Over the weekend I smoked a brisket and 2 pork shoulders. I started the cooker the way I have a number of times before but for some reason it got hotter than I wanted. I lit about 3/4 of a chimney full and dumped the rest of a 20lb bag in the ring. When the chimney was ready I dumped it on top with some wood chunks. I assembled the cooker and let it go for about 20 mins while I prepped the meet. I had my stoker set at 230 and the other two bottom vents closed. The top vent was open. When I placed the brisket on the temp was 290. It stayed around 290-300 for about the first 2 hours. I scooped some lit charcoal out and closed the top vent half way. After about another hour it finally came down to 250. I am thinking I put too much lit charcoal in. Any suggestions or comments?
Too Hot!
- Thread starter Ryan Ko
- Start date
Les Stubby
TVWBB Fan
Ryan
I thought that if the 'stoker' was set up properly it would control your temps. Without the stoker too much charcoal or too much air would certainly cause a raise in temps. Have never used a stoker so am interested in your response.
Les Stubby
I thought that if the 'stoker' was set up properly it would control your temps. Without the stoker too much charcoal or too much air would certainly cause a raise in temps. Have never used a stoker so am interested in your response.
Les Stubby
Russ Sylvester
TVWBB Pro
Ok, the Stoker (or any controller) can only raise temperature, it can't lower it. The smoker has to 'bleed' off heat to below the set point of the controller before the controller can take over.
So the question is really, how do I lower the temperature of my cooker? There are a couple of answers.
First, close off the top vent. Just don't go far as the temperature should drop fairly quickly. You are choking out the fire so you can kill it completely if you go too far. I normally will leave the top vent about 2/3's closed so the fan must keep supplying air to keep the fire going. Then the controller really does have control of the temperature all of the time.
Second, do you have any significant air leaks around the door or the WSM sections? If you do and they are big enough then they can actually keep the fire too hot.
Third, are you constantly looking inside the smoker? Every time you open the smoker for any reason you give it a big gulp of air. No, you can't cool off the smoker by 'venting' some of the heat. Keep it closed up.
Fourth, start closing down the vents right after you dump your chimney into the WSM. That way you can sneek up on your target rather than fighting to get it back down after it has overshot.
Hope some of this helps,
Russ
So the question is really, how do I lower the temperature of my cooker? There are a couple of answers.
First, close off the top vent. Just don't go far as the temperature should drop fairly quickly. You are choking out the fire so you can kill it completely if you go too far. I normally will leave the top vent about 2/3's closed so the fan must keep supplying air to keep the fire going. Then the controller really does have control of the temperature all of the time.
Second, do you have any significant air leaks around the door or the WSM sections? If you do and they are big enough then they can actually keep the fire too hot.
Third, are you constantly looking inside the smoker? Every time you open the smoker for any reason you give it a big gulp of air. No, you can't cool off the smoker by 'venting' some of the heat. Keep it closed up.
Fourth, start closing down the vents right after you dump your chimney into the WSM. That way you can sneek up on your target rather than fighting to get it back down after it has overshot.
Hope some of this helps,
Russ
Russ, thanks very much for the advise. I am not sure about the air leaks. I was wondering if anyone uses fireproof gasket material between the sections. I suppose there is some air that can get in there but I don't think it would be any different than anyone else's. The door seems to be good and tight or at least as tight as it can be. The other two bottom vents (not the ones the fan is connected to) are always closed. I don't ever open them. That is why I was thinking I started with too much in the chimney.
Phil Perrin
TVWBB Hall of Fame
I don't have an ATC,but it does sound like too many lit. For the MM,I start with maybe 20 lit. I repeat,maybe 20lit. No more,possibly less. HTH
When I use my guru I want my WSMs as airtight as possible as I too have had high temps with the guru and as mentioned previous, these things can only increase temps and not decrease. I wrap aluminum tape around the bottom and mid sections as well as around the door as I dont use water and can get 20 hours at 225 with 1 charcoal load. Work perfect for me now with no high temp issues