Low temp issues


 
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Rob Provost

TVWBB Fan
Environment:
30 degrees, sunny, light wind, sand in the pan, charcoal ring 3/4 full with left over charcoal from the last smoke, lit with full chimney Minion Method. All vents open 100%.

After 1 hour the temp was still 180 or under. I remembered the "prop open the lid" discussion and gave that a try. I put a wooden skewer under the lid to add more air. Within 10 minutes the temp was up to 225. I took the skewer out, temp immediately dropped back down under 200.

Skewer back in, right back to 230 and climbing. I ended up leaving the skewer in and controlling the temp with the bottom vents. Without the skewer propping up the lid I never got the temp over 200. Yes my thermo was correct. I checked the temp with three different thermos and all read the same temp.

Has anyone ever experienced this? Any thoughts on why that happened? The only thing I can think of is the left over charcoal may be suspect. But all of my previous smokes also used the left over charcoal without any issues.
 
Rob,

Perhaps some factors to consider:

1. The ring is only 3/4 full.

2. Perhaps used charcoal doesn't have quite the same heating capacity as new charcoal*

3. Outdoor temp at 30 degrees is cold by any standard. Given the same conditions, I would load the ring full with 2 heaping chimneys of new charcoal and move the smoker out of the wind (if there is any).

* If I burned used charcoal, I'd make sure to place it on top of new charcoal as part of a full ring.

Just my .02 cents. Good Luck!

-Albert
 
Misread your post. /infopop/emoticons/icon_rolleyes.gif 3/4 ring, not chimney. I'd agree-- cold day, not enough charcoal.
 
If the moisture content of the charcoal is high this kind of thing will happen, the left over charcoal may have been problem if it has been wet.
Jim
 
Since I never know exactly how used charcoal will behave, I usually reserve its use for short, hotter cooks like chicken pieces.
 
I think the left over coals were the problem. I have always used left over coals before without a problem. Now that I think about it more, we have had a lot of rain/snow since I last smoked. Mosit charcoal was probably the problem.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>3. Outdoor temp at 30 degrees is cold by any standard. Given the same conditions, I would load the ring full with 2 heaping chimneys of new charcoal and move the smoker out of the wind (if there is any). <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>My last smoke I did the exact same thing and the outside temp was 0. No problems at that time.
 
I'm new at the smoker thing myself, and have done five smokes so far. It's been difficult to get the temps up at times (mostly with longer cooks of ribs and brisket)because it's been really cold here for the past month. It seems that more fuel than generally recommended on the site is needed, but I'm just trying different amounts to see what works, and looking forward to warmer weather.
 
Erich,

I'm a relatively new smoker too.

The temp thing is tricky, but I've learned that the amount of fuel will directly influence the internal temp (no mystery there right /infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif ) On cold days load the charcoal ring heaping full with new Kingsford charcoal.

Some of the folks here also profess the value of the silver insulating jacket for the WSM. However, I'd start by adding more fuel (cheapest solution), then add the silver jacket if necessary.

Good luck Erich!

-Albert
 
If I am doing a cook that will go any longer than 6 or 7 hours, regardless of the time of year, time of day or night, temperature, groundhog seeing his shadow, etc. I use the Minion Method, I start with a full chamber of unlit charcoal, and approx. 20 fully lit coals on top, sand in the pan. I keep all bottom vents open 100% until my temp hits 210-220, then I start shutting them down until I get my dome temp to stabilize at 240. It works for me every time. At the end of the cook I don't worry about saving partially burnt charcoal, unless there is a considerable amount. I always use fresh for the next cook.
 
Erich,


An excerpt from a member "Stephane". This post is in WSM Modifications forum...
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> ......
I smoked last week-end and temparature outside was running between -12/-15. Of course My WSM was protected from the wind But I was able to maintain a 15hr cook in the 240-255 with no problem at all.

The vent open only like 1/10. So I imagine that I would have been able to go even more hot.

So cold weather...No problem! <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Doug D:
[qb] Since I never know exactly how used charcoal will behave, I usually reserve its use for short, hotter cooks like chicken pieces. [/qb] <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>I have about stopped using used fuel in my WSM. I always get unpredictable results! I save it for kettle cooks. Like Doug said, "short, hotter" cooks. JMO
 
I agree on reusing charcoal. I like the idea, because I don't like wasting fuel. However, I never really know how to compute how much new to use. It does not burn at the same rate as new, so there is a difference. I continue to save the unused charcoal, but use it in the chimney as part of the lit coal when using MM. Even then it can make things less predictable. For me the best use is when grilling over direct heat where burn rate is not critical - just get lots of heat. However, I must admit I prefer my Summit for that type of cooking.

Apparently many others don't have a problem in reusing fuel, but put me in the problem group.

Paul
 
I'll go ahead and chime in here. I just got my WSM and have done 3 cooks (all in temps lower than 20 degrees). I normally just throw a bunch of charcoal in the ring with the wood chunks and have about 3/4 of a chimney that goes on top. My cooker is out of the wind and I've not had any problems getting temps of 235-250 and for 8-9hrs at a time. Several times I also had to have my lower vents shut down quite a bit (one time I had a vent closed off and the others barely open to keep the temps at a reasonable level). What kind of charcoal are you using BTW?? I use kingsford and have never used any that was previously burned (don't ever have much leftover anyway). Certain brands may be worse than others the second time around. I'm surprised that with a full chimney you could not get temps up to 200 right away. When did you put the meat on? Were you doing this skewer thing with the meat in the WSM?
 
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