Temperature in 14.5 not over 200


 

Allan Navarro

New member
Hi all, newbie post here.
I've noticed that while there's water in the water deposit, the temperature barely reaches 200.
Once dry, of course it goes higher and higher.
I've followed instructions to cook pork ribs and chicken, and although it comes out relatively good, I can't say I'm following them fully as most ask to reach above 250 for cooking so not sure.
Any thoughts? Thanks!
 
Hi Allan and welcome! Your reference to 200 is Fahrenheit, is that correct? Can you share detail on your fuel including the amount you're using and whether all of it is well-lit, or just part of it is lit? And detail on your intake and exhaust vent settings?

Also: are you certain the thermostat you're using as your reference is accurate?
 
Thanks!
Yes, Farenheit degrees. I've used it fully loaded with briquettes everytime and from a third to 50% lit. Same or similar results. Right now I'm smoking ribs following the 3-2-1 method and after 1 hour in the temperature is 220F
Vents are open all the way as indicated.
The temperature measure is from the built in thermostat.
Chances are I'm doing something wrong but no idea what it could be.

Hi Allan and welcome! Your reference to 200 is Fahrenheit, is that correct? Can you share detail on your fuel including the amount you're using and whether all of it is well-lit, or just part of it is lit? And detail on your intake and exhaust vent settings?

Also: are you certain the thermostat you're using as your reference is accurate?
 
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I don't use water in my pan but here are my recommendations:

1. use a second thermometer for verification; one at grate level would be good for a reference
2. start with a greater percentage of lit coals. I don't know what you're targeting for your pit temp and that will also influence how many lit coals you need to start with. Others will need to chime in regarding the max temp you can expect by using water
3. ensure your fuel is good and not impacted by the elements

And are you aware of this very informative section: https://www.virtualweberbullet.com/. Note that the cooking topics are written around the 18"; I don't know if some of the other sections that don't specifically mention the WSM size are also for the 18" or otherwise.

Therein, there's a topic on temp control problems and remedies: https://www.virtualweberbullet.com/temperature-control-problems-too-hot-cool/#cool

This also caught my eye:
1678032300933.png

Good luck!
 
Allan -- general rules. If you want the cooker to run hotter, then:

1. Less water or no water.
2. More lit coals.
3. More oxygen. Vents open, crack lid, crack door, remove door.

#1 is the biggest one. The primary purpose of the water pan is not to make the cook chamber humid. It is to keep the temp from getting too high. If you have a full water pan, you are driving the car with your foot on the thermal brake.

It sucks up huge amounts of heat energy to (i) warm all that water up to 212F and then (ii) convert all that 212F water into 212F steam. A lot of your fire is being used to maintain a big heat sink that (by definition) cannot go above 212F. It is (intentionally) highly inefficient thermodynamics.

Personally, I never cook with more than a smidge of water (for humidity purposes only). I'm comfortable that I can maintain my desired temp without the crude tool of the full water pan (messy overkill imo). And once the 212F thermal brake is sidelined, it is much more easy to run the cooker at a higher temp. Also easier to cook longer with less fuel consumption.
 
Thanks a lot for your valuable replies!
I wished misplacing the pan was the reason, but not in my case :)
Finding quality coal / briquettes is a challenge where I live. However I've asked local professional grillers about it and I'm using the same brands and try to follow their recommendations.
Would it be that the little guy is more sensitive to the effect of the water than other larger bullets? Actually once the water pan is empty, the temperature skyrocket and it is critical to detect this as part of the process. Today when it happened I just partially closed vents for the remainder of the cooking and the temperature stayed under control.
I'll keep digging, likely switching to not using water as in your case. I'll give it a try as part of my learning journey.
Still I can tell you that today's ribs came out great! Here a picture.
PXL_20230305_182200951.jpg
 
Yep, those ribs look good. For sure if you vents are set with water and then the water runs out the temperature is probably going to go up.... Most people don't use water i think, just spray the meat a couple of times
 
Hi Allen,
I use the 14.5 quite often without water and even without pan. Just let things drip as if it were a pit barrel cooker.
This obviously depends on what I cook.

If I want to go slow, I use water in summer as my starting temperature will be over 100 F.
And I use hardwood lump charcoal which burns long but hot.

Keep playing!
You'll be making good food in the process and a couple of degrees don't make too much of a difference ;)
 
On my WSMs, I only fill the pan half full. Starts with a lot of moisture and the moisture level drops throughout the cook. Worked we’ll on my 14 and 22.
 
Thank you all. Yes the ribs were as delicious as they looked.

I've actually been following recipes from the cooking topics that ask for the water pan to be full. But perhaps it is different for the 14.5

I will follow the common advice and will try with less to no water to see how it goes.
 
I've used the 14 for many years.

1. no water unless u are afraid of temps getting too hot (summer time)
2. what is the ambient temperature during the smoke. I find that it is nearly directly correlated, you'll need to get your smoker 30 degrees hotter if the ambient temp is 30 degress less than your "usual" smoking temperatures. I recently. did a smoke at 40f and I know that I normally start with about 10 lit briquettes at 70f ambient temp. My smoker needed to either start with more briquettes to get up to temp, I needed to wait a long time for it to preheat using the minion method, or I needed to stoke the fire by opening all vents and actually blowing into the bottom vents to stoke the fire since there was 0 wind that day. airflow/windy days make a difference too.
 

 

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