Temp Control Question


 
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K Lynch

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Hi All,

I have 4 cooks to my name and the food has turned out great for each. However, during the last two cooks I've had problems with a low temp during the 1st hour of my cook. Yesterday, I emptied 3 full chimneys (one lit, two unlit) onto my WSM and cooked 3 slabs of spares. My initial temp boomed to around 350 on my dome. After about 30 minutes (and a 300 dome temp)I placed my food on the top rack. I had the lid off only long enough to place the food in rib racks- 5 min tops. My temp then dropped to around 165-170 and took me close to an hour to get back to 225 measured on the cooking grate. After this, the temp maintained,but I'm just wondering if there is something I can do differently to avoid the huge drop in temp. I can add that the ribs were very close to room temp before I put them on, and it was about 85 and sunny here in Columbus, Ohio yesterday. Thanks for any tips!

Kit
 
I suspect a couple of things, both charcoal-related.

Under the same weather conditions-- WSM sitting in full sun-- if I start with two fully-lit Weber chimneyfulls and assemble the cooker using cool tap water, my temp shoots up to about 450-- much higher than yours. With the vents set 20%/20%/0%, the temp drops to about 325 within a half hour. At that point I open the cooker, add the meat and close it up. The temp then reads about 215, but quickly rises to 240, where it will stay pretty much indefinitely at those same vent settings.

1)Do you have good quality, fresh charcoal-- like Kingsford, 2) what size chimney do you have-- chimneys other than Webers are usually smaller, so , with one lit and two unlit, you are starting with much less burning charcoal at the beginning of your cook.

My method is to start with plenty of fuel fully lit before assembling th cooker, reign it back to my desired temp by really closing down the vents, and then saving the extinguished leftovers in a dry place for next time.
 
Putting the ribs on even at room temp lowers the pit temp, the fact it took an hour to get back up to 225? is not a problem. I placing burning coals on the cooker, the water pan and the meat all at the same time. It works every time and I get some extra time for for smokering formation that way. Even if it took 2 hours to get up to desired pit temp (which it doesn't) it would be OK.
Jim
 
I use Kingsford Charcoal for all my cooks. I do not have a Weber Chimney - I'm not even sure what brand mine is. I can tell you the charcoal ring was filled to the top, though. I should also add that yesterday a 30 minute, windy and rainy storm brewed through the city. My temp dropped nearly 20F during this period. I was also in the 6th hour of my cook. With a full charcoal ring, and fair conditions (minus big winds and cool temps)should the WSM make it more than 6 hours on one full charcoal ring?
 
I thought more about your question and, while at Lowe's today, noticed the chimneys they sell say they hold 4 lbs. According to a TVWB article, the Webers hold 6. So, where I am starting with 12 lbs. fully lit, you are starting with only 4, I estimate, and the other 8 are catching some time after you've started to cook-- ala the Minion method-- but with a lot more initial coals lit. Would seem to explain the slower-than-desired ramp-up after you put the meat on.

Jim is right that an hour is no huge deal, I just like to get to my desired temp in order to be finished within a certain time frame, and on a 5-6 hour cook, starting out fully lit works for me. (Y'all know what I meant-- the charcoal.)
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> on a 5-6 hour cook, starting out fully lit works for me. (Y'all know what I meant-- the charcoal.)
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Uh huh... /infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif

Keri C
 
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