Temp Head Scratcher With 22...


 
D

D Arita

TVWBB Fan
I follow the Minion Method on start up. I put my meat in at 200 and close down the bottom vents to 1/4. Temp goes up very slowly. At about 250, it's still rising, so I close down two vents. At 260 I close last bottom vent and temp keeps going up. Why can't I hold temps down in the 225 range?
The only thing I noticed I did differently was when starting my coals, I'm not waiting until the coals are completely ashed over. The coals are about 3/4 ashed over when I spread them over the unlit coals. Could that be creating the problem? 70 degrees, light breeze, WSM is sheltered.
 
When I do a minion start I put the meat on immediately after dumping the lit...a recommendation from Kevin Kruger. It sets up the temp. dynamics of the cooker from the start, with the meat acting as a heat sink. When you put the meat on at 200* you have to lift the lid, providing air to the coals and maybe that's getting things out of control for you. I rarely lift the lid until the internal temp reaches 180*...many, many hours into the cook depending on the weight of the meat.

Maybe try that and see if you see a difference. BTW, I have an 18 not a 22.
 
While I agree with what Don suggested, that is logical. I usually put my meat in about 200, minion start very similar to what you described, and I have never had an issue controlling my temps with the dampers like you described!.
First of all, make sure the thermometer you are using is reasonably accurate. My original Equipment Thermo on my WSM cannot be relied upon! it reads way too high, and is erratic, which initially led me to believe my cooker was running too hot, when it was not!
If you are happy with the intigrity, and accuracy of whatever thermo you are using, I would then be looking for air leaks on your cooker, if you have all your bottom dampers closed, and your temp is still climbing like that!, you are getting un-wanted air in there, to "fuel the fire", from somewhere else.
My cooker is tight, meaning when I am done cooking, I can close all dampers, top & bottom, and the cooker is cold whithin 1.5-2 hours!.. sometimes faster!
If your cooker won't shut down like that, that confirms that you have a pretty good air leak somewhere.
If you have one of the new 22.5" WSM's the original door has been notorious for a poor fit, and that can allow a lot of air in. My original door did not fit very well, and even though I could still control my temps adaquately with it, I bought the Cajun Bandit stainless door for it, and it has been way better at creating a tight cooker than the original door. (looks better too)
I have read that some people have received cookers that have a warped, or out of round bowl, lid, and or cooking section. This will also introduce un-wanted air into an otherwise temp controllable cooking environment.
Ther are a number of possibilities here, and I am sure you will receive other opinions as well as mine. What I state above is just my opinion, based on my own experiences.
Another thing that has helped me to thouroughly understand, and control my temps, is to NOT think of the charcoal, or lump, as my fuel. I think of the charcoal as only a catalyst !, and Oxygen as the fuel!... if you can adaquately control the oxygen intake, you will control your temps!
 
corey i recently checked my WSM therm by doing the boiling water test and it was OK. ind dont feel did get a et73 but did not like the wires thru the vent or under the lid and dont want too drill holes so i stayed with the factory for now. looked at a Tel tru, which i put on my one touch, but with the WSM drilling a bigger whole would not work out because of the little slit for the therm. just seems like no clear answer,, thanx glenn in SC
 
glenn, buy the hollow eyelets from BBQ Guru. They replace 2 of the screws that hold the grill straps in place. THen you can run your probes through them. No muss no fuss no drilling!
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Corey S:...
Another thing that has helped me to thouroughly understand, and control my temps, is to NOT think of the charcoal, or lump, as my fuel. I think of the charcoal as only a catalyst !, and Oxygen as the fuel!... if you can adaquately control the oxygen intake, you will control your temps! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

^^^WELL SAID, COREY!!!^^^

Yep, a hot running cooker will always be a leaky cooker. It'll get a little better with seasoning, but I think that Corey nailed it, and the door fit is most suspect, going by his and many other posts of new 22.5" wsm owners.
 
As soon as my coals are dumped my middle section goes on, the meat goes on and the lid goes on. I have my vents pre-set for the current weather conditions and I have no issues. As Corey said, Oxygen is the real fuel.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">I have read that some people have received cookers that have a warped, or out of round bowl, lid, and or cooking section. This will also introduce un-wanted air into an otherwise temp controllable cooking environment </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
This is so true. My WSM doesn't choke out either when I close all the vents top and bottom and I'd like to be able to do that. I never paid much attention to the midsection even after reading some of these posts. I always thought it'd look like an egg,but just a little while ago I went out and set the midsection on the floor in the garage and not only did it rock a bit but I could see light coming in under it in spots.I did what has been suggested and very gently rolled it a little.It doesn't rock as bad now and fits into the bottom with much less wobble than before.I hope to check it in the near future,I'd really like to be able to get the temps down around 200 before the coals burn out.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Corey S:
Another thing that has helped me to thouroughly understand, and control my temps, is to NOT think of the charcoal, or lump, as my fuel. I think of the charcoal as only a catalyst !, and Oxygen as the fuel!... if you can adaquately control the oxygen intake, you will control your temps! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Exactly.

Temperature control depends on air control. If you do not have a good fit between the three sections, you will infiltrate air that will feed the fire.

One solution is making sure everything is round. Another is to rotate the middle section to various positions and choose the one with the most even gap all of the way around. (Matching slight out of round between sections.)

I put a small bead of high temp silicone on the bottom edge of my middle section.
DSC_1315-PP.JPG


It has held up well and made it easier to control temps with the bottom vents.

Another possible issue is wind. It will increase infiltration as well as cooling the outside shell causing you to use fuel faster to maintain temp and making control difficult. I have a piece of metal siding I use as a wind block. One day I'll take a piece of plywood and hinge it to make a wind break 4' tall with 3' wings.
 
I had my first cook in my 22.5 wsm, and I thought that I had a really inaccurate wsm gauge.

My Maverick 732 was running a good 25-30 degrees hotter at the grate than the wsm's lid temp gauge. This bugged me through out the cook. But after the cooking was done, and the temp went down I did some testing.

I did the boiling water test, and the 732 digital temp was sitting dead on 212 for a min or so. I then tested it a couple more times just to make sure it was still 212..It was.

Now with the wsm's temp gauge it too was on 212, or slightly past the second mark past 200..

For fun, I had another wsm 22.5 gauge that I tested and it was ever so slightly off.. Maybe 5 degrees. It rested slightly past the first mark after 200.

I hope after a few cooks I will be able to control my temps better.

Fwiw. I did the Minon method today along with adjusting the bottom vents, and the 732 was still showing temps in the 320's-330's even with a full pan of water.

Just thought I would share my temp gauge experience.

By the way, the food I cooked came out great, so in the end it may not matter that much, on worrying so much about the temps.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">My Maverick 732 was running a good 25-30 degrees hotter at the grate than the wsm's lid temp gauge. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>Typical of what I see. With a larger meat load, I've seen as much as 50° difference early in the smoke.
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">I hope after a few cooks I will be able to control my temps better.
...

By the way, the food I cooked came out great, so in the end it may not matter that much, on worrying so much about the temps. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>Good temperature control is a skill that can be learned. Of course you do need to have some control of air getting in the WSM. If too much bypasses the bottom vents, control will be difficult.

Something else to consider is what you are measuring in a particular location. The built in thermometer is going to be sensitive to the meat load particularly early in the smoke. A probe mounted at the edge of a cooking grate may be seeing heat rising around the sides from the coals.

I'm glad to hear that you are getting good results regardless. There is some flexibility WRT the required cooking temperature and deviation from desired may have more impact on how long it takes to finish something than the actual quality of the results. And as you hone your skills, your results will get even better.
icon_biggrin.gif
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top