Hey everyone, this will be long so please have paitence. i have an 18.5 wsm and have done 2 smokes of ribs so far. So my problem is this, in a few days i have to make ribs for a work bbq. I seem to have problems getting up to temp. I do minion method with the tin can. I fill the ring with stubbs and kbb and light 15 kbbs and drop them in. Remove the can and assemble the smoker with water and wait. All vents open it doesnt want to go past 240 degF. When i open the lid to remove the ribs to wrap i get a temp spike past 300 degF and the water is boiling. I have a hard time bringing it back down. Would using the clay saucer eliminate that problem and help speed up warm-up?
important smoke
- Thread starter Evan W
- Start date
Hamilton Barnes
TVWBB Pro
Running it with no water in the pan should help you get to temp and get higher temps. I just foil my bowl, no water or clay. Try playing with your vent settings, also try teltong your lid and lifting it up slowly. I have to do that with my UDS to avoid temp spikes. Never had a problem with the WSM though.
Dave Alvarado
TVWBB Super Fan
How are you measuring your temperatures? If it's the dome thermometer, get yourself a Maverick or something to let you measure at the cooking grate, making sure you leave a couple inches between the thermometer and any meat or the side of the cooker.
Water in the bowl will tend to keep your temps down. As you saw, water boils which absorbs heat energy to make the phase change from liquid to gas. That's heat that isn't going into your meat. Switching to a clay saucer will help you heat up faster but won't help with the temperature spikes. I actually run just an empty water bowl so my temps go up and down as quickly as possible.
One key to cut down on those temp spikes is to leave the lid closed absolutely as much as possible. Crack it open and baste, or if it's time to wrap a meat, lay out your foil, open the lid and grab the meat, then close it ASAP once you've moved the meat over. Open it again to put the wrapped meat back on. You just want to cut down on your smoker taking big gulps of air for a long period of time, that's what makes the temperatures spike.
Water in the bowl will tend to keep your temps down. As you saw, water boils which absorbs heat energy to make the phase change from liquid to gas. That's heat that isn't going into your meat. Switching to a clay saucer will help you heat up faster but won't help with the temperature spikes. I actually run just an empty water bowl so my temps go up and down as quickly as possible.
One key to cut down on those temp spikes is to leave the lid closed absolutely as much as possible. Crack it open and baste, or if it's time to wrap a meat, lay out your foil, open the lid and grab the meat, then close it ASAP once you've moved the meat over. Open it again to put the wrapped meat back on. You just want to cut down on your smoker taking big gulps of air for a long period of time, that's what makes the temperatures spike.
Darrel Williams
TVWBB Super Fan
The temp of the water that you add will affect your run up to your desired set point. If you use cold water, you are going to be VERY slow to come up to smoking temp. If you use hot or boiling water, you should be able to come up to temp quickly.
Your temp spikes when you open it up to foil the ribs because you are getting a fresh breeze of air across the coals. Closing it back down should push it back toward the steady smoking temps because the boiling water (212*) is going to mix with the heat off the fire to give you moist heat in the $275 range, which is what you want.
IMHO Kingsford Blue Bag is not a good choice for the WSM. I use tons of KBB in my kettles. I like it a lot. It's easy to light and burns consistently BUT it produces a whole lot of ash. The ash can choke a fire ring down in the WSM because air cannot flow around the coals too well.
I'm not a fan of the dry method with a clay saucer. I like the heat regulation that comes with using water. I suggest that you give a try using hot water.
Your temp spikes when you open it up to foil the ribs because you are getting a fresh breeze of air across the coals. Closing it back down should push it back toward the steady smoking temps because the boiling water (212*) is going to mix with the heat off the fire to give you moist heat in the $275 range, which is what you want.
IMHO Kingsford Blue Bag is not a good choice for the WSM. I use tons of KBB in my kettles. I like it a lot. It's easy to light and burns consistently BUT it produces a whole lot of ash. The ash can choke a fire ring down in the WSM because air cannot flow around the coals too well.
I'm not a fan of the dry method with a clay saucer. I like the heat regulation that comes with using water. I suggest that you give a try using hot water.
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Dave Russell
TVWBB Honor Circle
Good advice above to use hot water, and you can also start off with a few more lit coals if you want. Close the vents before you open the lid, do what you got to do, and get the lid back on. If foiling ribs, I like an empty foiled pan for better bark. However, I typically use water for ribs and don't wrap.
For temp measurement i was using the dome and i also got a digital thermo by acu-rite with just the probe pushed through the grommet. I have since ordered a maverick 733. For this cook at work i have to use the charcoal they supply which will be kbb. What brand does everyone like best? As far as the water or no water clay saucer, i suppose ill have to try both. I really appreciate the help.
Dave Russell
TVWBB Honor Circle
The Kbb is fine for your rib cook. In my experience, Kbb ash suffocation doesn't become an issue unless it's a long cook. Personally, I like a combo of lump and Stubbs briquettes.
Gary S
TVWBB Guru
When wrapping I always remove from the smoker so the lid is off and on quickly. Wrap and back on. No need to have the lid off the whole time. You should experience a drop in temps when you put the wrapped meat back on not a rise. The smoker will recover quickly. Its all about technique
Danny B (Albany GA)
TVWBB Fan
More lit coals to start and hot tap water in the pan should get your temps up. Take ribs off to a work area and put top back on to prevent temp spikes while wrapping. For what its worth I've gone back to using water in the pan from the clay saucer and am finding I don't have to wrap to get tender ribs with good color. Less work too! Good luck.
Well i have an update, kingsford competition was available where the ribs were so i got that. Im doing a test burn now since ive never used it. Im doing minion and tin can with a foiled saucer. All vents open and new et-733 on top grate it came to temp very fast. I started closing vents at 230dF and have it stabilized between 253-257dF.
Well my ribs at work went pretty well. Now i have a few questions regarding temp set up. When you light the fire do you assemble wsm empty and wait for the temp to get where you want and adjust the vents to hold then add your food? Or do you build the fire assemble wsm and add food right away and then regulate the temp? I had an issue with mine because when i added the ribs temp went down and struggled to get up where i wanted with all vents open. Whats the best way?
timothy
TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
"Whats the best way?"
Whatever works for you. Some wait till the heavy white smoke clears off than add the meat, I do it all at the beginning. Like you found out, waiting for it to come up to X-temp than adding a pc of cold meat (which acts as a heatsink), then you have to start the whole process over again. Like Joe pointed out, easier to catch your temps on the way up.
Tim
Whatever works for you. Some wait till the heavy white smoke clears off than add the meat, I do it all at the beginning. Like you found out, waiting for it to come up to X-temp than adding a pc of cold meat (which acts as a heatsink), then you have to start the whole process over again. Like Joe pointed out, easier to catch your temps on the way up.
Tim
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Gary S
TVWBB Guru
I know this was not necessarily the cooking method you asked about but I'm with Dave on side ribs for sure. I cook them over water, so your temps are 225 in that range or a bit higher and I cook them for about 5 hours with just a dry rub. They are always great. I use lump or natural briquettes. It doesn't matter to me. There are plenty of ways to do ribs and of course back ribs vs side ribs but these are tuff to be beat and simple to do.