Temp Control


 
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Jerry N.

Jerry N.

TVWBB Emerald Member
Can the group share their experiance in useing the MM and controling temp. Many have said things like "control your temp onthe way up", but I was hoping for a little more of a step by step - here's what I do. For example, do you start with the vents half open?, At what temp do you start closing vents if you're shooting for say 225? Do you ever partially close the top vent? Generally, how long do you think it takes for a reaction when adjusting the vents?

I realize this is subject to many factors and I'm not asking members to write a book, but I'm about to try this for the first time and would like some insight. Also, I will be using sand but if you share your experiance, please let me know whether or not you are using sand or water.

Thanks
 
Jerry, I'm doing a butt as we speak. Last night when I put it on I was using MM plus the Brinkmann water pan full of water. Wind was 12-29 (Oklahoma!) air temp 55. The WSM was on the patio pretty much protected form the wind. The two up wind vents were closed, down wind vent 100%. When the temp reached 231* (target of 240*) I closed the down wind vent to 33%. That was just a tad too much, 50% may have been better. From there little adjustments until you are happy with temp. Give it time to react to the adjustment, maybe 20-30 minutes. Hope this helps I'm still learning this too, but this seems to be working for me. /infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif
 
Jerry....

When you start, have all the vents wide open. I am a huge advocate of placing the meat on as soon as you dump the lit coals onto the unlit coals. This will help regulate the temps on the way up.

For your first few times, pay close attention the RATE of ascent....ie. how fast is the temp going up. If a slow ascent, then start adjusting your vents when it gets to about 20? from your target.

If it is a fast ascent then start closing your vents when it is 40? below your target.

Remember, this is more art than science, so you must go with the flow. It is rather windy in these parts this weekend so you may have to completely close your upwind vent and keep the others slightly open or even closed.

You can only experiment with the vents at this point because of the things you stated....your weather and cooker are different than everybody elses.

It will take about 15-20 minutes for any vent changes to happen, so be patient. The good news is you can have a pretty wide range of temps and still not screw it up.

I use sand now, but used water for many years and my method stays exactly the same...I ALWAYS control my temps on the way up...it just seems so much easier than trying to choke the temps down. BUTTTTTTT, that is just me!

As to the top vent....yes, many times I have had to partially close it. Don't worry about that. What it means is you have a leak somewhere and air continues to get inside the unit even with the bottom vents closed. Close the top one ALMOST completly shut and your temp will come down in about 20-30 minutes. Once you are back at your desired level, then you can SLOWLY open the top vent.

Hope this helps! As I said..this stuff is more art than science so you will have to experiment and observe and over time you will get the knack!

Good Luck!
 
Last weekend I made BB ribs using BRITU and lighting with the standard method. I had a hard time getting temp down, eventually having to remove some coal. Yesterday I made six racks the same way except starting with MM. Under Tips and Mods there are directions for MM which will answer your vent questions. Temp here 40* no wind but steady rain the whole smoke. I used water in the pan. Temp rose at a steady pace from 122* top rack when meat went on to 202* an hour later so I partially closed bottom vents always leaving top vent open. The temp hit 225* 1.75 hrs into smoke and then leveled off in the 230-240* range till the end of the third hour. After a spike in temp due to turning and swapping rack positions, temp settled in at 255* with no vent adjustments till the end of the smoke 2.5 hrs later. I think, based on only 2 cooks, that the MM is easier to control for us beginners. One curious observation I noticed was that during the last half of my smoke, dome temps on a TEL-TRU and top rack temps on a Maverick were virtually identical. I also agree with Bob about giving time for vent adjustments to take hold, another mistake I made on my first smoke. Now if you will excuse me, I have to find some friends to help me get rid of 12 lbs of ribs as they are taking up beer room in the fridge!
 
Thanks Stogie, that helped me out also. I wasn't leading the temp enough. Been told I don't lead the bird enough sometimes too! LOL.

Bob
 
Thanks. I think it's hard to get over how little the vents actually need to be open if you're not using water.
 
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