Problem with temps too high

[John Lantern]

Hi to all. I am a newbie to the WSM but have done a little electric smoking before. My stable now includes an 18.5 WSM thanks to a yard sale score ($15 with a cover? SOLD!). I jumped into the charcoal scene with both feet and broke it in the day I got it with an overnight pork shoulder smoke. It was very easy to use, with a Weber chimney (cost as much as the smoker!) and some Stubbs briquettes. However, I could not keep the temps low until I started to run out of fuel.

They were low enough for smoking, and the shoulder came out pretty freakin good, but I had a tough time getting it down from 275, even with all the vents the next closest thing to closed. I started with 20 lit coals on the minion method, which may have been too many on an 85 degree night (temp did drop to the high 60's and cook temperature did seem to go down then). Also, I couldn't really use the water pan, since mine was apparently used as a charcoal bowl and was warped and had a small hole that means it won't hold water. I put in a smaller aluminum pie plate filled with water, and also added the only terra cotta saucer I had, a 4" one wrapped in foil. I tried to be conservative with the air mixture, and turned the vents down to a 1/4 open when I hit 200 dome.

I know that I have air leaks around the door, and the bottom of the middle section has one gap where there isn't a tight fit. Are these likely the problem, or did I probably just add too many coals or not have enough of a heat sink? Or D, something I didn't even think of.

I know, I know, E, all of the above right?

Thanks for any help or thoughts.

 

[Mike Hartwell]

Those gaps you speak of will contribute to the amount of air fueling thos coals.
Did you try to shut down?
With all vents closed, you should find a cold smoker in an hour or 2.
If that's the case, good, if not try a little hugging and massaging to get things round.

 

[S Mitchell]

Have you checked your thermometer in boiling water for accuracy? If the therm is accurate, listen to Mike, give her a little love!

 

[Louis]

Hi,

When i use mine (which is 3 months old) i can always see smoke leaking by the top and the door, but i never had problem controlling the temp.

The fact that you are not using water is certainly not helping since i always use water. With water and all three vents at 1/4 open, i'm always at 225-240F ... so i guess that without water i would be higher ...

Maybe you could close 2 vents and keep only one at 1/4 or 1/3 ...

 

[John Lantern]

I did check my main thermometer and I know that it is actually low by about 10 degrees. My grate one I haven't checked but it was consistent with the other.

I'll try the hugging and shaking and see if it makes a difference, along with maybe a little foil if I still see the bottom gap. I may put a SS bowl of water inside my defective pan and see if that makes a difference.

Thanks for the help.

 

[Hank B]

Hi John,
Welcome to TVWBB. I love my WSM and I hope you find yours as useful.

Temperature control is achieved by limiting air. Remember you start with all of your fuel. Limiting the number of lit coals you start with will slow down the temperature increase, but eventually enough coals will be lit to overcome that. Water helps moderate temperature as it will boil at 212° F. I view that as a sort of safety feature to keep temps from getting away. Many experienced smokers here use a clay saucer for thermal mass and forgo the water. (I have yet to try that.)

You'll find some tips to help in the FAQ.

Particularly work with the bottom seal. Sometimes that's as simple as rotating the middle section in the base until you get the most even gap all of the way around. Some times some gentle bending is required to get the parts to match. Also do what you can to get a close fit on the door.

Finally, I used high temperature silicone to add a seal on the bottom edge of my middle section:

Once I did that, it was easy to control temperature using the bottom vents. Without that (and with a new cooker) I could close all vents - top and bottom - and hold nearly 200° until the fuel was exhausted.

Edit: I forgot to mention that I've heard that a Brinkman charcoal pan makes a good water pan for a Weber so you might want to search for posts that mention that.

 

[George Payne]

Sounds like you got a good deal. EVeryone has their own tecnique, but I will tell you mine.

First, I NEVER put water in the water bowl

Second, I always close ALL then vents except the top one, which I start out about 1/2 open, the close it down to 1/4 open. If you notice excessive smoke from around the lid, re-seat it and I've found mine was not seated properly.

I use a DigiQ Guru2 Temp controller, and If i Set it for 240, believe me, it never gets even one degree above 240. Water just complicates temp control because it is changing temps along the way. I bought a 14 inch Terra-Cotta Mexican Plate, double foil wrapped it (and the water bowl) and you have a quick cleanup every several cooks that way. Again, leave ALL vents closed but the top one. My othe vents feel very left out, but I don't need them. The Guru does the rest. I have NEVER turned out bad meat of any kind. Ijust smoked a slab of spare ribs about 5 pounds and added a "beer can chicken" to it and they both turned out great. I smoked them both at 240, pulled the chicken when it's internal temp hit 269 and 15 mintues later I pulled the ribs, added some honey, brown sugar, and some liquid to add some moisture, double-wrapped them in heavy duty large foil, put them back on the smoker for about 35 mintues and PRESTO, had a wonderful slab of ribs with a beautiful smoke ring, could cut them like butter between the bones, wrapped the chicken and had it for lunch today. Both were FABULOUS.

Good luck.