Trouble Getting Temp Up


 
B

Bobby Star

New member
Hi all. I have a Weber smoker that was given to me used and I spruced it up with new grates, new water pan, and added a Weber thermometer to the dome. I have done baby back ribs twice now, and first off I will say that they came out fantastic using the 2-2-1 method. But both times I have had a hard time getting the temp on the thermometer up to 200. (Based on the fact that the ribs came out great, I assume the thermo is off and the actual temp is more like 225-250.)

I used a full chimney of coals and they appeared to light just fine, nice and grey and red when I put them in the smoker. I keep reading about how the temp will nuptially jump up as high as 400, but I have not seen that at all. I have opened the lower and upper vents and tried everything I can think to get the temp higher, but just doesn't seem to want to go there. I will say this: I notice a slight rise in temp when I open the side panel to add wood chips. In fact, at one point I left that panel cocked slightly to allow more airflow, and the temp moved up above 250 for the first time. Is this telling me that there is an airflow problem down below?

One other note here: the new water pan I got is probably twice as deep as the original one that I had to replace due to leakage. I'm wondering if that larger water pan is keeping the temp low?

As I said, despite the fact that I can't seem to get the temp much higher than 200 on my Weber thermo, the temp worked just fine for my ribs, so I'm not complaining. But for future reference and other uses, I want to get some input on the situation from folks with more experience.

Thanks!
 
Bobby
I'd 1st check the gauge with boiling water to remove any question about the gauge accuracy. 2nd I recommend filling the charcoal ring full not just one chimney. Then pour about 15 lit coals on top of that. Open all the vents and wait for it to come up to temp. You'll be throttling it back after about 30 - 45 min. Once you are up to temp put your meat on.
 
Hi Bobby,

Welcome to the Family ! And congratulations on the acquisition !

You are correct, ie water pan keeping the temp low. One of the purposes of the water, in the pan, is to control temperature. The water will try to keep the temperatures low. Interesting thing is that the water is not needed, especially on a smoker that has already been 'seasoned'. Without the water, temperatures in the upper 300 deg range, if so desired, are attainable. With water in the pan, you will notice increased charcoal usage. Which brings up the other issue <g> ... charcoal. You didn't note how and how much you loaded the charcoal ring. Typically, for a WSM, your cooks will be longer than that of a standard charcoal grill. To maintain temperatures during these longer cooks, you need to provide enough unlit charcoal initially. What we always do is fill the charcoal ring completely full (to the top!) with unlit charcoal. We add our lit charcoal scattered on top of the pile of unlit. This method is called the Minion Method and was developed for longer, sustained temperature cooks as is normal in a WSM. The temperature range the WSM wants to maintain is, in part, based on the number of lit coals you add to the unlit. More lit coals means high temperatures, etc. There are variances in how people add lit coals. Some also use the coffee can method, which is still the Minion method.

HTH

Again, Welcome to the Family.

Bob
 
Great feedback (as I expected!). I have been reading up on the charcoal methods and these comments help pull that info together. What I had done was probably wrong, but worked out in the end. I lit a chimney full of charcoal and poured that, and openly that, into the charcoal ring. Sort of the Minion Method without the unlit coals, I guess. So it seems like I had no staying power behind those lit coals. On the second session, I actually ended up doing a second chimney of coals about 2 hours in and adding them to the ring on top of the existing coals. Like I say, this actually worked for me, as I was going for about 225 cooking temp anyway. But it did require a bit more attention than I expected.

I'll keep reading and experimenting. The beauty here is, the more experimenting, the more great eats!

Thanks!
 
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