Temp to low, lot's of unburned briquettes


 
Hawk Redhawk

Hawk Redhawk

TVWBB Member
First attempt. Cooking several chicken quarters with 14.5 WSM. Minion Method ( which I now realize I would have been better served using the standard method). I put a chimney full of KBB into the charcoal grate, scooped out the middle and added about 1/2 chimney hot coals and then added 3 dampened wood chunks. Filled the water pan, added the quarters, put the lid on. All vents including the top wide open. Hot day, no wind. My temperature never rose over 200 degrees. Had the quarters in there for about 3 hours, the internal temp of the meat got to 150. and the grill temp started to go down. Took the quarters out and finished on the charcoal grill (Yummy). Later when the WSM had cooled and I disassembled it, approximately 60% of the charcoal had not burned. I'm wondering if it was stacked so high that the water pan smothered it. Does that make sense or does anyone have any other possibilities to offer? Thanks
 
I had similar issues with Members Mark charcoal (black bag, from Sam's Club) not igniting a few weeks back. I didn't care for this charcoal due to that and also it seemed to burn fast, and with lots of ash. Never had that same issue with most other charcoal. My favorite briquettes are Kingsford competition, Humphrey's, and Weber.

I have not used a 14" WSM, but I've cooked a lot on the 22". The temperature of the water when you put it in the pan is important. When you use a water pan, you want to start with hot water, that way the water doesn't suck up as much heat from the charcoal ring, Normally I use a dry pan with foil on it so I'm not dealing with a wet clean up after the cook, or heating water before I start.

I use the same fire building "doughnut" method you describe, and it usually works pretty good on the 22". I've found that the amount of briquettes I light off is really important to getting to target temperatures and not overshooting. Since you started with 1/2 chimney, maybe start next time with 3/4 or full chimney and see what happens. Main thing is don't give up, keep experimenting until you find the right method, it's half the fun.
 
I have the 14.5 WSM as well. I fill the charcoal ring the same way and I add 12 hot briquettes. With all vents open the air temp through the grommet is over 200 in just a few minutes. I was using regular kingsford with tap water in the pan.

I do put a chunk of dry wood next to the lit charcoal so the wood catches early which may lead to my higher temperature. You may want to try not soaking the wood in advance.
 
Hawk,
I am with J, KBB minion method 12 coals red hot and boiling water in the water pan and my 14 WSM cruises at 250 for 5 to 6 hours. I have never soaked my wood chunks and I think that may have been the problem. I have filled it with charcoal as full as it will go and never had any issues with water pan smothering the fire. I would try to throw the wood in dry next time and see how that goes.
On another note, the only chicken I use the water pan in to cook is boneless skinless breast at 250. Quarter, boneless thighs, halves, or whole chicken I leave the water pan out and let it go.
Michael
 
Trying a pork butt as we speak. Minion method. Used boiling water. I'm an hour and a half in and the weber thermometer on the cover says 200 degrees. My meatstick shows the ambient temperature at 215 degrees. More will be revealed.
 
I'm just beginning this journey (at 78 years old), so I have much to learn. When to use water, when not to use water, best method to use wood chunks, etc. So it's an adventure, but it looks as if there are many knowledgeable guides on this forum. Now it's a matter of trying the different methods and techniques to see which suit my tastes.

Right now I have a small pork butt in the smoker. Weber WSM thermometer shoes 200 degrees after 2 hours, meatstick probe shows 215. used boiling water in the pan and did not soak the wood chunks.

Michael Richards said:
Hawk,
I am with J, KBB minion method 12 coals red hot and boiling water in the water pan and my 14 WSM cruises at 250 for 5 to 6 hours. I have never soaked my wood chunks and I think that may have been the problem. I have filled it with charcoal as full as it will go and never had any issues with water pan smothering the fire. I would try to throw the wood in dry next time and see how that goes.
On another note, the only chicken I use the water pan in to cook is boneless skinless breast at 250. Quarter, boneless thighs, halves, or whole chicken I leave the water pan out and let it go.
Michael
Click to expand...
 
Hawk - if you'd like a book to read, try "Meathead: The Science of Great Barbecue and Grilling" This book has lots of good how-to information and is easy to read. The author of this book does not recommend soaking wood chips or chunks. Generally speaking, wood doesn't really absorb much water unless you soak it forever, and while a wet wood chunk might cool down your fire a bit, what little water the wood does absorb will evaporate pretty fast and won't do much to extend the amount of smoke production time.
 
It can take a while in for the our little 14s to come back to temp after putting a big piece of cold meat in it, for a pork shoulder I'd say about two hours. Where do you have your damper set at? Any updates?
 
Michael Richards said:
It can take a while in for the our little 14s to come back to temp after putting a big piece of cold meat in it, for a pork shoulder I'd say about two hours. Where do you have your damper set at? Any updates?
Click to expand...
Dampers were wide open. Most likely it's my inexperience. Plus there seems to be a 15 degree variation between the wsm thermometer and the meatstick I have that shows ambient temp as well as internal. I cracked it open after a while and the KBB'as that I added the hot coals to weren't catching. Evidently there is a flaw in how I am distributing them (although I followed the directions from Big Stu's you tube video). So, now I'm a little back and forth, regulating the temp more than I'm sure I should have to. So this all probably rookie stuff I have to work through.

Thanks
 
John K BBQ said:
Hawk - if you'd like a book to read, try "Meathead: The Science of Great Barbecue and Grilling" This book has lots of good how-to information and is easy to read. The author of this book does not recommend soaking wood chips or chunks. Generally speaking, wood doesn't really absorb much water unless you soak it forever, and while a wet wood chunk might cool down your fire a bit, what little water the wood does absorb will evaporate pretty fast and won't do much to extend the amount of smoke production time.
Click to expand...
Ordered and received the Kindle edition for use on the Ipad, thanks. I have a couple of books but as usual, knowing which of the myriad of books that are out on any given subject will best suit one's purpose is always a crap shoot!
 
Next time can you take a picture of how you arranged the charcoal when you lit it? How many lit coals did you add? I still find it odd how low your initial temperature was.

How was the final product?
 
JWorden said:
Next time can you take a picture of how you arranged the charcoal when you lit it? How many lit coals did you add? I still find it odd how low your initial temperature was.

How was the final product?
Click to expand...
Thanks, that's a good idea. I didn't count the coals, about half a chimney in the center and the unlit coals circumvented them.

The butt came out fine. I finished off by foiling it and using the oven. It was 161 degrees when I put it in the oven and I cooked it to 195 then let it set for an hour. It pulled well, but I think the next one I'll take to 201 degrees. I'll get this. Took me a few years to go from a line chef to a sous chef and this is no different. Anyway, I'm having pulled pork sandwiches tonight with hush puppies and homemade slaw!! Probably going to get an 18" wsm as well if I can find a deal.
 
Hawk Redhawk said:
Dampers were wide open. Most likely it's my inexperience. Plus there seems to be a 15 degree variation between the wsm thermometer and the meatstick I have that shows ambient temp as well as internal. I cracked it open after a while and the KBB'as that I added the hot coals to weren't catching. Evidently there is a flaw in how I am distributing them (although I followed the directions from Big Stu's you tube video). So, now I'm a little back and forth, regulating the temp more than I'm sure I should have to. So this all probably rookie stuff I have to work through.

Thanks
Click to expand...
Don't stress the 15 degree difference between probe and lid you are in the ball park, I am interested to see how you temps progressed through the rest of your cook. It really sounds like your temps are sitting in low.
 
Hawk... If you would on your next cook, cook to Tenderness rather than a specific temperature.

While temperature is ok for baking, it's not ok for BBQ. In baking, all components are under strict quality control. In bbq, NO components are under strict quality control....
 
Good point.

I cooked one a few weeks ago to 195 and after an hour rest it was still tough. My mistake was not checking it for tenderness. My last one I checked it at 200 before I let it rest and it was falling off the bone. If it was still tough I would have given it more time.
 
Michael Richards said:
Don't stress the 15 degree difference between probe and lid you are in the ball park, I am interested to see how you temps progressed through the rest of your cook. It really sounds like your temps are sitting in low.
Click to expand...
Made journal notes about an hour apart. I also added hot briquettes a couple of times. I had the following readings in degrees approx an hour apart. 200, 215, 215, 224, 219, 232, 186, 220, 222,. 225. Then the temp dropped again, KBB were spent. Put butt into oven to finish.
I have a TPO8S coming from Amazon. I'll set that up for ambient.
 
Bob Bass said:
Hawk... If you would on your next cook, cook to Tenderness rather than a specific temperature.

While temperature is ok for baking, it's not ok for BBQ. In baking, all components are under strict quality control. In bbq, NO components are under strict quality control....
Click to expand...
Thanks Bob. I sort of did that. When I wiggled the thermometer probe around in it, it was pretty squishy. It turned out tender but I thought a little longer time it would pull even finer? It's good to know that I shouldn't rely on internal temperature since that has pretty much been the standard I've used in my kitchens. I did know about wiggling around the probe to test for tenderness. That was on one of Big Stu's videos I think. I'm really appreciative of all the knowledge that you all are sharing. It's helping to shorten the learning curve.
 
Hawk Redhawk said:
Thanks, that's a good idea. I didn't count the coals, about half a chimney in the center and the unlit coals circumvented them.

The butt came out fine. I finished off by foiling it and using the oven. It was 161 degrees when I put it in the oven and I cooked it to 195 then let it set for an hour. It pulled well, but I think the next one I'll take to 201 degrees. I'll get this. Took me a few years to go from a line chef to a sous chef and this is no different. Anyway, I'm having pulled pork sandwiches tonight with hush puppies and homemade slaw!! Probably going to get an 18" wsm as well if I can find a deal.
Click to expand...
Yeah you will figure it out, but
Hawk Redhawk said:
Made journal notes about an hour apart. I also added hot briquettes a couple of times. I had the following readings in degrees approx an hour apart. 200, 215, 215, 224, 219, 232, 186, 220, 222,. 225. Then the temp dropped again, KBB were spent. Put butt into oven to finish.
I have a TPO8S coming from Amazon. I'll set that up for ambient.
Click to expand...
I have a TPO8S myself an love it. It is my favorite BBQ tool besides the WSM itself. Those temps are a little low and I am not sure why you are struggling to get higher temps. If I was in your shoes I would change one thing at a time and see how that effects the temps. I would keep the same set up and just start the minion method with more coals, 20 to 25. Upping the charcoals you start with and adding the thermopro would be the only changes next time and then go from there.
How was dinner tonight and were the hush puppies a homemade recipe?
 
Michael Richards said:
Yeah you will figure it out, but
I have a TPO8S myself an love it. It is my favorite BBQ tool besides the WSM itself. Those temps are a little low and I am not sure why you are struggling to get higher temps. If I was in your shoes I would change one thing at a time and see how that effects the temps. I would keep the same set up and just start the minion method with more coals, 20 to 25. Upping the charcoals you start with and adding the thermopro would be the only changes next time and then go from there.
How was dinner tonight and were the hush puppies a homemade recipe?
Click to expand...
Dinner was great. Hush Puppies pretty standard except I add garlic and sharp Hungarian paprika as well as a smidgin of Cayenne. (If it don't nip, it ain't a pup!)
 
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