Temp (With all apologies)


 
C

Casey O

New member
Sorry to be beating the decayed and rotted corpse of the proverbial temp horse here, but I've nowhere else to turn.

I got my 22.5" over a year ago and have done probably 15-20 cooks (almost exclusively ribs, butt & brisket). I've built up a nice residue on the inside walls and feel that it is pretty well seasoned. I use lump w/ wood chunks and always start with MM.

My problem is this - significant volumes of smoke are escaping between the lid and middle section. I have tried closing the bottom vents entirely and the top vent 7/8, but no matter what I do I cannot get the temp to peg anywhere below 275-285. (Measured in the top vent w/ ET732, ~60 hotter than the factory gauge)

Is this the dreaded 'out of round' problem I have heard about? Any suggestions?

Somewhat related - on the rare occasions where it sits in the 260's, as soon as I remove the lid to mop etc the temp rages up to 285+ and won't go back down.

Again, sorry to start yet another temp thread but I'm not sure what recourse I have.

Thanks
 
Measure North & South and then East & West on each of the below parts and make notes. Then look at the differences between the North/South measurement and the east/west measurement of each.

Top of charcoal bowl
Bottom of Mid Section
Top of Mid Section
Bottom of lid

I thought my 22" just needed "seasoning" to be able to shut the vents down and it shut the lit down. But it never happened.

My CC bowl & lid were fine on my 22". The bottom of my mid section was within 1/8", so it was fine. Top of mid section was 3/4". I tried bear hugging it but then I would just mess up my bottom measurements.

Called weber got a new middle section. Now no issues.

Regardless of our of round you should be able to get up to those temps. Now keeping them in a range would be harder or getting them down would be harder if you were out of round.

Whenever you are removing the lid for an extended amount of time, shut all your bottoms vents. Otherwise you are creating a HUGE amount of exhaust room and stoking the fire lighting more coals. One of the reason you can't get back below 285°.
 
Thanks Josh. I will measure next chance I have. Again, getting up to temp and holding temp are no problem, it's just that the temp is 60 higher than where I want tobe.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">but no matter what I do I cannot get the temp to peg anywhere below 275-285. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Sorry Casey, I saw "below" but I read "between". I cook in the 260-280 range.

Yes, out of round could be your issue to not keeping temps low.

Also, how much lit coals are you starting with? Could be too many and then a slight out of round issue keeps you from getting back down.
 
What are you using.. Water,clay saucer or an empty foiled pan. From what I've read and done is temps at the top vent run anywhere from 10-15 deg hotter than what you're target (top grate) temp is. So if you target 250 you would look for a top vent reading of 260-265deg.

Tim
 
I alwys use empty foiled pan.

Totally understand the "temps don't matter, it's done when it's done" argument on most of these temp threads.

My frustration is that A) I can't get it to peg at 225 deg. when I want to and B) I may have defective merchandise.

I am going to measure as suggested above and see where that gets me.

Thanks for your responses.
 
Casey. If 225 is your target than using water is about the safest bet as far as holding at that temp.
I use an empty foiled pan and mine cruises at 275 with minimum fuss!
I've never tried to run @ 225 with an empty foiled pan, but maybe some have and will chime in?
Remember the WSM was designed as a water smoker, trying to use it for most low&slows requires some type of a heat sink like H20 or a clay saucer.

Good luck and keep us updated!

Tim
 
how do you measure your temps?
OEM therm only, or do you use something else?
and where do you measure, if using another therm?
It's frustrating to not be able to do something that is supposed to be the main point of the equipment.
 
I have run my 22" WSM with an empty Water Pan at 230, but that is using a Guru and I replaced the stock door with a stainless steel replacement door from Cajun Bandit. The door that came with it never seemed to fit right. For the lower temp, I also only start with 10-12 lit coals using the minion method. For coal, I only use regular kingsford charcoal when I want to run low temps. Lump always runs hotter for me.
 
I check in the lid vent w/ an ET732 (brand new at Xmas). Which is anywhere from 50-80 deg hotter than the factory therm. I have not tested it boiling water. I'm just pretty sure something is off given the smoke that comes out between the lid and midsection, even with the top vent 100% open.
 
Casey,

I heat sink would help a lot when trying to keep the temps at 230°. I hate water, so I use a clay saucer and have cooked at 240° - 300° with ease.

I know the clay saucer eventually heats up, but it does help a lot at the start of a cook.

I would guess your ET732 is accurate, but still check it in boiling water. I check all my therms about once a month, but I use adjustable analogs in the vent instead of digital.

Have you got a chance to measure it yet ?
 
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