Am I bringing my WSM up to temp correctly?

i have a 18 and a 22, niether need any gaskets or whatever, your going to chase temps in any cooker if you want one temp and the cooker wants another, dont snuff the fire too much have a nice clean burning fire, top vent open, unless really windy, get it going and close all 3 the same- only do this once dont chase it. So go like half way the next time on all 3 to see what it does go about half or 1/3 open and leave it there. i also prefer water in it but many dont.

Ron_L said:

Every cooker has a temp where is just want to settle in. Don't fight it.

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So true. I have one that has a mind of its own. It is a 275-280 cooker, the other one, whatever temp I want. No reason whatsoever for the differences in the two. Both about the same age with same number of cooks.

This is what I do and seems to work good for me (22" WSM & RO Lump & Foiled clay pot). I fill the coal bin, and leave an indent on the oppisite side from the lower vent I plan to leave open and work with. Usaully the one oppisite the wind direction. Wind seems to be my biggest enemy.

Once the heat gets to within 30* to 40* from my target temp, I will close 2 of the bottom vents completely and start watching the rate of increase, slowly closing the remaining vent until it slowly reachs my target temp and let it sit there for 15 - 20 minutes making sure the white smoke is all gone.

Then I add the meat and unless the wind becomes a factor, it will maintain that temp.

The reason i dont want you closing any of the vents fully is to lock into your cooker - not your cooker locking into you. 1/2 to 1/3 open on all 3 bottoms, if a chunk of ash does block one and you miss it the fire will not smother. a nice clean fire is the key here not so much the temps because a wsm will run under 300 easy breezy with water in that pan, check the water every 2- 3 hrs

Cool. Glad to hear you're figuring it out!

Are you opening the door to peek inside?
Cause that blast of cool fresh air will be messing with your temps and make you want to chase it.

Reading your post, you said you cleaned it out because of soot. No need to do that. The gunk on the sides helps to seal the seams and reduces air leakage which will make it run hotter. I just clean the grills and water pan. I use water because in warmer climates my first 100*F are free during the Summer. You could also start with fewer lit coals bringing the temp up slower. Also, wind and even sunlight can affect the temp of a WSM. My lid thermostat runs about like your. You have meat between the Maverick probe and the lid.

Good luck with it. They are great smokers.

Is the sun shining on your lid? That will cause the temp to spike (at least it does on mine).

Sounds to me like your center section is out of round.
Because there is not a rolled lip on the bottom of the center section, it can get squished and it won't fit the charcoal bowl right. Air gets in and makes it difficult to control temps.
Check with a tape or yardstick across the diameter. It should be a consistent measurement.

J'ville Grill said:

1. Don't spread your lit coals evenly, dump them in a depression in the center of your unlit coals.
2.Use what ever you want for a heat sink, it's your choice. You can use water, no water, clay saucer, what ever.
3. Now that you've cleaned out the inside it will run a little hot just like when it was brand new.
4. Season it up with a few cooks and find the sweet spot where it wants to cruise at. My 18.5 WSM seems to cruise around 260.

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Agree for the most part. Throttle back the top vent. Your leakage airflow is too high. I run with th top barely open when doing a low temp cook.

I know some competition cooks who do everything at 300 with excellent results. 275-285 is not a bad place to be.

Harbormaster said:

Sounds to me like your center section is out of round.
Because there is not a rolled lip on the bottom of the center section, it can get squished and it won't fit the charcoal bowl right. Air gets in and makes it difficult to control temps.
Check with a tape or yardstick across the diameter. It should be a consistent measurement.

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I am willing to go out on a limb and tell you with near 100% certainty this is your issue. Reason I say that is I had fought the same issue with mine since I first bought it in 2005. Over the years I have had my WSM, I have run it with every possible configuration of water pan, clay saucer or foiled water pan possible with the same basic results of eventually high temps. It wasn't until I finally got fed up with it and bought a set of Nomex gaskets for it that I finally got it to seal properly. As part of installing the gaskets I totally cleaned my smoker with oven cleaner. That was the first time that I had it cleaned totally since 2005. When I did that I found that I had a dent along the side of where the door mounted and that the bottom base was out of round. All these appeared to have slight gaps until I did the deep cleaning and then it showed they were major areas of leakage.

I got it all back to round and then installed the gasket set using RTV silicone. Here are pictures of the gasket set installed.






I have only done this overhaul fairly recently so I can't say how well the Nomex will hold up over time. But I can tell you that since I did this I now have positive control of temps like I never had them before for both short and long cooks. To be honest, I think the gaskets are the icing on the cake, but finally getting the middle section properly sealed was the key.

Just a comment I'm throwing out there.......
I have the understanding that by closing the top vent, you're creating a "log-jamb" with the smoke, which backs up inside the smoker. This smoke, not being able to exhaust itself to ambient air, begins to get stale and "burnt" since there isn't a fresh supply of new air coming in the bottom vents.

That is why my top vent is always open....right or wrong...

I'm w/ the out-of-round crowd. ("I'm In w/ the Out Crowd"?!)

I recently had problems w/ my 18.5 WSM a few cooks ago- runaway temp. to the point where I closed all 3 intakes and the thing ran at 250 for hours.

Turns out the body is out of round, and when it doesn't sit/seal properly in the bottom section there's a decent-size air gap.

I haven't addressed it other than to make sure the body sits correctly when I cook- no more problem.

Harbormaster said:

Sounds to me like your center section is out of round.
Because there is not a rolled lip on the bottom of the center section, it can get squished and it won't fit the charcoal bowl right. Air gets in and makes it difficult to control temps.
Check with a tape or yardstick across the diameter. It should be a consistent measurement.

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what's the easiest way to get that mid section back in round? I think I may have that issue as well--just haven't gotten around to checking it.

If the main body is out-of-round, a gentile squeeze will get it back in shape. That big circle is surprisingly weak when it's not supported by the "lips" of the lower section or the lid. It's real easy to bend back in shape.

Bob in St. Louis said:

If the main body is out-of-round, a gentle squeeze will get it back in shape.

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Yep. I give it a bear hug and check the diameter each time until I have it even.

Harbormaster said:

Yep. I give it a bear hug and check the diameter each time until I have it even.

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I've done that too.

I have also rotated the mid section to get the most even gap all around on the idea that I'm matching slight out of round for the two pieces.

When my cooker was new, I also added a bead of high temperature silicone to the bottom edge of the mid section to help seal. That seemed to help with temperature control. After enough smokes the inside of the smoker will get a film of grease/smoke that will help seal as well. (if you don't keep cleaning it out :razz: )