My first attempt at a pork butt and 7.5 hours into the cook I notice the temp through the dome was way over 300*. I started to get nervous and made some adjustments to the vents. After that I realised the sun had changed through out the day and was blasting the dome. What to do, any advise? /infopop/emoticons/icon_eek.gif
sun and temp control
- Thread starter Dan Bond
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Kevin Taylor
TVWBB All-Star
Dan....
As Doug mentioned..the only thing you can do is be prepared for it. OR make sure to do all your cooking in the shade. I always account for the time when the sun makes the big turn and hits my cooking area. I know I will need to turn the vents down to control the "new" heat source.
So, do like the Boy Scouts...Be Prepared.
As Doug mentioned..the only thing you can do is be prepared for it. OR make sure to do all your cooking in the shade. I always account for the time when the sun makes the big turn and hits my cooking area. I know I will need to turn the vents down to control the "new" heat source.
So, do like the Boy Scouts...Be Prepared.
Konrad Haskins
R.I.P. 3/23/2014
The old sun got me this weekend. It was over 100 and my Ranch Kettle was in direct sun. One Weber Chimney was way too much heat. My Chicken was cooked like I wanted it only problem was I was counting on a 90 minute cooking time not 45 minutes /infopop/emoticons/icon_rolleyes.gif In extreme cases like this forget vent control and start with three pieces of charcoal as a heat source to make the chunk of wood smoke. It was my bad for not having followed Chris' great directions for mounting a thermometer. I have 59 days to mount a glow in the dark TelTru /infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif
Barry McCorkle
TVWBB Super Fan
The effect of direct sunlight on temperature control with the WSM is probably the least addressed issue on this forum, even though it probably has the most influence on controlling the temp. My smoker tends to run hot and getting it to run 225 - 240 consistently is tough in direct sunlight. I handle it a few ways.
1. If I will be cooking during the day, I have to stay off the back patio for my cook since it gets direct sunlight from 1:00 pm till 7:00pm. I have two other spots that I can put the smoker that keep shade during the entire day.
2. Use less charcoal. I can generally cook ribs for 5 - 6 hours using the BRITU cooking method on a little more than a Weber chimney load of charcoal and 2 - 4 chunks of wood. Maybe a chimney and a half of charcoal? Generally I never fill the charcoal ring more than 1/2 full of charcoal when cooking ribs.
Again this is done to keep the temp at 225 for 3 hours and then the vents are opened wide for the last 2 hours to reach a 250 - 275 temp.
1. If I will be cooking during the day, I have to stay off the back patio for my cook since it gets direct sunlight from 1:00 pm till 7:00pm. I have two other spots that I can put the smoker that keep shade during the entire day.
2. Use less charcoal. I can generally cook ribs for 5 - 6 hours using the BRITU cooking method on a little more than a Weber chimney load of charcoal and 2 - 4 chunks of wood. Maybe a chimney and a half of charcoal? Generally I never fill the charcoal ring more than 1/2 full of charcoal when cooking ribs.
Again this is done to keep the temp at 225 for 3 hours and then the vents are opened wide for the last 2 hours to reach a 250 - 275 temp.
Jason M. Park
TVWBB Super Fan
Yes, sunlight matters, I found that out this weekend when doing 2 whole chickens. I took my setup over to my sister's house. I set it up in 100% shade, compared to my condo where I normally smoke, it gets sun from 10 or 11am to almost sundown. I really had to open it up much more than I normally do to keep the temp up. It wanted to hover at or below 200.
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