Wood Chunks vs Temp

[Tommy B]

Do you find that more wood chunks you put in the higher the temp in the cooker? Is there a real noticeable difference? I lite a full chimney of charcoal last weekend and got to 250 in a few minutes and with damper adjustments stayed. Today I lite 3/4 of a chimney and temp shot up to 350 and won't come down. Only difference I added just a few extra wood chunks. Same charcoal and same wood.. Temp outside about the same

 

[timothy]

Makes sense that the more wood chunks you add ignite and cause temp spikes esp added to fully lit chimneys. Have you tried the MM? using a smaller amount of lit lets the wood slowly ignite, and splitting your chunks into thirds or fourths makes it more manageable to catch your temps on the way up.

Tim

 

[Charlie L]

Wood burns hotter and faster, can cause quick temp spikes that will come down when wood is burned up but it can accelerate the burning of unlit coals if you are using the minion method or a snake and thus increase overall heat

 

[Tommy B]

I cooked ribs for 4.5 hours yesterday and used the minion method. I lit 30 briquettes to start he unlit briquettes in the smoker. It took a while to get up to temp but worked like a charm. Even after i took the ribs off smoker held at 250 (my target temp) for 7 hours. Today I smoked some chicken quarters. Last weekend, cooking the same thing, it took 1.5 hours at 250 to hit internal temp I was shooting for. I lit 3/4 of a chimney and piled that in. I didn't want to go minion because of the short cook. I dumped in the 3/4 of chimney and the temp shot up to 350. I couldn't get it down. Then almost at once the temp dipped and I couldn't keep it at 250 (my target temp).

this is my 4th cook on the WSM and the only cook i have have had any sort of issues. Any thoughts? Advice? Minion all the time even with short cooks?

 

[Bob Bass]

For the Minion method... Number of lit coals determines the temperature range. Number of unlit coals determines the how long you can maintain that temperature range.