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
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