Top vent shield?

[Paul Pearson]

I have an extra lid vent on my WSM for poultry cooks. The last time i used it I noticed that the chicken on one side had cooked faster than the other side. I forget which was which but there was a noticeable difference in meat temps.

That got me to wondering if all the airflow on one half of the lid could affect cooking times? Has anyone ever installed a deflector or diffuser?

 

[Joe F]

I just have the one OEM vent and have never noticed a difference.

If you want just one vent full open, then try opening each one of yours to half.
Might keep it balanced that way if these vents are equidistant from each other.

 

[Paul Pearson]

When I do a poultry cook I run them both wide open to get higher temps in the cooker instead of cracking the lid.

I was kicking around the idea of an internal baffle so the air doesn't have a straight shot out of the lid.

 

[Dwain Pannell]

I noticed on the kettle, when I do a pizza, the side under the vent gets as brown as the side over the fire. I place the vent 180* away from the fire and rotate the pie every few minutes to even the cooking out.