New Years Day Smoke

[Darryl P]

Hello forum,
I hadn't used my smoker in a long long while and tried to smoke some pork shoulder on New Years day on my 18" . The meat turned out pretty good but the smoker ran way too hot. So I'm looking for advice to cool it down for next time.

Process: filled charcoal ring with Kingsford briquettes (unlit), filled a Weber chiminey starter about 1/3-1/2 with kingford and lit it. Once flaming I dump on the unlit coals and opened the vents to 100%, within 10 minutes the lid temp was 275 I then turned the vents to 0% (all closed) and temp rose to 350 and fell to 300 and stayed that way for 4 fours.

I think I put too much lit coals? What do you guys think?

BTW: Got some pics

 

[Mike Freel]

From the looks of things you did start with more coals than I usually do. I start with my ring 1/2 to 3/4 full and then a full starter of lit coals. Next I start with my vents 1/2 open and start to fine tune when the temp reaches 200. You need to think about controlling where the temp is going not where it is at.
Still the pork looks good. How did it taste? Remember to watch the meat and cook according to what it is doing and not the time on the clock.

Mike

 

[MKEvenson]

Daryl, What Mike said. Close down the vents 50-75 degrees below your target temp. I don't use briquet's but I only add maybe 1/2 chimney of hot and then only to one small section of the cold coals. This is when I am planning a low and slow cook. Ya, how did it taste. I have cooked butts at HH 325-350 and they came out delicious. Keep smokin' for the new year.

Mark

 

[Russ Sylvester]

Couple of things you might try.

Don't be afraid of closing down the top vent if closing the bottom vents isn't getting the temperature down. Just be sure to watch after closing down the top vent. The temps will drop pretty quickly.

Second thing is to try burying your smoke wood down into the briqs. If the wood actually breaks into flame then your temps will really take off until the wood burns down. If they are buried then the chances of them actually flaming is far less. Remember, smoke wood isn't charcoal it's completely unburned wood so it will flame up if it gets the chance.

Russ

 

[Darryl P]

Great advice guys, I'll use less lit coals, turn the vents to 25% and bury the wood more and see what happens. Its hard to make bad BBQ, but I want great BBQ. I'll keep you all posted on my progress.

One more note, I started with an empty water pan then filled it up with cold water to try to cool it down. It looks it should be easier to increase the temp than decrease.

Thanks for the advice again.

BTW: My diner guests loved the Pork Butt, it had a more "roasty" texture than your prototypical pulled pork, but still yummy. Great smoky flavor and a decent smoke ring too, cherry and apple wood what a good combination.

 

[Dave Russell]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Darryl P:
...the lid temp was 275 I then turned the vents to 0% (all closed) and temp rose to 350 and fell to 300 and stayed that way for 4 fours... </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

If a wsm's dome, stack, door, and bowl all fit together adequately, there's NO way the temp is going to stay at 300 for four hours with all the bottom vents shut. I don't care if you start off with two whole chimneys of lit. It takes OXYGEN to keep a fire going, so I'd find out what's out of round and/or tweak the door some. There's nothing wrong with the amount of lit charcoal you started off with, water in the pan or not. It should've responded to the vent changes.