The Elusive 225


 
John_NJ said:
And…I am still interested to get close to and maintain 225.

Just out of curiosity.
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i'll watch your journey. 255F held perfectly for ribs this weekend. with many lid opens to spray my concoction on. ribs were juicy and soooo tender. and tasted really good too.
 
Brett-EDH said:
i'll watch your journey. 255F held perfectly for ribs this weekend. with many lid opens to spray my concoction on.
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I'm thinking this might be related to where the grill probe is located. I use a Aubers Type K thermocouple with an alligator clip attached to the tip of the thermometer probe in the dome of the BGE. It's mostly a matter of convenience for me, because the probe doesn't get in the way when I move things around on the grate. The other reason is because I have found with a blower-fed ATC, it is just as easy to blow the hot air out of the top vent as it is to feed oxygen to the fire, so I keep the top vent mostly closed and the bottom vent opened beyond what is required to mount the blower. Of course, when I open the lid, the temp is going to drop significantly. You likely have yours attached to the grate which is closer to the coals and more constant.
 
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Ed P said:
I'm thinking this might be related to where the grill probe is located. I use a Aubers Type K thermocouple with an alligator clip attached to the tip of the thermometer probe in the dome of the BGE. It's mostly a matter of convenience for me, because the probe doesn't get in the way when I move things around on the grate. Of course, when I open the lid, the temp is going to drop significantly. The other reason is because I have found with a blower-fed ATC, it is just as easy to blow the hot air out the top vent as it is to feed oxygen to the fire, so I keep the top vent mostly closed (and the bottom vent opened opened beyond what is required to mount the blower), and the probe in the dome. You likely have yours attached to the grate which is closer to the coals and more constant.
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correct, grate mounted and evenly spaced from WSK metal lower bowl and the rib rack. i seek to avoid taking the air temp of the ribs by not being too close to the ribs, or too close to the WSK so as to get an averaged temp.

my temp data isn't empirical, just the best i have for the situation i'm in. with enough cooks under my belt on the WSK and Signals, i "know" what my signals means when i translate temp to time. and all meat slabs cook differently. one slab this weekend was stubborn and need more time than the other two. so i punished it with more foil wrapped heat until it complied, like its friends did.

i haven't found any need for ATC on the WSK. that's just me though. i have become very comfortable with Signals that I recommend it, highly, to anyone seeking that feature set for remote monitoring.

and of course, i am very happy with the WSK.

my pre-cook time budge on St Lous, undisturbed is 3.5 hours. with the lid openings my cook time went to 4 hours. very reasonable for the results.
 
EricV. said:
But that would be cheating, Lol!
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And still better than most of the local bbq houses where I am. Aside from maybe the annual fair, good bbq is non-existant around here.

I guess smoking is just not popular where I am. I saw the local hardware store selling the Weber Summit E6 for $999cad (approx $750usd).
 
Brett-EDH said:
my temp data isn't empirical, just the best i have for the situation i'm in. with enough cooks under my belt on the WSK and Signals, i "know" what my signals means when i translate temp to time. and all meat slabs cook differently. one slab this weekend was stubborn and need more time than the other two. so i punished it with more foil wrapped heat until it complied, like its friends did.

i haven't found any need for ATC on the WSK. that's just me though. i have become very comfortable with Signals that I recommend it, highly, to anyone seeking that feature set for remote monitoring.
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I could not agree more. I use a grate probe on all my other grills (including the pellet grill), and like you say, it's all relative to experience and knowing how to interpret what the temps mean. We've had the BGE since 2010, and the HeaterMeter was the first thing I put on it (it was a LinkMeter then, scratch-built inside a LinkSys WRT-54G router), and we've been doing it that way ever since. Necessary? Not in the least. But lots of fun and learning for an electronics enthusiast. The HeaterMeter is why I joined this board, and it may be the reason I bought the BGE in the first place.

When did the WSK come along? 2016 or so? There are a lot of kamado options these days, and wireless thermometers as well, more so than in 2010 when we bought the BGE.

I mean, look at this display. What's not to like?

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ADDED: the Config page.

1674601746182.png
 
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John_NJ said:
I need some advice Weber Summit Charcoal Kamado owners:

I have done a few low and slow cooks and as the thread title alludes to- I cannot get the grill to keep 225 degrees.

I have been “fine tuning” both upper, and to a lesser extent lower vents, but as I am approaching a steady 225, the coals seem to extinguish- I guess lack of oxygen.

I am not ready to throw in the towel and get an electronic temp controller just yet.

Anyone have similar issues or advice?

Thanks in advance.
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John, I've read through a bit of the previous replies. This weekend I cooked ribs and played around adjusting temps. I could easily hold 220F, and could have likely held 200F but I didn't want to eat at midnight. I found most of my temp control was gained buy adjusting the lower vent. I left the top vent pretty much unchanged, and could open the bottom slowly and watch temps climb to 250F, then close the bottom off and it would slowly return to 220F.

I'm wondering two things:
1: are your bottom sweeps sealing well enough
2: have you marked the positions of the sweep lever to match the openings in the bottom of the WSK?

Here's a pic of mine.

The left mark is fully closed.
The next mark to the right is when the P section of the vent is fully open.
The final mark to the right is when the entire vent is fully open.

I did not get a pic of where things were set last weekend, but it was between the left-most ( fully closed ) and middle mark so in other words I only had part of the P portion of the lower vent open.

I asked if your bottom sweeps are sealing. My WSK is not very clean right now so maybe a bit of gunk is helping to seal the air inlets a little better.

Anyway, here's a pic of the sweep positions I marked with a sharpie. Pic has it in the completely close spot. IIRC, 220F was about 3/4's the way between that line and the line to the right.

20230124_142933.jpg
 
Ed P said:
When did the WSK come along? 2016 or so?
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Weber Summit Charcoal was the first iteration. 2016 sounds correct.

WSK, Gen2, came out in March 2021. The standalone (E6 Gen2) lost its gas assist wart and some changes to the stand design and solid deflector plate instead of folding one.

Price was $949 on product launch. That price lasted around 30 days and then it went to $1049. Now it's $1249 as of today, retail asking price.
 
DanHoo said:
John, I've read through a bit of the previous replies. This weekend I cooked ribs and played around adjusting temps. I could easily hold 220F, and could have likely held 200F but I didn't want to eat at midnight. I found most of my temp control was gained buy adjusting the lower vent. I left the top vent pretty much unchanged, and could open the bottom slowly and watch temps climb to 250F, then close the bottom off and it would slowly return to 220F.

I'm wondering two things:
1: are your bottom sweeps sealing well enough
2: have you marked the positions of the sweep lever to match the openings in the bottom of the WSK?

Here's a pic of mine.

The left mark is fully closed.
The next mark to the right is when the P section of the vent is fully open.
The final mark to the right is when the entire vent is fully open.

I did not get a pic of where things were set last weekend, but it was between the left-most ( fully closed ) and middle mark so in other words I only had part of the P portion of the lower vent open.

I asked if your bottom sweeps are sealing. My WSK is not very clean right now so maybe a bit of gunk is helping to seal the air inlets a little better.

Anyway, here's a pic of the sweep positions I marked with a sharpie. Pic has it in the completely close spot. IIRC, 220F was about 3/4's the way between that line and the line to the right.

View attachment 65569
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Thanks Dan.

I was looking at the sweep thinking is was not uniformly laying flat to the bottom surface, but it’s probably within the tolerances as designed.

Also I have been keeping the bottom vent on the “smoke” setting for the most part and tweaking the top vent.

I will double check the openings, add the markings and try adjusting the bottom vent back a notch towards full closed and see if that gets me closer.
 
I forgot to mention. Here is where my top vent was most of the day.

20230124_141538.jpg

And a large amount of briqs, with hickory chunks mixed in. The lit coals were touching the deflector when I first put it on.

20230122_131002.jpg
 
While we're on the topic of temperature control, I have noticed that my WSK dome thermometer is generally "darn close" to what my grate probe is reading. Not that I would stop using my grate probe... just wondering if others have noticed similar performance.
 
My tips to get and maintain 225*

1) Start with a nice and clean charcoal pit.
2) I would use only Kingsford Competition (K-Comp). It burns lower & steadier than lump and less ash than regular Kingsford (K)
3) I would set the top vents to mostly open and NEVER adjust them again. You want excess heat to escape. Only adjust the bottom vent to increase or decrease airflow to adjust the temp. And I like the guy who showed that you should pre-mark your vent lever with a sharpie to show where the vents are fully open, partially open, and fully closed. Maybe the Summit's have those pre-marked.
4) I would add a foil pan of water to the grill to absorb extra heat , and to evaporate water at a moist 212*. This should help stabilize your temps. Start with HOT water, not cold.

Also I would rig something to lift that brisket above the foil pan rather than sit down in it. This will allow smoke to reach the bottom, and keep the bottom dryer than if it was sitting in its own juices.
 
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John K BBQ said:
While we're on the topic of temperature control, I have noticed that my WSK dome thermometer is generally "darn close" to what my grate probe is reading. Not that I would stop using my grate probe... just wondering if others have noticed similar performance.
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I almost always run with the thermometer. Summit or kettles. I find them close enough
 
Brett-EDH said:
Did it move to a different location later in the day? I hate when mine plays hide and seek and I can’t find where it went 😂
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Yes it flipped me off when I needed to get temps up after the wrap.

I LOVE the temp agility of the WSK. This thing heats up FAST.
 
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John K BBQ said:
While we're on the topic of temperature control, I have noticed that my WSK dome thermometer is generally "darn close" to what my grate probe is reading. Not that I would stop using my grate probe... just wondering if others have noticed similar performance.
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I think the location is perfect on the wsk, I wish the kettles had the same location for temp gauge
 
Do they sell the whole packet uncut by you? That seems expensive for a flat, to me.

Looks good. That’s a pot roast you made, correct? I never did one in jus on the WSK.
 
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