Temperature Drop


 
J

Joe Tacoma

TVWBB Member
I filled up the charcoal chamber almost full using Harry Soo's minion method and dumped about 15-20 lit charcoals in the crater at 12:15pm. I cooked some beef short ribs and St. Louis style spare ribs. Once it got up to my desired temp of 275 I put the meat on, it was 1pm. The temp was between 275-280 and things were going real smooth, but at 2:11pm the temp started dropping quickly and about 10 minutes later it was at about 257. There was a slight wind out, but it had enough charcoal for a long cook. Since there was a little wind I believe I had 2 intake vents 100% open and the exhaust 100% open. Does anyone have any idea why the temp would all of a sudden start to drop quickly? It started to pis me off. I stirred the charcoals and the temp got back up to 264 for a little while but as soon as it started dropping again I stirred them again and had all vents open. I even cracked open the door to get it back up to temp. When the temp would drop cracking open the door was the only thing that would get the temp to rise quickly to where I needed it to be. After a while the temp settled at 280 plus/minus a few degrees and I got through the cook just fine. I do not like how the temp started to plummet though and I want to know why this would happen.
 
Temp is going to drop initially due to the cold thermal mass of the meat along with having the top off while you load the cooker up.
 
For the temps to drop like you say it's either the ash or the unlit snuffing out the lit or damp charcoal which causes an uneven burn. Was this a first or does it happen often?

Tim
 
timothy said:
For the temps to drop like you say it's either the ash or the unlit snuffing out the lit or damp charcoal which causes an uneven burn. Was this a first or does it happen often?

Tim
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I'm with Timothy. I recently couldn't get fresh coals to ash over in my WSM. I dumped everything in my OTG, only to find that water had collected in the bottom of my cooker and made a wet sludge.
 
What Timothy said. You may have the bottom v's open but maybe hadn't cleaned out the bottom prior to the cook and ash build up just closed off the vents till such time as the current cook closed off the vents entirely.

Doing ribs today and temp got up to 150 but no more. What's going on here? My problem was I forgot to open the top :mad: . We all make mistakes but usually it's a quick fix.
 
Len Dennis said:
Doing ribs today and temp got up to 150 but no more. What's going on here? My problem was I forgot to open the top :mad: . We all make mistakes but usually it's a quick fix.
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LOL I'm doing corned beef on the WSM and thru a pan of beer braised carrots on the OTG. I had them on for more than an hour and couldn't figure out why I was not getting a reduction in the cooking liquid.
My ever sharp Son Brandon pointed out that I had the one touch system closed..:)

Tim
 
It must be amateur hour. I checked the bottom vents and they were not closed off by the ash. My guess is the coals at bottom were not igniting and once the charcoals were stirred they got going.
 
Joe Tacoma said:
It must be amateur hour. I checked the bottom vents and they were not closed off by the ash. My guess is the coals at bottom were not igniting and once the charcoals were stirred they got going.
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Well good and I'm glad that you got it all figured out.

Tim
 
Temp spikes and sinks happen frequently with the Minion Method, which almost all of us use. I've been scratching my beard about it and here are a few random observations:
Wind is a bigger factor than you might think, especially if it's one of those breezy/calm/gusty days.
How you load the chamber affects the burn -- unlit concave, wood chunk placement, how many lit coals, how you spread them. It's hard to do all that consistently the same from cook to cook.
Since the Minioin depends on contact between lit and unlit to keep the fire going, those points of contact will increase/decrease throughout the burn. You can't line all the briquettes up perfectly all the time. (The OTG Snake method is maybe the most consistent.)

I find that some cooks go perfectly with the temp curve flat as a Kansas driveway. Other times, I spend an inordinate amount of time chasing the temp. The best fix I have found is to tap the legs at regular intervals to help clear the ash and settle the briquettes. The WSM is remarkable in its ability to hold a pretty consistent temp, but like everything else, there are variables to consider.
 
yeah ive learned wind is a big factor, hate it. It was calm, until the minute I lit the coals. The gusts picked up, the BBQ gods were giving me a test. I am not familiar the OTG Snake method.
 
Hi Joe,
The temp does drop when you put the meat in but it seems like it was fine but after an hour it dropped which is weird. So one common mistake is to not wait long enough for the chimney to fully light up the coals before tossing them in the middle of the volcano of briquettes. I usually wait 20 min or so (when flames rise up a good 6 inches above the chimney). If you did that, I might increase the number of hot coals you add. I know you live in SB, so air temperature isn't an issue, unless it happen to be a really cold day. Also, try opening the vents half way on the bottom and the top. Opening them up fully usually produce a raging fire like Dustin said.
Also, the difference between 275 and 257°F, isn't really that big of deal. Don't freak out about small differences (yes, it is a small difference). If you are shooting for 275 and it is 257, it is okay. However, if it is 240, okay, I'd start to worry a bit and work the vents. Remember, not to expect the WSM to work like a Maserati. Though this is a product of German engineering (the inventor is German), give it some room to have a personality. Some smokers just behave a certain way and as long as it isn't straying too much, let it run. Their tendencies are probably based on air leaks, variations in the patina, etc. It's to be expected.
Donna
 
Donna, WOW thank you so much for taking the time to give me advice!!

I made some spare ribs yesterday and experienced the same thing. I put ribs on about 45 min after lighting the coals and about a little over and hour after the meat was on the temp began going down, although not as quickly as last weekend, and again settling at 257 for a little while until I brought it back up to temp. The charcoal chamber was all the way full. It must really like that 257 temp. I had about 15 coals in the chimney and not all of them were completely lit when I tossed them in the crater, the ones at the top were not completely ashed over. I Did that last time too, so next time I will start off with more coals in chimney and wait for all of them to be fired up all the way. I have been using the technique I read on slapyodaddy to bring it up to temp, leave 1 intake open and the exhaust 1/2 open (although I have been leaving exhaust 100% open). Next time I am going to try your technique though of bottom vents half open and exhaust 1/2 open. I was using about 15 coals in chimney lately because I had one experience where I put in too many and the temp reached 325 quickly and wouldn't come back down and I didn't have enough time to wait for the temp to come back down that day. Air temp definitely was not an issue this weekend, and it was warm yesterday. I try to stay as close to 275 as just to keep heat consistent as it can be. Since you say 257 is still ok I feel better about it now and next time will have a beer. Thank you again for the advice and knowledge!!
 
smoked some more spareribs and split chickens yesterday.

I used more coals this time. Probably about half a chimney and waited for all of them to be lit and the flame was rising above the chimney before I poured them into the crater. I left all intakes 50% open and exhaust 50% as well. It came up to temp of 275 nicely after about 40 minutes. I did not experience the temp plummet like the last 2 times. So I cracked open one of my favorite beers, Blonde Kolsch Style Ale from Island Brewery, and relaxed. That is one of my favorite beers, anyone ever try those? The temp was very steady as I monitored it. It hovered around 265-280 most of the time. From now on ill used more coals in the chimney to get things started.
 
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