My "take" on low temperature heat control - it's IMPOSSIBLE without water in the pan.


 
JeffB

JeffB

TVWBB Pro
My "take" on low temperature heat control - it's IMPOSSIBLE without water in the pan.

I smoked an 11lb BB on Sunday. Started at 6am and pulled it at 195* internal which it reached at 3:30pm. Foil wrapped and toweled in a cooler for 1 hour and then pulled. It was my first time using the Renowned Mr. Brown recipe. We all loved the taste and texture so it was a success. But I was once again frustrated with temperature control on my 22" WSM.

I used the DigiQ DX2 to control temps and followed the advice I received here on the forum to close all lower vents and include 3 sheets of HD foil in my water pan. I used no water in the pan, just covered it with foil.

My DigiQ was set to 250* (+ or - 50* for the alarm) and I used the MM with 8 lit coals to start. 2 chunks of pecan wood buried in my unlit and a sprinkling of cherry chips here and there.

The temp in my 22 WSM rose to a high of 316* for a few hours and ultimately fell to around the 280*+ mark for a long portion of the cook. Again, happy with the results of this cook but I have never been successful in keeping the temps down around the 225* to 250* range.

I am wondering just how you can actually control the temps and keep them to such a low level without water / sand / saucer in the pan? I think the problem with a full ring of unlit is that ultimately a lot of the coals will ignite and when that happens the temps will rise beyond the 225* range, irrespective of how many lit coals you start with at the beginning.

I think the only realistic options to keep low heat are (1) use water in the pan or (2) use the "snake" method to control the maximum number of lit coals at any given time. But I'm not sure how one accomplishes the snake method on the WSM unless you use a coffee can or sometime similar and "wrap" the coals around the can? I dunno...

I love my WSM but I do find temp control frustrating. And for the record, cleanup sucks too. ;)
 
JeffB,
The ambient temp was pretty high down in the Home of the Spurs yesterday, so that may have had an impact. I always use water (except for poultry) AND a foiled terra cotta saucer sitting on the lower rack. and don't have much trouble controlling temp in an 18.5. I control temp in a kettle by using the bottom and top vents, but I always leave the WSM top vent fully open. If I had runaway temp on the WSM, I might close down the top vent a bit.

The only other thing that comes to mind is an air leak. Question: If you shut all the vents (top and bottom) after a cook, does the fire go out within a half hour or so? I rarely clean the inside of my WSM, so it has a nice gooey gasket on all the joints.

Jeff
 
I don't usually use water in the pan and I don't have an ATC, but I generally have no problem keeping 225 to 250 on my 22. I do have a gasket on the door and lid but not on the base. I'd suspect you have some air coming in. Mine will definitely over-temp if I have the lid off for an extended period of time. I've messed up and not seated the lid well and had temps skyrocket to 300 + and then had to fight temps down the whole rest of the cook. You might try partially shutting the top vent. A little adjustment there can make a big difference. Once you've badly over-temped it's the only thing that works for me. I would never shut it more than half, though.
 
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I am still learning how to manage my 22" WSM but I can get pretty steady temp in the range 230f to 250f, usually around 235 give or take a couple of degrees. I use MM with about 10 lighted briqs in a hollowed out middle.

I don't have an ATC yet, just broken nights sleep.

The bottom vents almost completely closed when I get it steady, sometimes just one bottom vent open a crack, top always fully open.

I struggle to get it to a steady 225f but I do think it needs gaskets and a CB door because there are small leaks.

I use water in the pan because it worked from cook 1 and I don't bother foiling it. It's not that much effort to clean it. Cleaning the grates is messy pain though.

I like Jeff's idea of a foiled terracotta saucer on the bottom grate. another heat sink and perhaps a bit easier to clean, assuming I don't need the bottom grate for cooking.
 
To each his own ( and I'm saying this nicely) but the only magic that happens when running @ 225 is it takes longer. :)
I learned long ago that my WSM runs at 275 with an empty foiled pan with minimum fuss and vent adjustments, so I just roll with it.
Like you said the BBQ came out great with no complaints, so I would just get used to how it runs in your backyard.

Tim
 
FWIW, I'm thinking of switching to 275 on the WSM just for better airflow. I'm just really more in my comfort zone in the 225 to 250 zone.
 
Smoke cooked a butt yesterday on a kettle, it ran at or near 300 for the entire 9 hour cook, and it was excellent.
(I did foil for the last 3 hours)
Life is too short to worry about cooking at 225. :)
 
My take is that the WSM is designed as a water smoker. So I use water most of the time unless I want higher temps.
It seems to work well for me.
 
X100 what Timothy said! I gave up a long time ago on trying to achieve low and slow temps. My target temps are between 265-275 throughout the entire cook. I just stepped up from a 18.5 to a 22, but I would pour 2/3 of a chimney of lit coals on my unlit, and I would be up to temp in about 15+/- minutes..also, when you say cleaning sucks as well, how good are you cleaning your WSM? If your are cleaning more than just the grates (and maybe the water bowl) this could also add to the reason you are having problems getting lower temps.
Good luck, stick with it,
Tim
 
Bob H. said:
My take is that the WSM is designed as a water smoker. So I use water most of the time unless I want higher temps.
It seems to work well for me.
Click to expand...

That's how Weber designed it to be used and for the time being I will stick with what works. I guess everyone finds a method that works for them and judging by the results posted on here there are many ways to achieve great results.

I did read somewhere (might have been on here) that pork butts are quite forgiving with temps and that seems backed up by very good low and high heat results people have had.
 
Bob H. said:
My take is that the WSM is designed as a water smoker. So I use water most of the time unless I want higher temps.
It seems to work well for me.
Click to expand...

FWIW, Myron Mixon is a big ambassador for water smoking, and he seems to do all right :)
 
Yep, water is a great heat sink and I use it when I double schmoke spiral sliced hams, but I run naturally .
The OP is using an ATC and the use of a sink is usually not needed.

Tim
 
When I first got my WSM22 I did not have an ATC and I used water in the pan. I never had any problems maintaining ~225* for overnight cooks. Since I don't sleep well anyway, I did check it regularly with no problems. Since I got my ATC, I still use water in the pan and have only had issues when I screwed up. If I follow my normal process, never a problem. That said, I will be trying no water in the future just to see how it goes. I also foil at the stall and my results are always good. The few times I have had less than good results, was when I did not follow my process and even then the guests liked what I prepared even though I was not happy with the results. We are always our own worst critics. Have said that before and it is and will always be true.
 
Its unfortunate your cooker won't cook low & slow.
My 22" WSM is stock, I cook with an empty foiled water pan and if I want to cook @ 210 its no problem.
I am not familiar with the design variations of the different controllers but if the one you are trying to use does not have the ability to completely shut off the airflow with a flapper or some other type of 'door' you essentially have one (or three) intake holes completely open.
With one intake vent completely open my cooker runs around 280.
 
Charles H brings up a good point. I checked the bbqguru website and there fan appears to have a manual damper. So is the OP is overshooting temps then the damper should be closed more than it is. The bbqguru website does address this issue. I might help for the OP to comment on this issue as to whether or not he is using the damper control. My ATC does have an automatic damper control so I have no problem in this regard.
 
I use a 10+ year old BBQ Guru Competitor on my 12+ Year old 18.5" WSM... I've not used water or anything other than a few foil balls and a foil top cover in the water pan in the last 10 years since I started using the Guru, I can keep 215*-225*f for up to 24 hours straight (do mostly butts to 190ish) without opening lid until the Guru tells me the meats done, year round (Live in Central Coast of Cali so don't deal with either temp extremes much), One FULL coal/wood load using the Minion Method. As instructed with my Guru, I have foil taped the other two lower vents on both sides, so the only spot it's getting much air in the fan, which I keep the fan dampner right about 50% open and top lid vent about 50% or just slightly less open as well.

BUT I do normally do a layer of foil between the bottom of the cooker and the main and the main and the lid to act as a "gasket" as after 12 years, things don't fit as well as they used to. I also use some of the high heat foil "duct" tape on the little access door, since I never really ever need to open the thing once I get it started. I end up replacing the tape ever couple smokes or so.
 
I still don't understand why auto temp controllers are being used on a WSM, they really work fantastic without them, I don't use water, I can maintain a stable temp around 250-260 I have yet had the need to do an overnight cook, to each their own, but all the gadgets seem to go against why we BBQ in the first place but that's just me.
 
The biggest causes of too high temps IMHO are either starting with too many fully engaged coals and/or a leaky door. I had trouble until I switched to a CB door. Now I can run 200 easily, but the key is catching it early as it rises. I start with a handful of lit coals and start backing off on the vents when it hits 185. If I don't catch it early, I might add some water to the pan to lower the temps. Otherwise, I run with just a foiled pan. I always give it an hour to settle until I see thin blue smoke.
 
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