Heat temps on my WSM

Q

Que'inKC

Guest
I've been experimenting with different ways to use the water bowl instead of adding water to it...The first time I used my WSM I added water, but got tired of filling the water bowl and almost putting out fire once with the Water bowl tipped.

Yesterday I attempted Sand, I like the stable temperatures but couldn't get them below 300...I even closed all the vents (except the top one) and it held there for almost 3 hours.

Today I'm trying foil balls, the temps are lower 250 but still not where I want them to be 220ish...

I've yet to try the clay pot base, maybe thats the answer...Jeff
 
I've played with layers of hd alum foil, leaving a bout 1/2" of space between the layers using about 3 layers to create 2 air baffles. It worked well and made for easy clean up.
 
Mine is full of sand and covered with foil to catch the drippings. Once the fire gets away from you it is often very hard to rein it in. Would you mine walking us through your fire starting and loading technique as well as vent settings? My WSM is a rock steady 225 cooker for 14-17 hours. So it could just be a technique issue. Scott
 
I also use sand in my water pan like Scott suggests. I double wrap it with heavy duty foil, leaving a small indention in the middle of the sand where the drippings accumalate. When Im done and the sand pan cools, I remove the outer layer of foil with the drippings and refoil a second new layer for the next cook. I used the same sand all last summer. I can lock my WSM at 230-235 (after the first 45 mins) by setting the bottom three vents less than 1/4 open and the top vent about 2/3 to 1/2 open. With a half load of rancher, she will hold 7 hrs, plenty time to cook butts and ribs. Try using a little less fuel. Let us know how it goes.
 
I've been using the 14" clay pot base with no problems at all. I think the WSM behaves about the same with sand or the clay pot base. I agree with Yak that you may need to tweak your fire control a bit or try to eliminate any air leaks in the WSM. Leaky doors and an out-of-round condition are two common causes of leaks that lead to unwanted temp increases.
 
You have to control your temps on the way up, once they get past your target temp it takes awhile to get them back down. I load up my cooker with meat, put the lid on and light a small amount of coals in the center with a hose torch. Put the door on, leave all vents 100% open until the dome temp hits 150*. Then I shut the bottom three vents down 3/4 of the way shut. The temps will initally drop a couple degrees, but will then slowly increase and stablize between 245*-260*.
 
Well I basically do what is desribed above...I fill my coal ring up with charcoal and chunks of hickory, then I light a chimney half full of charcoal..Then pour it on, I then open the vents 1/2 way then once it gets about 200 I shut them down to 1/3, but my temps still rise to around 275...I must have several leaks because I can shut all my vents and it will still hold temp...Maybe I'm using too much fuel.
 
Que,
where are you dumping the lit chimney full of coals in relation to the coal ring. I put the charcoal from the middle to the back and dump the lit 1/2 chimney in the front that way the lit coals burn and slowly feed to the coals in the back.
If you dump the lit chimney right on top of the piled coals, the pile will all light and it will get hotter quicker with more coals burning.
Did that make sense?

Scott
 
You could be on to something Scott..I always just dump them on top of the existing ones in the charcoal ring...Next time I will try what you suggest.
 
A half chimney of lit coals to start sounds like a lot to me. I usually start with 20 - 30 lit coals, then let the heat build gradually. Brian
 
If you find the water gives you the required temps, but just don't like topping it up... get a larger water pan.
 
yup sounds like to much hot coals in the beginning to me. i start out with about 20-25 briqs of kingsford. i have my ring full of kingsford and chunks. i put the coals over the top spread evenly. i then open everything up and watch till it hits about 195 or so then i start dialing it in. i usually run mine with the top vent wide open. 2 lower closed and the third one 1/4 open. it will hold 230-250 for about 12 hours. i also run with the piedmont water pan set up( 2 brinkman charcoal pans bolted together with a 1/2 spacer between them. and it will hold enough water to cook a brisket for 12 hours. w/o having to refill.)
 
I use Minion and a BBQ Guru Comp unit. My butts and Brickets go on around 9pm, right after I dump the 20 or so white kingsford in the center of the loaded basket, then right on with water pan w/ rolled up HD Foil. This method at least for me keeps the WSM from getting to much air and getting to hot. Then 225 for 10 hours or so or until the meat is up to 165, then double foil for 2 more at 225, then into a preheated cooler (fill it up with hot tap water, then dump and dry it out) then line with newspaper and wrap the butt or brisket in newspaper (over the double foil) and forget them for 2 to 3 hours. As the meat cools down all the juices are pulled back into the meat. I'm gonna go eat now thank you...
This link tell it all. Check it out.
http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/fireup2.html
 
Que'inKC said:
Well I basically do what is desribed above...I fill my coal ring up with charcoal and chunks of hickory, then I light a chimney half full of charcoal
Click to expand...

Are you using the Weber chimney? The weber chimney is pretty big. Half of a chimney is probably too much lit fuel in there. Like the others have said, I use about 20 lit briquettes (about 1/3 chimney).
 
I just had a thought, has anyone tried filling with Ceramic briquets..Similar to what you find in some gas grills? Probably have the same affect as sand...
 
14" clay pot wrapped in foil works great. The clean up is nice and easy too.
 
As long as your experimenting. I find these pizza stones at Thrift shops, they fit neatly in the waterpan, I cover them with foil and then use a piece of foil for a drip pan-Easy cleanup!
I tried the stone with just the pans, sand, and foil balls, but read of someone that used those ceramic briquetts with good results. I had some Red Lava briqs from an old gasser and use them in my pans with the pizza stones and haven't looked back. Like others mentioned you do have to watch your temps on the way up and close things down when you get on target.
 
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