Why do temps just take off

[Mark Wein]

The title is probably unclear
What make the temp in my Weber summit charcoal go from 225* to 250*+ with no physical changes to the summit?
I was smoking a 4lb pork butt and after 5 hours it just took off and this has happened before
What makes this happen?
Thanks

 

[Brett-EDH]

Wood igniting if you’ve got smoke wood in it.

Personally, anything under 275/250 is a time burner with no added benefit. JMO.

 

[Mark Wein]

Wood igniting if you’ve got smoke wood in it.

Personally, anything under 275/250 is a time burner with no added benefit. JMO.

Thanks. Yea I should let it go higher. It really makes no difference?

 

[Brett-EDH]

Thanks. Yea I should let it go higher. It really makes no difference?

Target a steady 275°F. That’s plenty of heat and will save you time and fuel.

 

[MikeCantell]

Well the 225 standard imo was used as a baseline to give some safety on high temps, all smokers will never set at 1 temp, rather a range. the longer something lingers in smoke the more it will pu, some smokers will run a 25 degree each way as fuel is burned and ramps up and down,smoker builds have changed a lot and grease fires may not be as prevalent as years ago. Pellet smokers are easy to see the swings due to thin metal not holding the heat as well. Meat picks up smoke better when it is moist, when you run the temp up with any the air flow also increases, more convection and a little less smoke pu. I never knock temps somebody's smoker likes to run, they all don't fit the same temp range to make fire management easy. Learn your tools lol. higher temps don't save fuel, the same BTU's are burned to get the meat done imo.

 

[timothy]

What make the temp in my Weber summit charcoal go from 225* to 250*+ with no physical changes to the summit?
I was smoking a 4lb pork butt and after 5 hours it just took off and this has happened before
What makes this happen?

Going from shade to full sun is one that can cause a spike and putting a cold piece of meat acts as a heat sink at first.
As the internal temps of the meat rises so can your smoker.
25 0r 50 deg shift isn't that much considering all the variables when cooking outdoors.

 

[Mark Wein]

Going from shade to full sun is one that can cause a spike and putting a cold piece of meat acts as a heat sink at first.
As the internal temps of the meat rises so can your smoker.
25 0r 50 deg shift isn't that much considering all the variables when cooking outdoors.

thanks - I tend to let it drive me insane when it runs up!
it started raining and it went up