Noob here. Second cook in the WSM, but years of kettle and dutch oven cooking outdoors.
I tried cooking ribs last night, following the startup procedure on the VWB site for BRITU (http://virtualweberbullet.com/rib1.html).
First, I started a chimney full of blue K. 15 minutes until they were ready. Emptied the chimney into the WSM, inside the charcoal ring. Then added another full chimney of blue K on top of the ashen coals and placed my smoke wood on top. Everything, so far so good.
After the wood was engulfed in flames and the rest of the charcoal had a nice white ash, I put the WSM together, using a full bowl of water (warm, hey that's all we can get here in AZ). The temp shot up to 350+. I was concerned, but let it sit with all the bottom vents closed and the top one open.
BTW, all the smoke wood was entirely consumed and no longer producing smoke.
After an hour, the temp had dropped to about 150 and I placed the ribs (4 racks) inside. For the next hour, the temp never rose about 150.
After another hour, I opened all the bottom vents 100% and let it sit for one hour. Again, the temp never rose above 150. I pulled a couple of pieces of charcoal out and they were giving off very little heat.
Frustrated, I fired up a 1/2 chimney of charcoal and added the lit briquettes to the WSM. After 30 minutes, the temp was 200.
Even more frustrated, I decided to empty the water bowl. Finally, the temp rose to about 230, but would never rise any higher. I was hoping for 250 - 275.
Poking around the VWBB, I found the following from a fellow Arizonan that was experiencing some of the same issues (but using lump). http://tvwbb.com/eve/forums/a/...0069052/m/7061034516
So. What am I doing wrong?
Why won't my WSM get above 200 without significant effort?
Why did the temp drop so much and then never rise again?
Or, am I battling an oxygen density issue being in AZ, as it was around 110 when I was grilling. Hot air = less density = less oxygen and thus the coals became oxygen starved when I closed all the lower vents?
I tried cooking ribs last night, following the startup procedure on the VWB site for BRITU (http://virtualweberbullet.com/rib1.html).
First, I started a chimney full of blue K. 15 minutes until they were ready. Emptied the chimney into the WSM, inside the charcoal ring. Then added another full chimney of blue K on top of the ashen coals and placed my smoke wood on top. Everything, so far so good.
After the wood was engulfed in flames and the rest of the charcoal had a nice white ash, I put the WSM together, using a full bowl of water (warm, hey that's all we can get here in AZ). The temp shot up to 350+. I was concerned, but let it sit with all the bottom vents closed and the top one open.
BTW, all the smoke wood was entirely consumed and no longer producing smoke.
After an hour, the temp had dropped to about 150 and I placed the ribs (4 racks) inside. For the next hour, the temp never rose about 150.
After another hour, I opened all the bottom vents 100% and let it sit for one hour. Again, the temp never rose above 150. I pulled a couple of pieces of charcoal out and they were giving off very little heat.
Frustrated, I fired up a 1/2 chimney of charcoal and added the lit briquettes to the WSM. After 30 minutes, the temp was 200.
Even more frustrated, I decided to empty the water bowl. Finally, the temp rose to about 230, but would never rise any higher. I was hoping for 250 - 275.
Poking around the VWBB, I found the following from a fellow Arizonan that was experiencing some of the same issues (but using lump). http://tvwbb.com/eve/forums/a/...0069052/m/7061034516
So. What am I doing wrong?
Why won't my WSM get above 200 without significant effort?
Why did the temp drop so much and then never rise again?
Or, am I battling an oxygen density issue being in AZ, as it was around 110 when I was grilling. Hot air = less density = less oxygen and thus the coals became oxygen starved when I closed all the lower vents?
