Problem with high temps in brand new WSM 22"

[James Welch]

So i've done as much reading as possible, and I know the WSM tends to run hotter till its gunked up. And I also know that Lump runs a little hotter.

But this is my first cook and I'm having trouble getting my WSM below 300 degrees.

Here's the facts so far.

-First cook with WSM 22"
-Using Wicked Good Weekend Warrior Lump charcoal
-The water bowl is full with warm water.
-its about 65 degrees outside, with a slight breeze
-I used the minion method to start

-I haven't put my meat on yet, because I want it to get under 300 first.
-I put two apple wood mini splits under the lit coals (about 6" long).

-I have 2 of the three bottom vents completely shut.
-I have the third bottom vent slightly cracked...like an 1/8"
-I have no top vent cover so the top vent is completely open (it didn't come with one, weber is shipping it to me).

-There's definitely smoke leaking out the side of the lid and the top front access door.

-I'm using a Maverick et732 to track temps.

-I did make a mistake and not get everything completely ready to close at the start, because i forgot to fill my jugs of water up to dump in the water bowl. So the lid was probably off for a total of 10+ minutes while i got everything setup.


Any tips or help on how to get my temp down would be much appreciated.

 

[James Welch]

Also, oddly enough its counter intuitive.

But the temp has increased everytime i close a vent.

At the very begining all 3 vents were 100% open for a minute or two, then I shut all three down to about 1/2 way. The temp at that time was 280ish

Then i completely shut two of the vents, and closed the third to about 1/4 open... and the temp rose to 311 degrees...and sat there for a good 10-15 minutes.

Then i moved the 3rd vent to be 1/8 open, and the temp rose to 325.

I'm assuming its due to other lumps lighting as time goes on... but its been kinda odd.

 

[Jack Bordeaux]

It's quicker for temps to rise, then fall. That's why they say to start adjusting early.

I really haven't used lump, only KBlue in the WSM and mines pretty seasoned now, so I can control temps with or without water pretty well.

The top vent should be 100% open all the time anyways, so if the vent is missing, not a big deal.

The meat (depending on how much) will also act as a heat sink.

What are you smoking and what temps are you targeting?

 

[James Welch]

I'm going to smoke baby back ribs, about 3.5 lbs worth.

I was hoping to be somewhere in the range of 250ish.

225-275 ideally.


Since my last update temps have climbed to 351, and I now have all 3 bottom vents shut.

 

[Jack Bordeaux]

You say you used the Minion Method, what exactly did that entail for you? Sounds like maybe you have too much lit lump. Lump burns hot.

Did you check for out of round before you lit it up?

 

[James Welch]

Well i used the basic principals of the minion method.

I filled the ring mostly up with unlit lump.

I filled most of a chimney up with lump and lit that.

Then i just evenly dumped the lit charcoal over the top of the unlit charcoal. I didn't use a coffee cup in the center or anything.


By out of round I think you mean the bottom cylinder not being perfectly round and recieving the middle section right?

If so, ya I actually was just looking at that last time i went outside. And it seems to fit perfectly snug together, there doesn't appear to be any gaps or anything.

I opended the door and added about 3/4 of a gallon of cold water to the bowl...Hopefully that helps bring it down some, but right now I'm getting a spike from the door being opened. I'm all the way up to 370.

 

[Jack Bordeaux]

You filled almost the whole chimney up with lump and lit that? That could be your problem. That whole chimney of lit lump is going to burn extremely hot for a while.

A couple of options:

1. Close all bottom vents and wait it out.
2. Put the ribs on and you'll just be doing a high heat cook.

 

[James Welch]

ya I closed all the bottom vents, the temp seems to be slowly descending now, so i'm gonna give it another 30 minutes and see what happens.

If its not down under 300 by then, i'm just gonna go with a high heat cook for this one and consider this a lesson learned

Worst case senario i jump right on another smoke this weekend to try and do better

 

[Don Reed]

sounds like you anwered 2 of the reasons yourself, (1)it being new (2)using lump. Use less lit lump/charcoal when you start the minion method, a full chimney in my opinion is to much, once you had it spread out over the unlit and left the lid off the fire probably spread faster than you thought it would. Start adjusting the temps before the get high like around 175 and let the temp come up slowly (this is what I think I do wrong) Wind will feed the fire causing it to burn hotter and faster so you may need to block any wind the best you can. The first time I fired mine up I had all the bottom vents closed and barely could keep it lower than 280 and like you, I had/have a leak around the lid and the door. You might want to try using cold water also until you learn the glitches of your cooker and until it gets gunky a little. By the way, welcome to the family and by all means,DO NOT GET FRUSTRATED, I'm learning that the hard way.

 

[Erik Slager]

James I am new with a 22" also and haven't had that problem. Definately start with cold water, and before i even started my first smoke I went to the local woodstove/fireplace shop and purchased some high temp gasket material and put it around my access door to prevent additional air from stoking my coals.

 

[James Welch]

The high temp gasket material is a great idea. I'm gonna look into that today or tomorrow.


As far as an Update on my cook, it went pretty well!

I never did get it below 300 degrees... it sat at 300ish most of the cook actually.

According to the log i kept the cook went like this:

1:00am - Dry rubbed the ribs, bagged and put in fridge

1:30am - Made BBQ sauce

2:00am - Sleep

1:30pm - 311 Degrees (full pan, 2 closed vents, 1/8" open), 2 mini splits of apple, no meat on yet.

2:00pm - 352 degrees (full pan, all 3 vents closed), no meat yet.

3:00pm - 330 degrees (added 3/4 gallon water, all 3 vents closed), added 3lbs of baby back ribs

3:30pm - 309 degrees (full pan, all 3 vents closed), meat is 115 degrees. Added 1 apple mini split.

4:45pm - 303 degrees (full pan, all 3 vents closed), meat is 183 degrees. Added a small peice of Hickory

6:00pm - 303 degrees (full pan, all 3 vents closed), meat is 200 degrees. Foiled and moved to oven to keep warm due to the wife not being home from work yet.

6:30pm - Ribs taken from oven, glazed with homemade sauce, and carmalized on grill for for 10 mins each side.

After thoughts and comments...


-The ribs were much more tender then any of the ones I cooked on the grill so I masacred the cut... it wasn't a nice clean cut as you can tell by the photo above.

-The ribs were the best ribs i've made so far, they tasted awesome.

-Bark was great!

-LOVED the smell of hickory while smoking...was a huge fan.

-I couldn't really taste the smoke in the ribs. I only really used 1.5 mini splits on the meat itself though (The hickory was like 1/2 the size of a normal mini split). I'm pretty sure the first two I put on were burnt up by the time i put the meat on.

Plus i was constantly checking out the smoker (not peaking, just looking through the top vent)...so I reaked of smoke. And I've read you often don't taste the potency of the smoke if you've been IN the smoke all day

. But the wife tasted it and said it was very good.

-I learned that the WSM pretty much wants to stay at Temp, its difficult to get it down or up once its locked in.

-I learned start with less then a full chimney of lit Lump

... You can always add more lit if your low.

-I learned start with cold water.

-I learned, if you're going to use lump, get a 2nd charcoal grate to prevent it from falling through (I got one yeasterday, $10 at lowes).



-I LOVED the smell of the wood I got from Fruitawood.


Here's a couple photos of the wood I used actually.

I think that's it... It was awesome, but I can do better, and I'm anxious to get back on the horse and try again

 

[James Welch]

One more thing I learned...and I'm normally good about but got lucky this time.

I learned don't try doing other things while carmalizing your sauce! I ALMOST...almost burned the sauce. It was real close, another minute or two and it woulda been toast.

It turned out dark, but it was still sweet and a little bit chewy...perfect for me that's how i like it. So the color was a little off, but the taste was still perfect.

But ya... i won't risk that mistake again