Temp troubles


 
D

Dave Scott

New member
I'm trying to follow the directions for the BRITU, but am having trouble getting the temps up. I followed the directions regarding lighting the charcoal. I put the ribs on at 250* and the temps dropped and are still at ~170 at the lid/150 at the grate an hour later. I stirred the coals and have 2 of the bottom vents wide open, but the temps haven't budged. I've always seemed to have a problem with temps reunning a bit low, but this time, its really stuck. Any thoughts/help would be appreciated.

Thanks!


well, I guess I wasn't patient enough or when I reopened the lid to add the probe for the grate temp, and checked back after making the post, its now running at 220* at the lid. What happened?
 
First check the calibration of your thermometer...if correct then have all vents open...next set lid slightly ajar or prop the door open an inch or so. This always gets the temps up to over 350 for me.
 
2 bottom vents wide open; the other closed. I'm pretty sure the therms are correctly reading the temps. Whatever happened, its working, as its holding steady near 230* at the lid.

When I need to get the temps up later, I'll try setting the lid slightly ajar. Thanks for the tip!
 
Dave, I've found that stirring the coals is a short term fix in my smoker. What I'm learning is when my temps are running lower than I think they should (for example this morning when I put a brisket on), I usually am choking down the air flow way too early. Easy fix though by propping the door open by about 1/4" for around 20 to 30 minutes. When I first started propping the door open, I was opening it way too much. It doesn't take much and the charcoal will take off.
Good luck!
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Dave Scott:
I'm trying to follow the directions for the BRITU, but am having trouble getting the temps up. I followed the directions regarding lighting the charcoal. I put the ribs on at 250* and the temps dropped and are still at ~170 at the lid/150 at the grate an hour later. I stirred the coals and have 2 of the bottom vents wide open, but the temps haven't budged. I've always seemed to have a problem with temps reunning a bit low, but this time, its really stuck. Any thoughts/help would be appreciated.

Thanks!


well, I guess I wasn't patient enough or when I reopened the lid to add the probe for the grate temp, and checked back after making the post, its now running at 220* at the lid. What
happened? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
How many slabs of ribs? You say you put the ribs on when the temp was 250*. Typically temps drop when you add meat and if you were cooking alot of slabs, that's what might have happened. Leave all vents open is my suggestion for next time until temp recovers. JMO
 
Dave:

I'm not sure what method BRITU uses (posting via cell phone), but if it's minion method, try using more coals at startup.

I had always read about people only using 13 to 15 briquettes at startup, but it was never enough for me to get the temps going. I started using more and have had better luck getting up to a stable 275 in about 30 min now.

Also, try leaving all vents open until bout 25 degrees of target temp and then start shutting them down. I used to close two vents and make min or adjustments with one to control temp, but now I nearly close all 3 vents and try to keep them all equal. My WSM just seems happier that way.
 
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