Minion homeostasis


 
Monty House

Monty House

TVWBB Pro
First, some background.

I'm trying my first clay saucer cook today on some spares I trimmed into a St. Louis cut. (Ribtips & trimmings, too.)

I own a 18.5", so bought a 14" HD clay saucer, which I foiled. As others have said, it sits atop my std. Weber water pan, and the bottom rack effectively rests on it.

Did a 3/4 Minion w/ 30 lit. My target lid temp was 230. (My unit tends to run ~20 deg cooler at lid vs. grill.) Per advice I'd gotten here before, I started closing vents around 180-190 lid temp. (Two racks ribs on top; ribtips/trimmings on bottom.) I first closed to 50% on all three, then 25%.

At 45 min, lid at 235 so I close both windward vents (it's gusty up to about 10 MPH today) and 25% at leeward.

At 90 min. into the cook, I'm at 240-245 @ lid, so I close last remaining vent. All 0% open. Now, 2 1/2 hrs in, she's running between 255-260 lid. Again, no big deal--I know: "Don't chase temp."

My question is whether I can keep a lower constant, desired temp by more aggressively closing vents earlier in my cook? Or, is it like gravity, i.e., the temperature (based upon unit, # of briquettes, size/type of meat, etc.) is going to go to its "homeostasis" (in my case, 255-260) regardless of what I do?

If the former, then I have a "structural" issue, meaning maybe I either need to go back to water in the pan or should add sand, fire bricks, etc.

Curious to hear people's thoughts. Thanks.

PS Just want to reiterate that I'm not worried about my ribs. They'll be fine. I'm just trying to learn how to drive the machine as best as I can!
 
Monty, you may want to start with fewer lit. I typically do 20 or less lit on my 22.5. Choking it down sooner will get temps down, too, in my experience.
I don't think I'd sweat "structural" too much....there's always a debate going on about water, clay saucer, sand, bricks or nothing in the pan at all...just keep cooking and tweaking till you find what works for you.
 
Monty, If I understand you correctly then I had a very similar experience a couple of weeks ago. I was cooking 2 butts overnight. I too started with a nearly full minion with a few chunks of pecan and apple. I too tried to catch the temp on the way up, in my case around 275. I too had absolutely no success, eventually closing all the vents to 0% open and even the top one only open enough to hold the Maverick probe. I watched it in that state for 2 hours sit at 300 degrees until I went to bed at midnight. When I got up at 6:30 it was still at 275 with practically no oxygen coming in except through the door cracks. I can usually set the temp almost as accurately as a digital oven, but that night it had a mind of it's own. I'm guessing in my case because of too much lit on top, about 20-25 coals for a cool night. Thankfully everything turned out OK, as I'm sure yours will too. Good luck.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by T Bounds:
I too tried to catch the temp on the way up, in my case around 275. I too had absolutely no success, eventually closing all the vents to 0% open and even the top one only open enough to hold the Maverick probe. I watched it in that state for 2 hours sit at 300 degrees until I went to bed at midnight. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

You could try catching temps sooner, but that's one leaky cooker for sure. I'd check the sectional fit and consider using water in the pan until the vents are where it's getting most of it's ventilation. As a comparison, even with a foiled pan, little meat in the cooker and great weather, 275* or a little higher is the most I can get consistantly without cracking the door.
 
what was the weather and sun like outside. i'm constantly battling direct sunlight that drives my temperatures up higher that i want.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Nicolas:
what was the weather and sun like outside. i'm constantly battling direct sunlight that drives my temperatures up higher that i want. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

60, cloudy and light gusty wind (5-10mph)
 
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