wsm not getting very hot


 
Frank Eriksen

Frank Eriksen

TVWBB Super Fan
Fired up my WSM and can't get it over 215 today. Started with 1/2 -3/4 charcoal ring and then 40 lit coals. After 3 hours added 20 unlit and about 15 lit. Still isn't going over 215. All vents 100% open. ????

Partly Cloudy upper - 70's slight breeze.
 
Which WSM do you have - 18 or 22?

Do you have another thermometer to confirm temps?

Are you using water?

Is meat on?

Take the side door off. What happens?
 
What Travis said.. and it also could be your elevation.
Here's some threads. at running at higher altitudes.
HTH
Tim
 
You can try one or more of a few things:

Make sure you've got good dry charcoal.

Light up to a whole chimney of charcoal to pour on unlit, not just a few briquettes.

Use very hot water or no water at all (foiling the pan with air space to keep drippings from burning.)

Leave the lid and/or the door off longer. I'd leave both off at first, then put the lid on. (Keep ALL vents completly open until temp gets near where you want it.) Don't put wood on top too early so it doesn't all burn up.

Find what you need to prop the door open after temps get near where you want 'em. I take the door off and turn it upside down. Attach at top, but hold it up and out at the bottom with a little air gap for more oxygen to the coals. I lay a weber rapidfire charcoal chimney on the ground on it's side, and lay a smaller (run of the mill cheap) one turned ninety degrees on top of the weber one. This holds the door up and keeps the gap set how you want it.

Use a windbreak if there's more than a slight breeze. It will help greatly. Also, putting the wsm in the sun will help out temps a bit.
 
I should add that if my factory gauge on my little 2009 wsm reads 215, that would put the grate temp around 245 or so. This is because of a couple of things. For one, my gauge reads about 10 degrees too low. Also, grate will be twenty degrees or so hotter, depending on meat temp. If you measure in the stream of circulation, at the vent, you'll probably get a read closer to 250.
 
Good stuff! Thanks guys! I should add that the ribs took 5 hours and were excellent! And like you mentioned Dave - it was probably 225 or so on the grate. I gave the ribs the tear test and when they tore I took them off. Wrapped in foil and put in a cooler for about an hour until we were ready to eat them. They were really good! Trying another batch tomorrow 7/10/10.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Frank Eriksen:
Good stuff! Thanks guys! I should add that the ribs took 5 hours and were excellent! And like you mentioned Dave - it was probably 225 or so on the grate. I gave the ribs the tear test and when they tore I took them off. Wrapped in foil and put in a cooler for about an hour until we were ready to eat them. They were really good! Trying another batch tomorrow 7/10/10. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Most folk's ribs on the wsm take a good bit longer than five hours if cooking at 225....closer to seven, unless small slabs.
 
With ribs my experiace has been with other smokers and the WSM it has taken me from 4.75 hrs to as along as a tad over 7 . I think personaly every cook has its own time table depending on the meat and cooking temps .

I really think the meat has a lot to do with the time to done on anything including ribs ! You may buy ribs the same place a month from now do the same cook and it might take 6 or 7 hrs to done ya never know IMHO and my 2 cents
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Its done when its done as the saying goes this time yours was 5 hrs .
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">These were big slabs (I did trim them to St. Louis) and done perfectly in 5 hrs. On at 10 off at 3. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Then you were cooking higher than 215. Probably 35-40? higher.
 
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