How to create high temps in WSM


 
D

DavidD

TVWBB Super Fan
I attempted a high temp brisket yesterday for a group of 25 and it didn't come out too great. The reason was due to my inability to create temps in the 300's. My 2009 wsm wants to maintain 250 degrees. I tried propping the lid, propping the door, both, etc. No matter what I did, my temps stayed at 250, occassionally going to 285 then back down. Ambient temps were 72 degrees, wind gusts to 10 mph but nothing too bad. I used a very full ring of Kingsford regular briquettes, blue/white. Lite using minion with 3/4 full chimney and the smoke wood.

As a result of this temp issue, I was not able to create a good brisket. I tried stoking the coals, lifted the body of the wsm to de-ash, etc. Nothing worked even though coals were hot. The water pan was empty but lined with foil.

can anyone explain what went wrong and how i can fix for next time. It was terribly frustrating.
 
i just offset my lid about an inch and the temps get up to 350-375+ using lump or blue bag K. are you relying on the weber supplied lid therm? i use my maverick et-73 to monitor the temp at the top vent.
 
Next time try using more lit to start with. I have found that once I get a full chimney lit it has actually rendered about a 1/4 of the coals. Also doing the door prop mod might help you as well. Vince
 
Stupid question (mine, not yours). Was there ash from prior cooks possibly blocking the vents? Do you use an 18" WSM? With 3/4 of a chimney of lit (about 75 briquettes) you should easily get into the 300's after a relatively short while. I use less lit than that, don't have to prop the lid or fool with the door, and I get into the 300's in a very reasonable amount of time. Also, same question as Tony C, what are you using to determine temperature? Just for comparison, I did a recent cook on a 2007 WSM, and after the cook I let the fuel burn. The cook wasn't that long and afterwards I got temperature up to the 400's. BTW, that was also with K.
 
The MM is best for low and slow. For a high heat cook,start with a full chimney of fuel,K or otherwise,then dump more unlit on top. MM lights the fuel too slowly to get really high heats. Try that next time.
 
A have a thread a couple below you on a similar topic. I'm doing a HH butt. I'm using Royal Oak lump. I did roughly same start as you. Full ring and 3/4 chimney lit dumped on top. I was able to get well into the 300's with just all vents open. Once I put meat on it started dipping below 330. I propped door open and it shot up to the 370-400 range. It has settled now right around 350 with the door on normal and all vents 100% open.

I am using Maverick for temps. My 2009 WSM therm has consistently registered well lower than the maverick. Ironically approaching my 3rd hour the maverick reads 356 and the WSM reads 350! Go figure.

Next time I will use a full chimney of lit coals and maybe a little less thana full ring. I think my issue is i had too much coal and there wasn't enough airflow. Once some burned off it seemed to settle in nicely.
 
Chris, the temp is going to drop whenever you put cold meat on the WSM. I always let it settle in after putting the meat on to make any adjustments.I always let the temps get up to about 270 before I put cold meat on for the HH method.Temps will drop but should go up after awhile. Be patient. It'll get there
 
David- If I'm doing a high heat cook, I'll make two changes - foiled water pan only, no water, no clay saucer - and I have a charcoal chimney that holds about 50 percent more coals than the standard Weber chimney. I'll light a full XL chimney and once I dump it, I let it sit there and get going nice and hot before I assemble the cooker. I'll open all the vents on the cooker, then assemble and see where the temps go.

I'm usually looking for 325 - 350. If it doesn't get there without any help, I'll just offset the lid by about a half inch to increase the airflow.

I've never had any problems getting the WSM up to a higher temp using this method.

I guess it could be called "More Lit, More Air Flow."

Good luck!

Pat
 
Well, I sure don't get it. The only time my temps spiked up was when I was getting high airflow and the hickory wood caught on fire. Temps shot up to 400 fast.

I was using a clean smoker, so no, the ash wasn't clogging the vents.

I am measuring temps using factor gauge, which I temp tested via the boiling water method.

My water bowl was completely empty.

My charcoal ring was over-filled in the beginning but even after 2 hrs when the coals burned down and were very well lite, I still couldn't get temps up. Eventually pulled the brisket and put them in the over at 375 for 1.5 hrs to finish them.

I used a full chimney but it wasn't a weber chimney, it was a charbroil, so about 3/4 the size of a weber I suppose.

I'm really puzzled by this, especially now that I see that everyone else seems to be getting high temps from the weber.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by paul h:
Chris, the temp is going to drop whenever you put cold meat on the WSM. I always let it settle in after putting the meat on to make any adjustments.I always let the temps get up to about 270 before I put cold meat on for the HH method.Temps will drop but should go up after awhile. Be patient. It'll get there </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Sure, that makes sense. I did let it go for a bit but the temps really plummeted fairly quickly. Once it droped to like 305 I got a little nervous so I started messing with the door which helped.

I think my problem is I did not use a full lit chimney to start. Next time I'll make sure I do that.
 
I use around 25 lit to start - that's it. Meat goes on immediately after the lit is poured on and the cooker os assembled. I use a little more lit in cooler ambient temps and increase accordingly if the temps are cooler still.

As the cooker moves into the upper 200s I get ready to prop the door as the rise starts to slow, something that for me is nearly always required.
 
David - was this a packer? How big?

I've found when doing some larger packers, they are so wide that it really suffocates the air flow, and even when propping the door open I'm unable to get above 300 measured at the vent. I have to offset the lid to reach my desired temp.
 
Chris,

your grate temp was about 290-295. The reading of the factory dome therm in the WSM is consistently about 40-45 degrees lower than the grate temp. Granted, the temp in the MIDDLE of the grate won't be as hot as the part near the edge, but use another therm on the grate on your next cook and compare.
 
Interesting dilemma.

I've never had an issue getting 350 plus going with a full chimney of lit & full of unlit with having the door completely off & all vents completely open. Not sure what else you could do beyond that to get heat up.

Like Mitch says, however, if you have the WSM completely stuffed with meat it will def. restrict temps. until the meat shrinks a tad during cooking process.
 
When doing high heat cooks in my WSM I've found a good (for me) way to crack the lid...I use a wood shim. By pushing it in further (or less further), it allows me to "dial in" my temps with more precision than just offsetting the lid.

IMG_2600.jpg
 
Ok, maybe we are on to something here regarding air flow restriction...

I had two 11 pound packers that went from end to end, barely fit. I also added foil to the lower grate to restrict air from burning each end of the lower packer. In other words, I covered the top of the water pan with foil but used extra foil to flank each end of the wsm to keep the heat from burning the brisket ends.

Was this my problem?
 
I would say that was your problem. If you had the top grate completely stuffed with meat & foil over the bottom grate so that the air wasn't able to circulate, that will most certainly restrict your temps. How much did you prop the door open? Just a crack? When I go high heat, I've take the door completely off.
 
Anybody thought of adding a forth vent to the bottom? Don't know if you can get one.

I'm guessing the that the computer controlled fan setups can acheive high temps no problem by driving in extra air.
 
High heat is all about airflow. There are very few situations where you should struggle to get 400+ with little effort.

The WSM is designed for low and slow cooking. That's its job and that's what it was designed to do (and do well). As a result, when you want to cook outside the design you will likely have to adjust slightly from regular.

Personally I find a flipping the side door and propping it 1/2 inch does the trick. Leaving the lid ajar will also do the trick.
Heat is generated as fuel is consumed... this process requires oxygen.

Especially with briquettes, make sure you let your chimney get FULLY lit before dumping. Half lit coals spread over cold unlit charcoal is a recipe for a slow climb.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Phil Perrin:
The MM is best for low and slow. For a high heat cook,start with a full chimney of fuel,K or otherwise,then dump more unlit on top. MM lights the fuel too slowly to get really high heats. Try that next time. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

This is my recommendation. I use an almost full ring of lump and then dump on a very full chimney of lit.

I'm using lump exclusively though, so can't speak to briquettes.
 
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