Temps are slow to rise

[S.Six]

I did a pair of pork butts last weekend. I started them at about 4:40am, full charcoal pan (Minon method), 1gal of hot water in pan, about 40*f outside temp. I took some charcoal from the center of the ring and put that in my chimney starter, added more charcoal to my starter so it was about 3/4th full. I lit the starter, when it was ready I poured the lit over the unlit, put the smoker together, added the water, put both butts on the top grate and put the lid on( all vents open 100%). I was shooting for the 225-250 range, it took about 2.5 hrs. to get there. Now I KNOW it was cool outside, and I KNOW I had a Gallon of water in the pan(hot tap btw). And I KNOW I had about 11lbs of cold meat, but should it take that long to reach my temp range? I read a lot recipes from this site, and a lot of them say " use 20-30 lit coals to start your unlit", but that's just not going to hack it. Am I doing something wrong? or is it just a cold morning mixed with cold butt and water?

P.S. I got my 18.5" 1/31/13 first Weber! had about 8-10 cooks on it.
Thanks!

 

[timothy]

I would check the lid mounted therm. They have been reported to read quite a bit lower than actual cooker temps.

Tim

 

[David]

I use a chimney barely a quarter full and get mine up to 225 in about 20-25 minutes, at which time I'm shutting down bottom vents, depending on my temp goal. I don't use water, so don't know how much that slows things down. Were your lit fully grayed over?.................d

 

[S.Six]

I use a chimney barely a quarter full and get mine up to 225 in about 20-25 minutes, at which time I'm shutting down bottom vents, depending on my temp goal. I don't use water, so don't know how much that slows things down. Were your lit fully grayed over?.................d

Yes, the lit had gray on them. I think I will check my therm too.

 

[Dave Russell]

Just sounds like you're using the factory gauge, which is highly affected by all that cold meat, and out of the stream of circulation. If so, it's perfectly normal for the temp to start at around 200 and slowly rise to around 225 (12 o'clock) for most of the cook.