Need Help..... getting frustrated


 
Rick Body

Rick Body

TVWBB Pro
Some of you may have read my post on my food taking longer to cook than what should be.

Now I am having another problem. This has happened twice.

I got my temps where I wanted them for some baby backs again. Put the ribs on , temps were good and they started going up. Closed 3 vents down some, top vent open fully. Temp held for a little while , then climbed.

I closed all 3 bottom vents completely which I thought you could do. Top vent fully open. About an hour and a half into the cook, heard alarm go off and checked and the temp had dropped dramatically, down to 205. I had to open the vents and the door to get the coals going again and then the temps soared back up to 250. I was scared to close the vents all the way so I just let it run a little hot.

I know the WSM is supposed to hold steady but I am not finding that. I must be doing something wrong and I am getting frustrated. I understand the temps will fluctuate a little, but the fire going out? The top vent has always been left open fully

BTW, I used the minion method with about 20 -25 lit coals on top of a half load of charcoal. Plenty of fuel left


Any help is REALLY appreciated.
 
I think Maybe you are making to drastic of adjustments with the vents. Never close them all the way. 250 is ok for baby backs.... How many cooks on your wsm? is it still shinny inside?
 
You may have already factored this into your cooking but just in case you haven't I'll go ahead. Keep in mind that the temps will react slowly after you make your change to cut air to the charcoal. So, be sure to cut off some air to the charcoal BEFORE you get to the temp you want. Then, later, if you still happen to get too hot close the vents maybe 25% more. Just keep in mind that its not like a burner on the stove, there will be a time lag from the time you make your adjustment until the time the temp moves. If you're doing this there is something else going on for sure.
 
Jose said:
I think Maybe you are making to drastic of adjustments with the vents. Never close them all the way. 250 is ok for baby backs.... How many cooks on your wsm? is it still shinny inside?
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This is my 4th cook, plus I seasoned it first. It isnt shiny.

I thought I was making adjustments slowly because the temp held at 240 for 45 min to an hour, but I did shut the bottom vents down completely closed. I guess you're not supposed to do that? I misunderstood people when they said they "close" the vents all the way.
 
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Thanks for the help guys. I have NEVER really cooked with charcoal so uphilll learning curve for me.

Please dont kick me off the site for being the dumbest one on here, lol:p
 
Rick Body said:
Some of you may have read my post on my food taking longer to cook than what should be.

Now I am having another problem. This has happened twice.

I got my temps where I wanted them for some baby backs again. Put the ribs on , temps were good and they started going up. Closed 3 vents down some, top vent open fully. Temp held for a little while , then climbed.
Click to expand...

OK, how long exactly (or approximately) is "a little while"

Rick Body said:
I closed all 3 bottom vents completely which I thought you could do. Top vent fully open. About an hour and a half into the cook, heard alarm go off and checked and the temp had dropped dramatically, down to 205. I had to open the vents and the door to get the coals going again and then the temps soared back up to 250. I was scared to close the vents all the way so I just let it run a little hot.
Click to expand...

What John_H said ............ but here it is again

"Keep in mind that the temps will react slowly after you make your change to cut air to the charcoal. So, be sure to cut off some air to the charcoal BEFORE you get to the temp you want."

Rick Body said:
I know the WSM is supposed to hold steady but I am not finding that. I must be doing something wrong and I am getting frustrated. I understand the temps will fluctuate a little, but the fire going out? The top vent has always been left open fully

BTW, I used the minion method with about 20 -25 lit coals on top of a half load of charcoal. Plenty of fuel left
Click to expand...

The text highlighted in red, I suspect, is your root problem - too many lit coals. Start with no more than 15 for low n slow, then give the WSM time to get up to temp slowly. The WSM isn't smart enough by itself to jump up to the temp you're targeting and just hold there, but this effect can be attained with use of any number of air stoker devices on market.

One final piece of advice I'd give is to keep in mind that as a general rule, a smoker's temp will be at a given level, DROP when you add your meat (as it's temp will be much cooler than the smokers), then rise again as the meat increases in temp. Then the meat's collective thermal mass will actually act to make the smoker more efficient as it takes less energy to keep warm meat warm than it does to bring cold meat to a warm temp.
 
You're doing fine Rick. Cooking with charcoal takes some patience. As everyone here says, make small adjusts and give it time to react. Closing all the vents down WILL extinguish the fire. Keep in mind that your cooking environment can effect how your smoker reacts as well. Outside temperature, wind and even direct sun light can all affect your cook as well. Keep a log if you need to keep track of all the variables. I found that helpful until I got a grasp on what to do and how things react. You'll be ol pro after a few more cooks. :)
 
Rick Body said:
Thanks for the help guys. I have NEVER really cooked with charcoal so uphilll learning curve for me.

Please dont kick me off the site for being the dumbest one on here, lol:p
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You're just learning what we already learned ...truth be known we all went thru stuff like this. Best part is we can eat our mistakes.

What are you using it the water pan? If your fire is getting too hot and there's water in the pan you must have too much air flow. Are your mid section and lid fitting well? How about the access door...any air leaks? I would reduce air (close vents) by 25% at a time. When I use a terra cotta saucer I can run 250* - 275* at 25% open or less.

If your temp goes up to 300* temporarily or down around 200* temporarily I wouldn't freak out as long as it comes back to around 225* to 275* or so. It will ebb and flow up and down. If it goes to 300* + for a LONG time I would adjust vents to bring it back into range.
 
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Rick Body said:
I closed all 3 bottom vents completely which I thought you could do. Top vent fully open. About an hour and a half into the cook, heard alarm go off and checked and the temp had dropped dramatically, down to 205. I had to open the vents and the door to get the coals going again and then the temps soared back up to 250. I was scared to close the vents all the way so I just let it run a little hot.

I know the WSM is supposed to hold steady but I am not finding that. I must be doing something wrong and I am getting frustrated. I understand the temps will fluctuate a little, but the fire going out? The top vent has always been left open fully
Click to expand...

Closing all three lower vents will get awfully close to putting the fire out. I've gone as low as two vents closed and the third open half way.

As everyone else has said, you're going through the same learning curve we all did. Just make less drastic adjustments and everything will be fine. If you had all three vents closed down some, a good next step might be closing one of the three vents fully and leaving the other two alone.

The other thing to remember is that the kind of temperature variations you are talking about aren't going to have much impact on the finished product, so if you're worrying about them then I think we would all say "don't" ;)
 
I will add one more thing. I don't think 250 is soaring. That is a fairly mid range temp. As you get more experienced with ribs you may find 250-275 is right where you want to be. As has been said watch the amount of lit and start adjusting to level out sooner say 200-225 depending on what you are aiming for. You will be fine.
 
Thanks for the help everyone.

I do have some experience smoking, just always with crappy smokers.

I think the biggest problems were closing down the bottom vents all the way and not giving the smoker time to adjust. I was too sensitive about the temps I guess

The ribs came out good despite my best effort to screw them up and I am going to cook another butt tomorrow.

Thanks again
 
My rule of thumb is once I adjust a vent I don't even look at the temp until 20 minutes otherwise you're chasing something that's not real.

I'd only shut down past 25% in a real uh, oh situation. As people have noted 250 isn't bad. I do ribs at 275. Just personal preference. Regular indoor ovens vary by 25-50 degrees as they turn on and off - if you're within 25 degrees of where you intended and it's stable maybe just goose one vent a little bit and come back in a half hour.

And FYI I've had butts survive all kinds of unfortunate temperature spikes so definitely don't stress on that tomorrow.

Once you get the hang of it, it's easy. Put on the coals with vents at 100%. When you get 50 degrees from target start goosing in the vents. After a while you'll know just how much to close them and you'll go to (just an example) 75% at 50 degrees away and 25% at 20 degrees away and it'll coast right to your desired temperature and just hang there for hours. Very cool but it might take a few tries before you get there.
 
My rule of thumb is to never move the vents more than 1/8" at any one time, and dont look at the temp until you drink a cold pint. (20 minutes). It's been said...same things we all had to learn.
 
Lot of good advice here but I wanted to add my experience. When I first got my wsm, I couldn't hold temps steady for anything. When cooking, temp was either going up or it was going down but it was not steady. After a few cooks 5 or so, for some reason unknown to me, the wsm started to stabilize when cooking and now it holds rock solid steady for several hours. Basically, I start with a minion method, wait until the temp gets up to about 225, close my vents to a certain spot that I've learned works for my cooker (two vents closed, one vent open about a quarter) and the wsm settles in around 250 and stays there for a good long time. I'm sure after a few cooks you will have the same experience. Good luck and keep trying (cooking).
 
Rick, the WSM will "hold" its temp plus or minus 5-10 degrees. If you can get it to hold 250 the whole way great , but if I shoot for 250 and end up around 255-260 average it's ok. The temps will fluctuate. Were not talking large temp swings. The unit will settle down after a while . As others have said the best way to regulate temp is to catch it on the way up and make small adjustments maybe one vent at a time. Allow time for the adjustment to take before making another change or you'll be chasing the temp along while. .Also,leave the unit alone as far as opening the top or side door is concerned . Every time you open it you change the equation again Keep practicing and enjoy the results
 
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Rick,

All these comments are on target. As John said, I too have closed two bottom vents completely and left the third half or a third open to have some air flow if the temp was headed too high, but never close all three bottom vents. It's like having one window open on your car, or one in the house. You have to have two open at least some to get an air flow. The WSM, like all charcoal grills, needs air flow. That's what you can control, or extinguish. I also echo the starting point. 25 lit coals could cook a mean steak, burger, chicken or anything else on a kettle; it's a lot to start a low and slow smoker with. I've gone as low as 10, personally, for a low/slow burn on a beautiful day, and on a bad day (wind, rain, cold, etc) I'll edge up to 15-17 and keep a sharp eye on the burn for the first hour. If you can accept slow movement upward in the temp, once you get the temp you want settled by air flow control it should, and I repeat should, hold steady for a long time, all things being equal, which they aren't always. Trust your learning curve, trust the collective knowledge on this forum, and don't get frustrated. No good decision are ever made when emotion enters into the the process. You made the best decision buying a wsm. In no time you'll be the master of your domain! Keep trying!
 
Kenny S said:
I did my first smoke on Saturday and could not really get my temp above 200. Need to practice a little more.
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If you can't get it HIGH enough, just lift the center section off the coals for a few minutes...that much oxygen will make them glow and you can go from there...usual problem is getting the temp down. Best to sneak it up than try to beat it back down.
 
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