temp control with no water in pan

[Dave O (Alaska)]

I did my first smoke today with the DigiQ II when temps were not below zero. I did not use any water in the pan and the temps ran away on me.

Do you guys usually run water or not?

thanks
dave

 

[Stefan B]

I never use water, just foil and go.

I do believe ATC's are meant to run H20 free.

 

[Dave O (Alaska)]

just not sure why the temps ran so high. it was my first time lighting with a weed burner, mabey it over lit the coals?

dave

 

[Stefan B]

When using my ATC i light ~10 coals then let the unit take over. Top vent @ 50%, all others closed.

 

[Dave O (Alaska)]

I;ll give it a shot, closing down the top vent doesn't cause creosote build up?

dave

 

[Gary Hodgin]

I'd say the culprit was too many hot coals. Normally I start with about 8-12 hot coals and bottom vents open. When temp gets to around 220 and my target is 250 I close all the bottom vents completely. My digi damper is usually about 50% and my top vent are completely open.

I overshot my target temp by a good bit on my first few cooks then realized how few hot coals I needed to get my temp to target. If I'm going for high temps (300-350), I'll go with about one-half to three-fourths chimney to start.