New WSM -- first cook running too hot. HELP!


 
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Rob Provost

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I just got a WSM for fathers day and am doing one rack of baby back ribs. Ribs are on the top rack (rack cut in half). I did one full Weber chimney of lit coals into the charcoal ring with one chimney full of unlit charcoal on top of that. Sand in the pan and assembled the cooker. Top vent fully open, bottom vents open 33%. It went right to 350.

1:45 - Temp at 316. Closed all three bottom vents. Top vent at 50%. Put ribs on.

2:15 - Temp at 295

2:35 - Temp at 288. Took off lid for a few seconds to try and release some heat.

2:45 - Temp at 295. Guess the lid thing didn't work. Top vent now open 33%.

Any suggestions on how to lower the temp or a guess on what time the ribs will be done?

Thanks for your help.
Rob
 
Guess I should have read the section on temp management first. Just read it. Lid thing was a very dumb idea. Well, that's how you learn.

3:15 - opened the door and removed about 25 lit coals to see if that will bring it down. Of course the temp is now at 299 from opening the door, but hopefully it will now start to come down.

Other facts -

Kingsford charcoal
80 degrees sunny, no wind
 
Always leave the top vent open 100%, and manage your temp with the bottom vents only. Remember the fire is down there at the bottom-- closing the top doesn't do much to affect the oxygen getting to the coals. If closing down the top vent is necessary to slow your fire, and all the bottom vent are closed, then there's another factor involved you need to address-- air leak, way too much charcoal...

Think of it this way-- you can breath through a soda straw and not suffocate. The vents on the WSM are similar-- it doesn't take them being open too much to supply oxygen to the fire-- they can be open only a sliver and the coals will burn.

Also, patience is a virtue with any barbecue cooking. Give it time to react to a vent adjustment. Something will happen-- usually within about 15-20 minutes.

When I assemble my cooker after lighting the coals, it usually goes up to over 400. I close down the bottom vents to just a hair open and wait until I get down to around 300. It's then that I quickly open it, add the meat and close it back up. That quick opening does lose some heat, but when I close it again the vents are still barely open and the temp doesn't rebound to anywhere near the 300*. It's then that observation and vent tweaking comes in.

BTW, I am assuming you also read the part that says WSMs run a little hot on their first cooks because no soot layer has yet formed on the inside to help conduct some excess heat out of the cooker. Don't be afraid to really dial those bottom vents down in the meantime. Only if the cooker is totally closed vent-wise will you extinguish the fire.
 
Thanks for the info Doug. After I took the coals out the lid temp came down. The last couple of hours were in the 240 area.

The ribs came out good. I think they could have been a little more tender. Maybe I'll try foiling next time.

Rob
 
Rob,

You can get very tender ribs cooking low and slow. I do baby backs at 220 degrees for about 5 1/2 hours.

I'd recommend using the Minion Method. It's much easier to bring the fire up to temperature, rather than fighting a hot fire. Also, you start cooking sooner, and the meat is exposed to the smoke longer, before it reaches the temperature where it no longer absorbs smoke.

I think you should master cooking the old fashioned way first. Then try the foil and see which you like best.
 
Rocky over at the www.barbecueforum.com uses his WSM with all bottom vents 100% open, for the whole smoke, and his temps stay about the 250 degree mark.

I did my first smoke yesterday afternoon, and it was totally different for me, - when I started it, the thing was up about 380 degres F ! I then realized what i had to do, I closed down 2 of the vents 100%, and waited awhile, - temp went down, but not enough, so I shut the 3rd bottom vent down about 90% and bingo, it got the temp right down to the 245-250 range where I did my smoke for 4 hours 10 minutes.

After about 2 hours, I had to open the bottom vent that I had closed up about 90%, and opened it fully.....

Just goes to show you how different places change the way the things go, - also I had a little bit of wind, and a few gusts from time to time and I believe this affected it.

My pix here:
http://pages.infinit.net/logopro/index.html

Mark.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> I'd recommend using the Minion Method. It's much easier to bring the fire up to temperature, rather than fighting a hot fire. Also, you start cooking sooner, and the meat is exposed to the smoke longer, before it reaches the temperature where it no longer absorbs smoke. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Fred - I had the same thought. In hindsight I think I kept them on too long since I had the temp so high for so long.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by BBQ Mark:
[qb] ...uses his WSM with all bottom vents 100% open, for the whole smoke, and his temps stay about the 250 degree mark.[/qb] <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>I think you'll find as you use yours, you're probably never going to encounter that situation unless you use too little charcoal or happen to buy some cooler-burning brand of briquets. That or if you're only cooking when it's freezing outside, or you always load the cooker up with 40 pounds of meat.
 
My WSM seems to cook hotter than most. I don't think the sections fit together as tightly as they're supposed to. With a full ring of Kingsford, I have maintained temps in the 220's for hours with the bottom vents virtually closed. I have started putting foil around the door and where the sections fit together to give myself better control. It's a little bit of a pain in the neck, but it makes a lot of difference.
Jim Bob.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Jim Bob:
[qb]With a full ring of Kingsford, I have maintained temps in the 220's for hours with the bottom vents virtually closed. I have started putting foil around the door and where the sections fit together to give myself better control. It's a little bit of a pain in the neck, but it makes a lot of difference.
Jim Bob. [/qb] <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>If I cooked with a full ring of Kingsford-- which is more than the 2 Weber chimneyfulls I typically use-- on a normal summer day, I would expect the same. I usually control the fire with only 2 vents most of the time, and they're usually open no more than 30% each for most of a cook.

I could only think that if the body sections did not fit correctly, the culprit would have to be an out-of-round center section. This can be remedied with a measuring stick to verify which way you're out, and then laying the section on its side on a non-marring surface and coaxing it back to round.

On mine, that was not a problem, but my door did have a warp to it that I had to carefully reverse.
 
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