WSM Butts- Closing Vents makes it Hotter???


 
A

AZ Specter

New member
Hey guys-
I have my new WSM here- and have a butt on there now. I heated it up to 250* before throwing on the butt and closing the vents down 50%. 30 min later, the temp is UP to 253* or so. So I close the vents down to 25% open, since i want to try to get the temp down in the 230-240* range. I check on it 30min later- still the same temp! So I completely close 1 vent, close another to 10%, and leave the other vent at 25%. Guess what- temp is now UP to 275*!! Why is my temp going UP as I close the vents down?

I have about an 8.5lb butt on the top grate, kingsford charcoal, and one block of hickory wood, water pan is full. I also filled most the charcoal chamber up using the minion method. Any suggestions here?
Thanks!
 
The 1st thing i can think of is that air is getting in from somehwere else, lid, center section, door, and causing the temp increase. There are quite a few posts in regard to making your WSM more air tight.

The other is that there was so much fuel lit before you closed the vents, it's still going to climb, before the closed vent's make a difference.

Keep them all closed, wait a bit and see what the temp does.

***Edit***
http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/tempcontrol.html
Kev
 
AZ,
With all due respect...looks like you didn't follow the Minion Method to the letter.
From "Firing up your Weber Bullet":
-----
Assemble The Cooker
Fill the water pan:

Use cool tap water on warm days.
Use hot tap water on cold days. Some folks use boiling water on extremely cold days.
Fully open all three bottom vents. Leave the top vent fully open for ventilation throughout the entire cooking process.
Add the meat and smoke wood to the cooker immediately. The cool meat helps to control the ascent of the cooker temperature.

The cooker temperature will begin to rise gradually. When it reaches 200°F, adjust all three bottom vents to 25% open and monitor the temp carefully until it reaches 225-250°F. Adjust the vents as necessary to maintain this temp.
-----

It's much easier to control the cooker temp on the way up, than to fight it to come down.
I'd say you let it get too hot before you started cooking.
Don't worry about a temp of 275°, that won't hurt anything.
Keep choking it, and it will come down...eventually.
icon_wink.gif
 
Ahhh-
This makes sense. Thanks for the link- it explains a lot of what might be going on. I certainly have too much fuel in there for my one butt. Oh well, next time I'll know to use less. I'll look into some mods as well to keep air from coming in through the access door and whatnot as well. This is only the 2nd cook, so, it might be reflecting much of the heat off the shiny sides.

I'm not going to worry about it too much- I'll keep an eye on it, and, close all 3 vents if I need to(there's only 1 of them left open, and it's at about 15% open now).

Thanks for the help!
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by AZ Specter:
Ahhh-
This makes sense. Thanks for the link- it explains a lot of what might be going on. I certainly have too much fuel in there for my one butt. Oh well, next time I'll know to use less.
Thanks for the help! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
You're welcome!
I don't think you have too much fuel. You'll need most of it...8.5# butt x 1.5hrs/lb = 12.75 hrs to finish.
I fill the ring to overflowing for every butt, I've had some go 20 hrs.
 
Weird. Maybe I used too much LIT charcoal then?

I'm just trying to figure out why the temp isn't dropping. I only have 1 vent open, and that's at about 10%. Temp is still sitting at 249*. There's NO WIND at all here today, it is sitting in the direct sunlight, but, it's in high 60s here I believe. So, it's just weird. I guess it'll be ok- I'll let it smoke all day and pray that my thermometer gets here soon so I can check the internal temp on it. I don't have one just yet, so I'm doing it blind. LOL...
 
I'm assuming you have a temp gauge in the lid? Did you check out the gauge prior to your cook to make sure it's accurate?Some people can tell the right temps by putting their hand on the lid and coun ting the time til they have to pull it off.
 
Yeah, I got a cheapo temp guage in the lid vent holes- works great too. Not too sure about using the 'bare hand method' tho...

I'll just keep the vents shut down until it slowly drops (IF it does) and then slowly open them back up...
 
Originally posted by AZ Specter:
Weird. Maybe I used too much LIT charcoal then?
Thats exactly what I was saying.

And I agree with Charles , fill it all the way to over flowing with UNLIT

My WSM isn't very airtight, so after a few cooks I figured out i needed to start with only 6-8 pieces of lit charcoal and work the temp up rather than down. Much easier for me.

Good luck

Kev
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Yeah-
I think it's the same for me. I needed to have thrown the meat on at the beginning, and work the temp UP instead of fighting it down. It IS sitting in the direct sun as well- might be contributing to it somewhat. Oh well, next time I'll try it this way and see if that helps any...
Thanks for all the help!
 
Also check the center section of your WSM, something could be slightly out of round. When I set mine down on top of the base, I rotate it around till I get the best overall fit and seal between the two. It definitly sits better in some orientations.
 
I always guestimate on the lower side of lit charcoals to add. Its easier to bring the temp up then it is to go down.

Plus if you have your meat on there on high temps you will seal the outside of it, preventing smoke from entering the meat.

Until you get your temp where it needs to be, theres going to be some tweeking. Don't just assume 50% because thats what it says. This is the one variable that depends on amount of lit coal, temp, wind, etc...

Once you get it stabalized, you should be good to go for at least 6 hours. At which you may need to "tap" the WSM or gently stir the coals to remove ash.
 
This is the reason why butts are probably the best thing to do while you're still in the learning curve on fuel and vent control-- you really have to try very hard to mess them up. I typically cook butts at 250°, and let the cooker ramp up at the end to 275° by letting the water pan go mostly dry. Never had a bad one yet. And don't worry about sealing the meat-- in BBQ cooking, smoke is more about deposition on the meat than absorption into it.
 
AZ,
here is an interesting site to read. It's Gary Wiviott's 5-Step program on how to use the WSM. Gary is well-known in the Chicago area as an expert with the WSM.
The site deals mostly with learning to control the temps by instinct, without a thermometer, and how changes to the vent settings affect the final product.
I admit I haven't done the 'program', but it's a real interesting read.

--
Charles

You might be a redneck if...
You’ve ever taken a vacation to the Sandwich Islands because you were hungry.
 
AZ, did you say your WSM was new? I think that many WSM users discover the first time they used their WSM that it did run a little hot the first time. I have read many theories (like the internal surface of a new smoker is a mirror finish causing temps to be higher) but, I don't know. All I know is I experienced that same phenomena the first time I did a smoke.

Anyway, interesting thing to note that Alton Brown was discussing on a recently aired episode that heat in an oven and indicated that a clean surface reflects more heat and more efficiently as the heat molecules bounce off a smooth surface better than a dirty, rough surface. Maybe there's some truth to that new surface after all!
 
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