Thoughts on the P Vent


 
T

Tom Reed

TVWBB Member
As with many of you, my first Weber Charcoal experience was a daisy wheel bar-b-kettle. Since then I have owned a "capsule" vent one-touch and, since I received a replacement bowl for my Performer, a P-vent grill.

When researching the new P-vent setup, I noticed there is not a ton of information out there on performance of the P-vent, especially for low and slow cooking. I am creating this thread so that others looking for the same info will have a little more to read.

As I write this, my first low and slow cook with the P-vent is going outside. I am hoping that this can overcome the shortcomings of the capsule shaped vents that make the daisy wheel my preferred smoking grill. About 2 hours in now and I've been able to hold steady below 250 degrees. It seems to want to float between 230 and 245 with only adjusting the bottom vent.

What are your experiences/thoughts on the new p-vent configuration?
 
Must be on only select models cause my brand new performer deluxe has the cigar shaped vents.
 
timothy said:
Must be on only select models cause my brand new performer deluxe has the cigar shaped vents.
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Where did you purchase from? The performer (folding table) I have came with cigar shaped vents but the new bowl they sent had the P shape. Every time I'm at a retailer I look at what they have on display and I've seen examples of P shaped vents on most every grill, including the Original Premium. Maybe the P vents have come to every grill but they are still clearing stock on the cigar shaped vents?

If you have yours registered the schematic with parts listing should show if a P vent bowl is available, I'd be interested to know.Capture.PNG
 
My performer purchased last October has the pill shaped vents, because I seen online there was the new P variant I expected to get it.
Either way the performer works amazing.
The E6 came with P vents and probably has no other options regarding that model.
I understand what it is supposed to do, I won't know for a few more cooks if it actually is better.
Just getting the E6 a little stickier still, haven't had too many cooks on it yet.
 
Yea I'm kinda bummed. The floor model had the P vents but after assembling it I never gave it a thought until now.
Oh well I bought it on sale right after Memorial Day.
 
I don't think that the difference is something to be upset about.
Having both and using my performer with old style vents I wouldn't change it for new ones if it was offered for free.
I don't think you would notice it being better at all.
 
You may consider checking out the date code on the top vent to determine what year your unit was built.

2013-Today: “CONSUMABLE” Code

Things got a bit more complicated in 2013 when Weber started laser-etching a nine-character alphanumeric code onto the lid damper alongside the two-letter alphabetic code. The code consists of two letters + seven numbers—two letters represent the model year using the word “CONSUMABLE” as the key and seven numbers as a serial number.

C​
O​
N​
S​
U​
M​
A​
B​
L​
E​
1​
2​
3​
4​
5​
6​
7​
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9​
0​
 
Thanks for starting this thread Tom, we are thinking alike.
I've been very interested in this new feature also. When I'm in a store I look at every kettle for the P-vent also. At some point in time I would like to find a black Perfomer Deluxe new in the box. When I do I will put my Performer Premium on CL or FB Market. It would be my guess that all new 22" kettles come with this feature. Otherwise, it's new old stock. At my favorite Ace Hardware, there is a copper Performer Deluxe on the floor with P-vents. It's the only Performer they have in stock.
 
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Colin said:
It would be my guess that all new 22" kettles comes with this feature. Otherwise, it's new old stock.
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That is my guess as well. Curiously, Weber doesn't advertise this for anything other than the Master Touch Premium. My assumption is that they don't want to advertise it until all old stock is cleared.

Cook progress update, had it at 230-ish for a while, then it started raining and cooled a little below 220 until I opened the vent, seems to be easy to dial in like my daisy wheel was!
 
Tom Reed said:
As with many of you, my first Weber Charcoal experience was a daisy wheel bar-b-kettle. Since then I have owned a "capsule" vent one-touch and, since I received a replacement bowl for my Performer, a P-vent grill.

When researching the new P-vent setup, I noticed there is not a ton of information out there on performance of the P-vent, especially for low and slow cooking. I am creating this thread so that others looking for the same info will have a little more to read.

As I write this, my first low and slow cook with the P-vent is going outside. I am hoping that this can overcome the shortcomings of the capsule shaped vents that make the daisy wheel my preferred smoking grill. About 2 hours in now and I've been able to hold steady below 250 degrees. It seems to want to float between 230 and 245 with only adjusting the bottom vent.

What are your experiences/thoughts on the new p-vent configuration?
Click to expand...
Tom,
When I was looking at the MasterTouch Premium kettle when it first came out Weber really hyped the P- vent along with the included charcoal ring and diffuser plate. If I remember correctly, the instructions were to set the bottom vent to 'Smoke' position and control the temperature with the top vent.
 
The P vents started on the Summit Charcoal and Weber Kamado. They are a great design and allow better control of the air in for low and slow cooking. :blackkettle::summite6kamado:
 
JohnTakahashi said:
The P vents started on the Summit Charcoal and Weber Kamado. They are a great design and allow better control of the air in for low and slow cooking. :blackkettle::summite6kamado:
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Agreed, I mostly started this thread because there isn't a ton of information out there on them from a user perspective and I wanted to help people who have questions about how well they work.
 
Colin said:
Tom,
When I was looking at the MasterTouch Premium kettle when it first came out Weber really hyped the P- vent along with the included charcoal ring and diffuser plate. If I remember correctly, the instructions were to set the bottom vent to 'Smoke' position and control the temperature with the top vent.
Click to expand...
Colin,
My 2015 Master Touch does not have the P-Shape, but I have learned that for low and slow (with my Aura Kettle Zone Cooling System) on my kettle I leave everything both top and bottom vents open until 180. Then at 180 I close the bottom down to just a touch open and then don't touch the bottom again and control the temps from the top vent. It works really well.
 
I must have that thing called dyslexia, or something like that....oh look squirrel.....
Seriously though, maybe I read wrong when I was new or just didn't care to try something else but I control temp with the bottom vent.
I read a lot of this top vent control method.....which I use on the E6, and it seems the only way.
The kettle is top vents wide open all the time, and adjust the bottom to suit. I can hold under 250 like that but I don't go doing that very often...
All my cooks generally go 250 - 275........or wide open for things like chicken wings or whatever.
Other than pork ribs I don't have much need for a 300 degree cook or a 350 or whatever.
 
I went to a Full Service Specialty Store at lunch time - they had 2020 and 2021 models of a bunch of different grills. The Performers, MT, and 22" OKP all had P-vents. The 22 and 18" Kettles, and the 26" OKP all had WSM-shape vents, and they were all '21s.

Interestingly, just about the only charcoal model they had there that wasn't a 2020 or 2021 model was a 22" WSM with a CA date on the vent. For as much inventory turnover as they apparently have, I found it odd that it would sit there for four years.
 
Darryl - swazies said:
The kettle is top vents wide open all the time, and adjust the bottom to suit. I can hold under 250 like that but I don't go doing that very often...
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On my 26" I have an easier time leaving the bottom maybe 50% open and using the top for fine adjustment. I'd guess that the learning curve involved with switching to P-vents would be similar to switching between grill sizes.
 
Well considering I use my P vents with the top vent to control the heat and the pill shaped vents in the performer I use the bottom to control the heat does seem odd, it just seems to be the best option for me. I though when I was learning that the top vent open allowed for superior air flow or something and would return a better smoke or bark or something like that. Not sure, I'm getting old, I don't like changes.....:p
 
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