Need Help with Heat Control!


 
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Tom K.

TVWBB Member
Close, but no cigar! Yesterday I followed the excellent directions for smoking a Pork Loin - Rib Roast in the Cooking section of this site. Great directions, which really hold-your-hand through every step, which a newbie like myself really appreciates. I had a 6 lb. pork loin I got from a local butcher; a nice piece of meat. I opted to follow the slightly modified version of Kevin Taylor's orange juice based marinade (which was great, and I'll definitely do again). Long story short, I put in a full chimney of coals and let em get covered in ash. Next added ca 3/4 of a chimney of unlit coals, and watched them till they were covered in ash, then added my smoke wood, assembled the cooker (dry/foil-covered pan), added the meat (bones attached/meat not separated) with the ET-73 probe in the center. As in the directions on the site, it took ca 50 minutes for my heat (at the grate) to slide down to ca 250, but to get it there, I had the top vent almost closed completely, and only one of the bottom vents opened, and only about 30%. Once I hit 250, I opened the top vent completely, and opened two of the bottom vents to about 30% (left the third closed). I could not get the heat to drop below 248%, and was afraid that if I closed all vents completely, no air would get in and the coals would die on me. When I took the cover off to baste after ca 70 minutes at around 250, things got out of control almost immediately. When I covered it back up (only open ca one minute), the heat shot up to 320! I then wrestled with trying to get it down, but it'd only come very slowly, so the rest of the cook took place in the 300-260 range. I took the roast off when internal temp reached 143, and put it in the oven for 5 minutes at 500 degrees to brown. Damn if it didn't look beautiful. I covered it with foil and let is sit for 20 minutes, while strutting around with my chest out, proud of my apparent accomplishment. When I cut into it to slice it into rib-on chops, it was white, with no visible pink. Unfortunately, however, although the smoke taste was fantastic, the meat was dry, and apparently I guess, overcooked. I've been using a Weber Grill for over 20 years and I'm fully confident using it, and in fact, almost opted to cook the roast on it, instead of the WSM. I'm obviously looking at a learning curve ahead of me with the WSM, but I'm determined to get back up on the horse that threw me and keep going till I get it right. That said, I can clearly use some help in "getting it right." Anyone willing to lend some advice concerning heat control and/or other errors I may have made? Thanks.
 
A couple of things to look for. If this is a brand new WSM it will run hot for the first few cooks. Also check for air leaks. Make sure the middle section is seated properly in the bottom section. Also make certain the door on the center section seals pretty well. Check this web site http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/partstrouble.html for specific things to look for and how to fix them. You also want to keep the top vent fully open. You can try closing all of the bottom vents until the temp comes down. When assembling the cooker make certain to use cold water as this will help bring the temps down. Lastly, if you are using lump try switching to charcoal (burns cooler) and see if that doesn't help.

The other thing to try is the Minion Method http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/fireup2.html#minion as detailed on this website.

Good luck and keep working at it. You'll get the hang of it in just a few short cooks!
 
Chris mentioned in the Pork Loin - Rib Roast article that he probably should have used less fuel as he had a problem initially bringing the temp down to target as well. I think that, in his cook and yours, trying to cook down at 225-250 with a dry pan was part of the problem-- no heat sink to help absorb the excess energy. This roast is one of my favorite pork items to do on the WSM, but I have always done them with a full pan.
 
Using a dry pan makes temp control even harder than usual because the pan filled with water or sand absorbs the heat (heat sink) and stablizes the temps. Leave your top vent open! Close all your bottom vents until your temps reach the range you want and then adjust the bottom vents only. Don't be afraid of snuffing out your coals with all the bottom vents closed because that will take several hours to do and as soon as you open up your bottom vents even a little, they start up again (unless your coals are completely extinguished - i.e. like the next day) I typically don't dump my coals out until the WSM has been shut up for at at least 24 hours and even then I've found hot coals buried in the ash.
 
Tom
With that much burning coals and a dry waterpan you really can't expect to cook under 250?. The set up you have to expect cooking temps over 300?.
Jim
 
Just wanted to say thanks to all of you for your responses and suggestions/guidance. I really appreciate it. As this pork loin recipe is such a good one, I definitely want to get it mastered. It sounds like water in the pan the next time may be just what I need to get this squared-away and under control in terms of moderating the amount of heat. I'll also take a shot at reducing the amount of fuel some next time as well. Top vent open, and adjust the bottom vents to get the required temperature...got it. Thanks again for taking the time to help me out; I'll let you know how the next one turns out. That marinade with the orange juice etc. is great.
 
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