Smoked a rack of baby racks and a couple beef chuck roast today. This is my 3rd smoke on my WSM 18.5 and everything has come out nicely. Up to this point I have just foiled the water pan and used no water, it doesn't seem like my unit has a major leakage issue or anything. Today, I had the smoker running for about eight hours and I maintained solid temps around 250 for a long while. Granted I took the lid off a couple times to wrap the ribs then unwrap and wrap the chick later but I had all three bottom vents completely closed (top vent 100% open) for the majority of the smoke and my grate thermometer was ranging in the 250-275 range and I couldn't get temps to come down at all. I think this temperature range is ok in general but i was wondering if this is normal? I would like to be able to bring the temperature down in a pinch. Does anyone choke back their top vent to bring down temps? My philosophy so far has been to keep the top vent wide open to promote nice air exchange. I would prefer to not add water to keep up the nice barkiness I have been able to attain. I am debating on whether adding a clay saucer and maybe some fire bricks may help at all?
I should note I light the smoker with a full charcoal basket using the minion method with fifteen light coals when I fired her up.
Any inputs/opinions are appreciated.
I should note I light the smoker with a full charcoal basket using the minion method with fifteen light coals when I fired her up.
Any inputs/opinions are appreciated.
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