I could not get it up.


 
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David Munson

TVWBB Super Fan
Smoked a 10.7 lb. turkey this weekend and had consistent problems trying to get the temperature over 250 degrees. The Kingsford charcoal was dry (actually new ~$10 for 40lb at Homeydepot). I used the Minion method and filled the charcoal space on the WSM full of charcoal + coals + dry seasoned wood chunks. I minimized the wind as much as possible ? slight breeze from the rear. I could not totally get rid of the wind. No water or sand in the pan and I did not check the turkey too much ? just to add more wood. The outside temp was probably around freezing or lower all day.

Most of the cook the turkey stayed at 250 no matter what I did. I ended up finished the bird in the oven. I did notice that the charcoal and wood burned up quicker than ?normal?. I also noticed a slight bit of smoke escaping from the door and (slight) lid seam. I used foil to block the door smoke. It was like a summer smoke with a pan full of water ? consistent 250 degrees temp but I had nothing in the pan.

My thoughts are:
1. In the spring enlarge the patio by building up the retaining wall (dig an alcove into the hill) around the smoker to block three sides slightly higher than the smoker.
2. I may be out of luck. Use it to my advantage and go for a brisket or ribs next weekend rather than poultry.

Does anyone have any other suggestions to increase the temperature?
 
Dave,
The Minion method works best for low and slow cooks. For hotter cooks it is best to start with more lit charcoal.

Last weekend I smoked a turkey for my fathers birthday. The outside temp was in the low 20's and the wind was 15 to 20 miles per hr. I fired up a chimney full of Kingsford and let it ash over. I dumped that in the fire ring and added another full chimney of unlit charcoal on top of it. I waited about 15 min to let that catch and then assembled the cooker. I used sand in the waterpan and left all the vents wide open. The temp held between 300-350 for the entire cook.

I had to rotate the turkey 180 degrees half way though the cook because the side that was towards the wind was not cooking as fast. It took about 3 1/2 hrs to cook the 14 lb bird.

Hope this helps.

rj
 
I added a full chimney. Probably should have let it ash over completely. Also should have put the lit coals on the bottom rather than the top.
 
I've followed Chris's cooking method on this site for cooking Turkey at 325-350 lid temp using the standard method, no water in the pan, and 2 chimneys of charcoal. It worked like a charm, except I had the opposite problem, keeping the temps below 350. I did a 12 lb bird in exactly 3 hours with the temps between 335-355. I had to keep all my bottom vents at 25-33% the entire cook.

Yesterday, I used the exact same procedure to cook a 6.5 pound prime rib. (Montreal Steak Rub recipe) Same problems keeping the temps below 350 (setting my vents at 25, 25, 25 kept it with 325-350 range) 2hours and 7mins later, the prime rib hit 120 internal (actually my alarm went off at 120, but it jumped up to 122 before I could get it off the heat.) I let it rest 30 minutes and it came up 132 before carving. My wife likes it bloody and it was.

In other words, try the standard method outlined for 325-350 cooking, rather than the Minion method. It works very well for short, hot cooks like Turkey or Prime rib. I'm doing a turkey again this weekend and going to use the same procedure.
 
Thanks Chris.

Does this further define proper cooking methods and help to control desired temperature expectations? That is if you want to run it hot put the lit coals on the bottom and add unlit coals on top. When you want it to run normal and long put the lit coals on the top of unlit coals as per " The Minion Method "

Another slight Minion Variation?

Normally I always run it with a full pan and re-use remaining charcoal.
 
Check out Chris's "Firing Up Your Weber Bullet" topic. If you haven't read it since you first started cooking with your WSM, there have been quite a few refinements in techniques. Chris's hot, fast standard method recommended for turkey, chicken or prime rib is simply two full chimneys, one lit and the other dumped over the lit coals in the ring. No water in the pan, just assemble and put meat and wood on when all the coals are grey. He then recommends setting all your bottom vents at 50% and adjusting as necessary to maintain 325-350 temps. The method works very well, except I've had to set my vents at 25-33% to maintain 325-350 temps. In fact, I've been using a little less than 2 full chimneys because a 10 pound bag of charcoal only fills 1 and 3/4 chimneys. There is still plenty of energy left afterwards.
 
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