bottom of the bird turned out dark. Well, the bottom of this turkey was way too light. So I won't do that again. Maybe the answer is to use cheese cloth on the bottom of the bird. Any suggestions? I did not brine since this is an injected bird. Oh and I covered the ends of the legs with aluminum foil too, with good results.

BTW, Keri, I fixed your cornbread recipe (the one where you won the OK state fair). Its always a winner! Thanks. I may try adding some heat to it in the future for a little extra kick.

Glenn
 
Glen

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>One mistake: I tried using a sheet of aluminum foil on the top grate, below the turkey since in the past the bottom of the bird turned out dark. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Maybe the sand in your water pan gave off enough heat to darken the bottom of your turkey. Try an empty pan.
 
Tony thanks.

Maybe you have a point but there is at least 8-9 inches between the top of the pan and the top grate. That would mean some mighty strong heat transfer goin' on. I guess what I'm saying is there is so much distance between the two that the sand might not have anything to do with it. Maybe I should shoot for a lower smoking temperature.

Rather than empty the pan of sand (I'm lazy), maybe I'll install the door and try smoking at 275 and then crisping the skin in the oven. Possibly lump could get me close to 300 degrees.

Or maybe I have some radioactive sand in my pan!

Glenn
 
I had no temperature problems with the chicken I did, but, I was using the Guru. I used Minion method with the charcoal ring about 2/3 full, double foiled the pan, no water, no sand. The Guru, using the 10 cfm fan throttled to 50% raised pit temperature at a rate of about 2F/min. in the range of 300 - 350F. Outside temp was about 60F
 
Vernon,
I have the 4cfm fan and couldn't get the temps higher then 300° So I'm thinking about getting the 10cfm fan.
Are you talking about closing the damper 50%?
What happens to the temp if you run it wide open with the controller set to say 350°
Thanks

AL
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Al Silverman:
Vernon,
I have the 4cfm fan and couldn't get the temps higher then 300° So I'm thinking about getting the 10cfm fan.
Are you talking about closing the damper 50%?
What happens to the temp if you run it wide open with the controller set to say 350°
Thanks

AL <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

The damper is on the fan and has 2 purposes. ( I do not know if there is one on the 4 cfm fan.) One is to function as a shut off when you want to kill the fire. The other is to reduce the gravity draft (for smaller smokers) if the fire is running too hot with the Guru off. Based on the Guru's documentation, I arbitrarily selected the 50% (of diameter) setting as appropriate.

When I was running 340 to 345, the fan was working on a (my estimate) a 10% (range 5% to 20%) duty cycle. II I had run with the damper wide open it would have just reduced the duty cycle.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Art R:
I am going to use my kettle...
AR <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Can WSM guru's point me to a page w/ tips on doing a kettle turkey...?

Thks!


~waves
 
Al,how many times have you tied to get your temp above 300 with the guru? Have others had this problem with the small fan?
 
Vernon wrote: "The damper is on the fan and has 2 purposes. ( I do not know if there is one on the 4 cfm fan.)"

There is not a damper on the present 4 cfm fan.

Steve wrote: "Have others had this problem with the small fan?"

I have not had any problems getting the temps high with the 4 cfm fan. I use lump and extruded coconut charcoal.

Richard
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Richard Batey:
Vernon wrote: "The damper is on the fan and has 2 purposes. ( I do not know if there is one on the 4 cfm fan.)"

There is not a damper on the present 4 cfm fan.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>This would indicate otherwise..
 
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