Operating Advice for the Summit Kamado

[M Stenberg]

That's why I have a gas grill.

Let me know if you need one. I might know a guy

Me too, though I have been using my Summit gas grill much less often now that I have the Summit kamado. Once it gets cold out, I will probably be back to the gas grill for a few months.

 

[M Stenberg]

Billows on WSM makes sense. I wouldn’t challenge that thought or use. On the WSK, you’ll see how stable it is and billows not needed. Looking forward to seeing your success.

Billows on WSM makes sense. I wouldn’t challenge that thought or use. On the WSK, you’ll see how stable it is and billows not needed. Looking forward to seeing your success.

Smoked the ribs this weekend, turned out great. It does use much less fuel than expected, had it going for 5 hours and this is what I had left, easily 8-10 hours with just the middle filled. I bet if I filled the whole bottom I could get 24 hours, not that I would ever need that. As for temps, it did hold much steadier than the WSM. Moved up or down very slowly, but I still had to adjust the top vent every 30-60 minutes to keep it around 250. Maybe I am not as good as you at getting it dialed in, but it was either going up or down, never holding steady. I am going to order the billows just to try it out, I like gadgets anyway. Would be helpful if I want to run it overnight and not have to wake up to alarms.

 

[Darryl - swazies]

Smoked the ribs this weekend, turned out great. It does use much less fuel than expected, had it going for 5 hours and this is what I had left, easily 8-10 hours with just the middle filled. I bet if I filled the whole bottom I could get 24 hours, not that I would ever need that. As for temps, it did hold much steadier than the WSM. Moved up or down very slowly, but I still had to adjust the top vent every 30-60 minutes to keep it around 250. Maybe I am not as good as you at getting it dialed in, but it was either going up or down, never holding steady. I am going to order the billows just to try it out, I like gadgets anyway. Would be helpful if I want to run it overnight and not have to wake up to alarms.

Nice amount of fuel left over....this bbq is efficient as heck....I love that about it.

Now in terms of adjusting temps....it takes forever for an adjustment that is not going from 250 to 400.....that goes fast and is easy to do.
I find I have to make an adjustment and look for a temp swing in about 30 minutes or so...moving to lower the temp is more difficult than going up.

Also the E6/S6 works exactly backwards in air flow for heat adjustment.....when using my 22" performer the top vents at all times stay open 100%.
Closing them down half way doesn't seem to have any effect.....the bottom vent is my heat control.
I use the performer as my go to bbq for most cooks...about 75% of them....I would say...it is much easy to clean and keep clean.

The E6 when being used for low n slow I keep the bottom vent basically closed and adjust the top vent for heat control.
Took me a few times to get that straight.....was frustrated with not being able to maintain a nice low temp.
Once that was obvious the things got easier.......
The pic above of Brett's temp guage is basically where mine will smoke at.....
It seems they all have a mind of their own....I think Dan's will hover at a bit lower than mine will...but 15 degrees really isn't going to change much.
If I leave the lid open to long to do something while mid smoke the temp will rocket up.....this is no good so I try not to do that....bringing the temp back down is a bunch more work than I want to do.

You will have this down in no time...have fun....

 

[Jacob]

I’ve been using my S6 for a few months now, not as much as I would like (work has been crazy), but I really love it. It’s crazy how little fuel it uses. I did buy a Billows and really like it as well. I don’t use it all the time, but definitely for overnight cooks or longer cooks where I don’t wanna mess with anything. I don’t trust myself, I guess. I use the minion method for lighting my charcoal, then turn on the Billows, and it usually gets up to temp like normal and buries at whatever temperature I want. And I’ve used it anywhere from 200 to maybe 325.

Only thing I’d say is that it doesn’t seem to put as much smoke flavor into things as my WSM or even my pellet grill. That’s okay with me, since I don’t want too much smoke flavor, but I’ve been thinking of increasing my smoke wood chunks from 3 to 4 or 5. I’m afraid of putting too much smoke on, though, so maybe I’m doing something wrong. I don’t bury them in the charcoal. I like them on top so that they light up and get smoking pretty early so that I can put as much smoke as possible on the meat while it warms up.

One question. Has anyone found any good videos online of people cooking on the WSK? I’ve found some, but they’re pretty old. I’d like to find a few newer videos of people using it for various cooks. I read a lot on here and look at pictures, but I’m the type who feels better if I can see people actually doing it.

 

[HarlanB]

what advantage is there to filling just the middle with coal?

are there any tips to getting the wsk to smoke as well as a drum?

 

[John_NJ]

One question. Has anyone found any good videos online of people cooking on the WSK?

I thought this video was pretty good:

 

[HarlanB]

wsk'ers:

I've been mainly doing direct heat with the lower coal grates. 90% rock stead temps, easy to use.

I can keep smoking temps as well using this setup at 225, 250-ish.

The coals are very choked doing things this way, but i can keep temps.

I wonder if using a lot less coal would help to move more air and less choking. And since it's direct topping up more coal if necessary is fairly easy.

Burn pattern is supposedly established from other users as left to right. If I light the middle it burns rightward. leftward coals remain unburned.

I often have a lot of small unburned chaff that passes into the ash collector. I wonder if using the baskets or some other thing to keep coals together would lessen this. Not a big deal.

I am getting back into smoke mode with the deflector. I lit from the left side hoping burn would just continue rightward.

Bottom damper on smoke setting , top was open more than I usually do with direct heat.
I'm guessing the deflector chokes fire down somewhat so you need more airflow maintain temps.
Had a flameout when trying to maintain 230/250. I think the bottom damper needs to be open more and top less with the deflector in?

Also was using a drip pan. That in combination with the deflector acted as an extreme heat shield for the bottom of the meat. I was not used to this when using normal direct mode. So I guess flipping meat is a necessity when smoking over a drip pan?

Considering a temp controller fan, no wifi, just a one box fan into the port to set a temp. I know it holds temps very well but sometimes I just want to walk away and not have to check things. i.e. the other day wind blew the top damper wide open and had flare up. I'm correcting the damper issue, but stuff happens.

Can anyone verify that lid thermometer is roughly 25 degrees hotter than grate temp?

I'm going to be testing out a hanging rack for direct cooking. I wonder about hanging over the deflector as well.

 

[RLittle]

I've seen the same thing on my burn patterns as well. It jumped out at me after Brett posted about what he sees. My theory is that pattern burns towards the temp controller fan port on the WSK (it's not a sealed port....just a cap). It wants to burn in a 10 o clock to 4 o clock pattern across the coal grate. I just kind of plan on that pattern and light some coals in the upper, LH quadrant.
Also, like you, I've snuffed out my fire trying to dial down to 225. I think the problem is that the smoke setting just doesn't give enough airflow if you're dialing down the top vent as well. I've been bumping the bottom vent a little more open and then dialing the top back. I do cook around 275 typically but I can get it 250 if necessary.
As far as the lid temp vs grate temp, I don't know if I've verified with a grate level probe but You're probably right on the 25 degrees. Seems like the WSM operates around the same difference.

 

[HarlanB]

had anyone tried to seal the port with a better cap? or high heat tape?

It might be a combo between air leaking in through the ash sweep blades and the port. The ash blades do not seal fully - likely by design at least on the older kettles. They probably should have designed a more secure air intake on the kamado.

have you noticed a difference like me when using the deflector vs direct ?

I also want to try double indirect a la smoking dad. At first it seemed silly, but then I read the explanation more carefully. He's doing a decent job at getting closer to offset smoke by making the coals work harder with two deflectors (harder work = more air movement), and doubly preventin radiative? energy from transferring from the deflector so you're mainly relying on hot smoke.

 

[Brett-EDH]

had anyone tried to seal the port with a better cap? or high heat tape?

Why? The WSK works great as is. It needs nothing imo.

Pull up my brisket/Passover cooks. You’ll see some low and slow temps, all measured and recorded.

The WSK is the easiest gril and smoker to use. Less is more. It has a great cruise control built into it. Just let we ride. Drink some cold ones. And relish in your success.

 

[HarlanB]

Why would i want to try sealing up the probe port? Cuz I'd like to have the intake vent as the only air intake.

Last smoke cook with the deflector temps were solid at 240 then shot to 300 for no apparent reason

 

[John_NJ]

Why would i want to try sealing up the probe port? Cuz I'd like to have the intake vent as the only air intake.

Last smoke cook with the deflector temps were solid at 240 then shot to 300 for no apparent reason

That happens to me from time to time and I just reasoned it’s when one of the chunks of hardwood I added in the beginning gets ignited by the charcoal.

It usually settles down on its own.

I’m pretty new to the charcoal grilling game myself though.

As far as sealing the little grommet, I think there would still be some leakage from the gasket around the lid.

 

[DanHoo]

I don't think my probe port leaks intake air. If it does it is so minor I don't worry about it.

Once I made a very minor adjustment to the sweeps to make sure they sealed well, but overall I've had no reason to make any other changes. I can hold temps under 200 if I want, though I rarely have a need to have such a low temp.

YMMV