Wanted to reach out. I have had my weber smokey mountain for over a year. I love the smoker and the food comes out great. My question to you is getting the smoker started. I have the 22.5 and it is hard to control the temp. I use the minion method most of the time but continue to struggle with the temp climbing over 250. Any advice on how to get the temp to stay consistenlly between 225-250. How much charcoal should I use in the beginning? Appreciate any help/advice you can give. Have a great day.
Temp control
- Thread starter EddyMo
- Start date
The amount of charcoal controls how long you can cook. You don't say how long you want to cook or what you're cooking. But let's say you're doing ribs for 4-6 hours. I'd fill the charcoal chamber half full of Kingsford. I'd light 40 briquettes and spread them over the unlit charcoal. Since you're cooking under 275*F, I would use water in the pan, hot in the winter, cool in the summer. I'd start with the top vent 100% open and the three bottom vents 25% open.
Doing as described above, if the cooker runs at 275*F or less, I'd say you're good to go. 275*F is a perfect cooking temp. If it runs hotter than 275*F, close one of the bottom vents. If necessary, close another of the bottom vents. If necessary, start to close the top vent just a bit. If you can maintain 275*F, I wouldn't change a thing. If you end up with all three bottom vents closed, the top vent partially closed, and you can't maintain 275*F, that means you've got a lot of air getting into the cooker through places other than the vents, e.g. around the access door or between the charcoal bowl and the middle section.
The door is an obvious suspect because they are notorious for poor fit. If the top left and right corners splay out above the surface of the middle section, gently try to tweak them into a shape that conforms to the middle section. If the left or right vertical edges of the door bow out a bit, try to coax them into a flat shape. It takes some time and patience, but your effort will be rewarded with a better fitting door. See Parts Troubleshooting for an example.
This is the point in the presentation where someone says, "just replace your door with a Cajun Bandit stainless steel door + latch for $63." That's a fine product, but it's not a perfect product. Some folks are very happy with it, but some folks find it doesn't fit right, either. Or it cracks the porcelain around the bottom of the door opening when in the closed position. And while stainless looks good, the material doesn't affect cooker temp in any significant way. So I would encourage you to try to tweak your door into good shape first, and consider a replacement door only as a last resort.
This is also the part where someone says, "buy gasket material and seal around the door and lid." To me, this is really a last resort for the backyard cook. I'd suggest you try the stuff we've talked about above before considering gaskets.
This is probably enough to get you started, or at least cause you to think of more questions to ask. I hesitate to dive into a discussion about air leaks between the bowl and middle section, out of round, etc. All of that is covered in the Parts Troubleshooting page I linked above.
Doing as described above, if the cooker runs at 275*F or less, I'd say you're good to go. 275*F is a perfect cooking temp. If it runs hotter than 275*F, close one of the bottom vents. If necessary, close another of the bottom vents. If necessary, start to close the top vent just a bit. If you can maintain 275*F, I wouldn't change a thing. If you end up with all three bottom vents closed, the top vent partially closed, and you can't maintain 275*F, that means you've got a lot of air getting into the cooker through places other than the vents, e.g. around the access door or between the charcoal bowl and the middle section.
The door is an obvious suspect because they are notorious for poor fit. If the top left and right corners splay out above the surface of the middle section, gently try to tweak them into a shape that conforms to the middle section. If the left or right vertical edges of the door bow out a bit, try to coax them into a flat shape. It takes some time and patience, but your effort will be rewarded with a better fitting door. See Parts Troubleshooting for an example.
This is the point in the presentation where someone says, "just replace your door with a Cajun Bandit stainless steel door + latch for $63." That's a fine product, but it's not a perfect product. Some folks are very happy with it, but some folks find it doesn't fit right, either. Or it cracks the porcelain around the bottom of the door opening when in the closed position. And while stainless looks good, the material doesn't affect cooker temp in any significant way. So I would encourage you to try to tweak your door into good shape first, and consider a replacement door only as a last resort.
This is also the part where someone says, "buy gasket material and seal around the door and lid." To me, this is really a last resort for the backyard cook. I'd suggest you try the stuff we've talked about above before considering gaskets.
This is probably enough to get you started, or at least cause you to think of more questions to ask. I hesitate to dive into a discussion about air leaks between the bowl and middle section, out of round, etc. All of that is covered in the Parts Troubleshooting page I linked above.
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J Grotz
TVWBB Wizard
I agree wholeheartedly with 95% of what Chris wrote. I only disagree with him about gaskets. Chris primarily cooks on an 18. You and I cook on the 22. If you read through the gasket threads, generally, 18 owners will say gaskets are a waste of time, while 22 owners consider gaskets a godsend. 22s leak like sieves. Try this test, put a half chimney of fully lit charcoal in your cooker and assemble it with all the dampers 100% open. Let the cooker run for a few minutes. Now close all the dampers. Does the temp drops to nothing and the fire extinguish? Or does the temp drop some but the fire keeps burning until there’s nothing left but ash? If it’s the later, then your cooker could use gaskets in my opinion.
I'd still start with the door. Fix the thing you can fix with your bare hands. Only then would I move on to gaskets.
Remember, you didn't ask about how to extinguish your fire completely after cooking. You asked about how to keep your cooker temp from running too high. If using water in the pan, closing vents, and adjusting the door does the trick, then your problem is fixed. Then we can discuss the situation J mentioned and decide if it's a problem or something you can live with.
J Grotz
TVWBB Wizard
In my experience with the 22, I found temp control to be very difficult until I applied gaskets to the lid and door (I even used an ATC). The barrel of the 22 is such a big, thin-walled cylinder that it is very difficult for Weber to make it acceptably round. Also, Weber deserves every bit of criticism it gets for the crappy doors it supplies with WSMs. Unless you are a competitive BBQ'er using your 22 one or more times a week, the 22 will not seal itself up with usage like the 18 does. By all means, fiddle around with the barrel and door to get a better fit. But gaskets are not a last resort. Gaskets are inexpensive and easy to apply. If you do get gaskets, apply the gasket to the door not the barrel.
timothy
TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
And that's why Weber added the arched top opening.
Awhile ago there was a Q&A with Mike Durso who was an engineer with Weber. He mentioned that problem with the square openings on the 18 and how they addressed it with the 22.
My 22 works just fine stock. It is a fuel hog, but extra room requires more fuel, more than my 18. I run them both at 275.
Tim
For very long cooks, you can fill with unlit to the tippy top, even mound it up a bit. I would still start with 40 lit briquettes.
I’ve posted several 22” WSM cooks that show how I setup the charcoal:
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Dustin Dorsey
TVWBB Hall of Fame
I had a issue with my center section being out of round my charcoal section to the point I cook see daylight coming in. I took some measuring tape to figure out where it was thickest and kind of bear hugged it back into shape. Mine wants to climb in temp sometimes as well. All I can say is you will get used to controlling it with time, gaskets or not. A lot of it is what you do at the beginning. If I let the temp get too high at the beginning I'm fighting it the whole rest of the cook. Don't be afraid to use your top vent. I wouldn't close it over more than half but sometimes cutting it to maybe 3/4 can get my temp under control if it has run away on me. I do have the cajun bandit door and gaskets on the door and under the lid. Sometimes even new cajun bandit doors don't have the right curvature and have to be bent into shape.
I put a full 18 lb or 20 lb bag of kbb in when I cook a brisket or butt and light it with 12 to 20 lit briquettes depending on the ambient temp. I leave all vents open until I hit maybe 200 and start shutting them to get 225. If I'm trying to cook at 225 I usually have just one bottom vent set open a sliver and the other two shut down by the end of the cook.
I put a full 18 lb or 20 lb bag of kbb in when I cook a brisket or butt and light it with 12 to 20 lit briquettes depending on the ambient temp. I leave all vents open until I hit maybe 200 and start shutting them to get 225. If I'm trying to cook at 225 I usually have just one bottom vent set open a sliver and the other two shut down by the end of the cook.
what do you do personally when you are doing a 4-6 hour smoke? how much charcoal are you using and how many briquettes do you use to light?
Dustin Dorsey
TVWBB Hall of Fame
I might just fill up the ring maybe 3/4 full and use maybe 12 to 20 lit briquettes. I shut all my vents after the cook and reuse the leftover charcoal either in my grill or the wsm.