How low can you hold with ATC?
- Thread starter Paul K
- Start date
Paul, I am not going to give you a very helpful response, but will offer an aneccdote.
My WSM sitting in full afternoon sun during the dry, still heat of June will approach 150 all on it's own. If I set my stoker to 150 .... it would never come on. I mention this because just this weekend I looked at the therm in the WSM sitting out back and said to myself "It is literally too hot to make jerky here".
I suppose I could try running it with "a" lit briquette,
.
Do you have a safe shady place to run it? It will help. Or wait till January. <shrug>
{I want to edit to add that yes, in cold weather conditions with a really small fire I think my stoker could maintain 170 without issue. It would require a slow ramp and almost no lit fuel...}
My WSM sitting in full afternoon sun during the dry, still heat of June will approach 150 all on it's own. If I set my stoker to 150 .... it would never come on. I mention this because just this weekend I looked at the therm in the WSM sitting out back and said to myself "It is literally too hot to make jerky here".
I suppose I could try running it with "a" lit briquette,
Do you have a safe shady place to run it? It will help. Or wait till January. <shrug>
{I want to edit to add that yes, in cold weather conditions with a really small fire I think my stoker could maintain 170 without issue. It would require a slow ramp and almost no lit fuel...}
Bob in Fla
TVWBB Fan
It really depends on your ambient temperature.
I have gone as low as 95 with my Stoker, but it was 28 degrees outside that night. I just did it to see how low I could keep the temperatures.
If it's 85 outside and the smoker is in the sun, I can get almost 200 without a fire or even a spark.
BOB
I have gone as low as 95 with my Stoker, but it was 28 degrees outside that night. I just did it to see how low I could keep the temperatures.
If it's 85 outside and the smoker is in the sun, I can get almost 200 without a fire or even a spark.
BOB
Vincent Carrocci
TVWBB Super Fan
Originally posted by Gerd H:
Paul, I am not going to give you a very helpful response, but will offer an aneccdote.
My WSM sitting in full afternoon sun during the dry, still heat of June will approach 150 all on it's own. If I set my stoker to 150 .... it would never come on. I mention this because just this weekend I looked at the therm in the WSM sitting out back and said to myself "It is literally too hot to make jerky here".
I suppose I could try running it with "a" lit briquette,.
Do you have a safe shady place to run it? It will help. Or wait till January. <shrug>
{I want to edit to add that yes, in cold weather conditions with a really small fire I think my stoker could maintain 170 without issue. It would require a slow ramp and almost no lit fuel...}
Good post! My buddy, G$, has a nose for what goes on inside a WSM!
Tibor Roczo
TVWBB Member
Paul.....it can be done, provided you keep a close eye on the temps inside the smoker. But I suggest you start with a small fire....maybe a very few lumps lid up, and then cover them with hard wood saw dust. Leave a very small opening for the fire to burn, do not cover all the burning lumps. And if the temps go up too fast to your liking, add a little more saw dust. I would recommend to add a few sprinkles of water on the saw dust if the fire gets too hot, anything you need to do is control the fire not to reach over your target temps. If it gets a bit too hot, close all bottom vents.....but the idea is controlling the fire. The saw dust is a very good controller, and smoker, especially if is a bit humid.
I think you could keep the temps down around 150-170F range. I wouldn't worry much about an ATC, you really don't need one at such low temps....The important thing is having hard wood saw dust at hand. Not any saw dust is good for smoking....like pine, for example.... I think maybe some stores sell hard wood saw dust.
And something else.....don't do the smoking during daytime, when the temps reach 85-90F. Rather do your smoking at night, when the temps are in the 60s-70s range....it helps a lot.
James Harvey
TVWBB Pro
I can't keep it below 200F but I haven't really tried that hard.
Per the above, direct sun, ambient external temps and fuel placement/lit to start play a significant role.
On the opposite side, I can get the WSM up over 450F for 3-4 hours which works well for chicken. I don't think you need an ATC to do that though.
I've done ribs at 250F, pulled them to rest and finished a few birds in the meantime without adding more lit a few times.
Per the above, direct sun, ambient external temps and fuel placement/lit to start play a significant role.
On the opposite side, I can get the WSM up over 450F for 3-4 hours which works well for chicken. I don't think you need an ATC to do that though.
I've done ribs at 250F, pulled them to rest and finished a few birds in the meantime without adding more lit a few times.