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View Full Version : Terrible Smoke Today


Vision
03-03-2012, 07:26 PM
It was a simple plan. Two racks of ribs, wsm, 275, no foil just let them ride. Wow, everything that could have gone wrong did.

The only new thing I did was foil the top grate about 2 inches around the perimeter to let the racks extend all the way without being overcooked. Would this dramatically restrict airflow?

There were ique problems.

The wsm was preheated to 275 before putting the meat on. While the temp started to stabilize around 275, it seemed to be by accident because while the unit was set to 275, it had been showing a solid red light (meaning it's over temp by 10 degrees) since about 250.

About an hour into the cook, with the unit still set at 275, the temp was getting high (287) but much worse, the unit was flashing green at this point (it's thinks it's more than 10 degrees under temp). This makes no sense.

At this point I turned the temp down to 250, and got a solid green light (meaning the unit thinks it's within 10 degrees of set point), while the grate temp was at 283.

At the end I couldn't get temps above 240 with all three vents open and the ique disconnected. I then put another probe in the wsm to check my readings and the readings were confirmed.

I was so frustrated at the end I took the mid and bottom section off to see what the coals looked like. The ring was filled with lit coals.

What happened here? I'm using an empty pan.

txschutte
03-03-2012, 07:29 PM
The empty pan and the foil on the rack caused you problems. You should have used some sort of heat sink in the pan. Sand or kitty litter. And, yes, the foil will cause airflow problems. Did you use lump or briqs?

landarc
03-03-2012, 07:48 PM
I use water in the pan in my UDS, I like the added moisture, a WSM might be a little different though. I do not like foiling the rack in any cooker, it seems to mess with airflow.

Vision
03-03-2012, 08:40 PM
The empty pan and the foil on the rack caused you problems. You should have used some sort of heat sink in the pan. Sand or kitty litter. And, yes, the foil will cause airflow problems. Did you use lump or briqs?

Used King Blue.

Vision
03-03-2012, 08:41 PM
I do not like foiling the rack in any cooker, it seems to mess with airflow.

I'll never forget this lesson.