I can't keep the heat up


 
B

Brian B (Muncy)

TVWBB Fan
Two chimney full, minion method. Water in the pan. Stayed at 225 for the 1st 2 hrs now it's all I can do to keep at 200. All three bottom vents open full. I've tried every combination and nothing is making the temp go up. There's still plenty of charcoal. HELP!
 
Remove the door for a minute or two.

Do you have an 18 or a 22?

Did you start with hot water, tepid or cold?
 
B, dump the water. You say you started with 2 chimneys of coal, was that hot? Seems 2 chimneys of cold would not fill the coal ring. How long do you want to cook? You can also slide the hood off the center section an inch or so. You can also flip your door and prop open an inch or so. To get your coals going you can add some kindling size smoke wood to the hot coals. What are you smoking?

Mark
 
I have an 18, I started with hot water. I had the top vent closed maybe the evaporating water put my coals out? I added another half chimney lit. seems fine now. I started out with i full chimney unlit with another lit on top of it. I wanted to cook for 6 hrs, since I couldn't fit both the chicken and ribs in at the same time. Yeah it's a garbled mess of a post, but I'm running in and out trying to get this stuff cooked.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">I had the top vent closed maybe the evaporating water put my coals out? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>The lack of a draft did. (Though it didn't help if the water heated and spilled over.)

The lid vent needs to be open for a draft to be created. No draft, or an insufficient one, and it's a dying proposition.
 
The only time you want to have the top vent closed, is when you want to put out the coals. When you're using the WSM, it should be fully open at all times. Adjust the heat with the bottom vents.
 
with the vents, it's easy to remember, "C"=Closed=Cold...so open is hot.

Middle of summer or in the dead of winter, I have 2 bottom vents closed and one open from full to a half. THe top is always open 2/3. Since you have the 18, you can just judge what appears to be the amount of 1 hole closed (or 2 open, which ever makes the most sense.
 
OK well 1st try was a total complete failure and a waste of $45 worth of ribs and chicken. I know what wrong with the ribs but I can't understand why the chicken wouldn't cook. I put the chickens in the bottom grate at 4:00, the temp was pushing 300 for most of the time. (dropped to 250 when I finally gave up) I could not get the internal temp over 150 in the breast. The juices were still pink. I finally gave up at 8:00 when the charcoal was running out and threw both chickens in the trash.

The water pan by this time was empty, so that wasn't an issue. Besides like I said the temp was @ 300. Another thing I don't understand, I had both chickens sitting in foil pans and there was absolutely no juice from the chickens?

I'm gonna try something easier this week like a meatloaf. Oh and I've taken 3 showers and still smell like smoke. lol not a good 1st cook. It's gotta get better.
 
Sounds like the top vent was the issue, no draft. But I think you could have finished the chickens in the oven, you were only about 10 degrees or so from done. So not a total failure IMHO.

Try practice runs with just chicken halves until you get the hang of fire control. It will save you $$ and frustration.


One book that might help with this is Wiviot's Low and Slow. It's focused on the practice runs (all with the WSM) you need to get the knack. Some find him pretentious/annoying but the techniques are basic and are focused on learning fire control without the gadgets.

Low & Slow
 
Despite what one reads over and over again, the presence of pink juices doesn't necessarily mean anything. And chicken can be pasteurized at temps lower than 160 - it depends on the temp and how long it held there.

That said, what are you using to check internal temps?

And what are you using to check cooker temps, and where on the cooker are you checking?
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by K Kruger:
Despite what one reads over and over again, the presence of pink juices doesn't necessarily mean anything. And chicken can be pasteurized at temps lower than 160 - it depends on the temp and how long it held there.

That said, what are you using to check internal temps?

And what are you using to check cooker temps, and where on the cooker are you checking? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I was using the meat thermometer I use for deep frying turkeys for the meat and the thermometer in the lid for the cooker temps. I took the lid therm out and tested it in boiling water, read 200. Also i ordered an ET-732.
 
If the meat thermometer is an analog bimetal one it really shouldn't be used to check for safe internal temps. Those types only take an average temp across the first few inches of the probe, all of which needs to be completely buried in the flesh if any semblance of accuracy is to be achieved. Even in that case, it is an average temp at best.

Even if the meat therm tests okay, it's hard to muster reasonable confidence in its reading, especially if used in thinner meats where the entire area of the therm that needs to be buried in the meat isn't because the flesh is too thin.

A digital probe is better because it is tip-sensitive. Seems like you are taking care of that issue.

Why the chicken seemed to be stuck at 150 is unclear, but could very well be because of the way bimetal probes work. An exposed portion of the probe that needs to be in the meat coupled with evaporative cooling at the meat's surface might have lead to that problem.

Keep your lid vent open. Give it another shot.
 
I'm sorry about what happened, but it happens to all of us.

I would try a single rack of ribs on the top grate for a first cook. When you start mixing 2 kinds of meets, timing when they are done, etc.. there's a lot going on.

I wouldn't go with Wivott's book. a lot of the info well... Well you can get all the answers here. it's not going to be any more enlightening.

When i was at weber all i did was smell of smoke for 2 years.. yeah.. that's the other thing. if the family asks if you are going to clean up after cutting the grass and begin cooking, tell them you will AFTER dinner!
icon_smile.gif
 
Oh! and the lid thermometer.. if it's off about 12 degrees to boiling, that's not too bad. webers, tru-tel, etc.. are all +/- 5-10 degrees. If you do a lot of cooking liek the average guy, a single digital probe that you can snake thru the vent is fine. You can also use it inside when cooking roast in the oven, etc..
 
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