Mystery temperature issues

[Don Fry]

I really try to learn something from every cook I make with the WSM, but I have to admit that my last two have me baffled. On Thanksgiving, I had to fight all day to get my temperatures over 300 to make my turkey. I ended up opening and closing the front door and somehow struggled through it and made one of the best turkeys we have had in years. Fast forward to this past Friday and had to make a ham for a Christmas party. I bought a 14lb precooked semi-boneless ham put it in an aluminum pan just like and fired up the smoker for a low and slow cook. The WSM was holding rock steady at about 235-240. At almost 4 hours into the cook, I got an alarm from the Maverick for high temp. I closed the bottom vents down to probably 10% at the most and it still kept climbing. I eventually closed them totally and it still hit well over 350. I needed to put the glaze on anyway so I opened it up, glazed the ham and put the top back on. The cool air got the temp down to about 230, I just cracked the vents to make sure it would hold there but then it slowly climbed again to about 325-350 when I took the ham off an hour later.

For both cooks I used RO lump from the same bag with some KBB in the chimney to start it. No wind on either day although Thanksgiving was a little colder outside, but this is Georgia weather so we are not talking super cold. I checked for leaks etc. and don’t think that was the problem. In fact, I have my WSM sealed with the Nomex gasket kit. I allowed both to sit on the counter for at least an hour so I don’t think cold meat was it either. I used just a foiled water pan with the turkey and foiled pan with clay saucer for the ham.

Any ideas other than it was one of the mysteries of running a smoker?

 

[Robert McGee]

Don Fry;
When my 18.5" WSM was new I had some minor problems holding the temperature down due to the leaks. After a couple or three cooks, I was able to maintain low temps without issue. I use the "Tin Can Minion" method with about 12 lit coals in the tin can. I catch the temperature on the way up and close down the bottom vents at about 200 degrees. When doing a Bone In Boston Butt for pulled pork I run the temperatures at 225 to 250 degrees. When doing ribs I run at 275 degrees.

I do lots of chicken (both parts and halves) at 325-350 running nearly wide open. Since the chicken cooks quickly and at high heat, I just dump in a full chimney of lit.

Here is a thread of mine when doing Pepper Stout Beef with the "Tin Can Minion Method":

http://tvwbb.com/showthread.php?388...Pepper-Stout-Beef&highlight=tin+minion+method

Keep on smokin',
Dale53

 

[Russ Sylvester]

I've had a few times using RO where it got packed a little tighter than others and the temps would be a bugger to keep down.

I think the problem is that so much fuel gets going that it just keeps wanting to run up. Especialy if it's near the bottom of the bag and the RO pieces are smaller. They catch on very easily and pack in much tighter than the big stuff at the top of the bag that is difficult to pack tightly due to larger size.

Just something I've noticed.

Russ