THE VENTS ON THE WSM

[dave caston]

I'm new to the wsm but not new to smoking food useing the Brinkman pit smokers. my question is this? are the bottom vent to remain closed after getting the cooker up to temp rather doing slowcooking or roasting a turkey.I did a couple of 13lb birds last week and had the bottom vent open 100% kept the temp in the 300/310 range. it was windy here in kansas city and i did have a wind break in place. could i have had higher temp by closeing bottom vents?

 

[Russ Hazzon]

The vents control the airflow that feeds the fire. IN calm winds all of the vents wide open would produce the hottest possible fire. On windy days this could actually work in an opposite manner. Wind can run through the upwind vent and actually suck the heat right out of the smoker.

 

[dave caston]

Thanks Russ. I will have to take the time to get to learn my equipment a little better.

 

[Jon MI]

As an experiance Q'er you should know that wind is your biggest enemy. You need to block the wind somehow. Wind will hurt you far more then outside temps.

Usually, vents open feeds the fire. Thats why when your temp gets close to where you want it, you close down your vents most of the way. This way its only getting enough O2 to maintain the fire, ie maintain the temp.

 

[Paul G.]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Jon:
As an experiance Q'er you should know ... </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
I believe that no matter how much experience you get or how long you Q', you continue to learn something new with almost every cook.

Paul

 

[J Rector]

I agree with you Paul.I thought i had this figured out and then a 15-20mph wind taughtme i didn't

. Always something to learn in this hobby.

Seeyaaa
Jeff