No sleep for me ...

Are you using the Minion method? It might be that you just didn't start with enough lit coals... You might try setting the lid off a bit... just enough offset to allow a bit more air down into the cooker. Set it off about 1/4" or so... You might also try taking the side door off for a few minutes and stir the coals...

James.

I don't think taking the lid offf will help as a matter of fact it will loose you some heat. Have you tried adding more charcoal?

Sawdustguy said:

I don't think taking the lid offf will help as a matter of fact it will loose you some heat. Have you tried adding more charcoal?

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Offsetting the lid just a bit is one method of getting a WSM to run a little hotter. I've used a WSM for a few years now, and it has worked for me time and time again. Do you cook on a WSM?

James.

Or, if it's not windy, you can put the door on upside down and use a stick or something to hold it up and prop it open a bit. If you don't feel like having to add water on long cooks, try the foil trick on the water pan. I just did a a couple of 12 hr butt and brisket cooks and didn't have to add a drop. In fact, the pan was still at least 1/2 full by the end of those cooks.

I switched to using sand in the pan after my first cook on the WSM... It works great and you don't have to refill during a cook...

James.

Get rid of the water in the water pan and cover it with foil leaving a dip in the middle for the juices to pool up in. This will increase your temps tremendously and you will have good results guaranteed!
~Jim

This happens often for various reason, first one being not starting with enuf lit charcoal. If its the beginning of the cook, the easiest fix is to remove the entire center chamber(carefully!) set it aside and let the fire start up better.. fan it a little to get it going then when you have red hot coals goin on top, put the chambers back together, open all vents and see where you settle in... if u still need more heat, then offset the lid a touch to give you a 1/4 to 1/2 in gap along the side. This will increase your airflow, and finally, if u still need more, then open the door and get some air on the coals with a blower of some type(blow dryer, Dust mizer etc..). Once u have flames in there, close it down and your temps will climp rapidly.. once your about 20 degrees over your target, cllose the lower vents down a little bit and start tweaking it till it settles in.


This is a great gadget for getting the fire going..... its a hand cranked blower. Ebay has it, but u can get it for around 30 bucks around the internet. Its called the Dustin Mizer. i use it all the time for the WSM.. once i load the lit coals on top and alls assempled(and before the food goes in), I use this for about 30 seconds to get the heat up and everything started.

FatDaddy said:

adding another 1/2 gallon of water to the pan,

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I always add hot water to the pan so the WSM doesn't have to use energy heating it up.

Upside, WSM comes to temp quicker using less coals.

Downside, less beer drinking time!! :grin:

All's well that ends well!

been hanging around the 197-205 mark after i closed the vents to 25% for the past hour.

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Not sure how you estimate 25%, but you may have been choking the fire.

Those vents are difficult to judge % individually.

My temp was starting to climb up over 250* yeterday with them fully opened, so I shut one completely (leaving a KNOWN 2 out of 3, or 66%, open) and it settled in nicely in the 225-250 range.

Because of the problem in estimating % in each. I work with one vent at a time after starting out wide open. It makes it easier to estimate how much you are closing off.