Gateway running real hot, suggestions?

[orcagriffin1]

Hi everyone,

New to the forum. I recently purchased a 55g gateway drum. Pretty as hell and getting familiar with hot n' fast. I seasoned it once unboxed and ran it open for an hour. I let the lump do it's thing and played with the dampeners to get adjusted since I wasn't cooking right away. This morning, started the basket with 2/3 of the way full with lump and a cube. Left the lid off and vents open for 15 minutes. Once it looked good, I put the lid on, attached a temp probe to the grate to see how close the temp read would be to the gauge on the drum. I left the exhaust open and dampeners 1/4 open. After awhile it ran over 500° and stayed for nearly an hour. I closed one dampener completely and left the other alone. Also closed the exhaust to 1/4. It took hours to get under 300. Obviously I did something wrong. Help, tips? Patience may be one of them. I didn't expect it to get to temp in nearly 4 hours though.

Thanks in advance - Steve

[WilliamKY]

I dont have a Gateway but it sounds like they draft like a beast. I have a UDS with slide vents on the bottom and I typically go very conservative on start up. Vents closed and lid off. Once I get a nice little 2-3in wide ash spot in the center of the basket that's when I put the lid on and start dialing it in. It seems if I let the basket ash over it gets really hot and difficult to cool it down. Kinda like overshooting the temp on a ceramic cooker. Gotta sneak up on that ideal temperature. Just my experience, every cooker is different.

[TexaQ]

My experience with drums is that its best to catch the preferred set temperature on the way up. With my drum I charge the fire basket and then start the charcoal with a weed burner for about a minute. The (4) 7/8" diameter vents are open and the lid is off for about five to 10 minutes after the weed burner. Then in goes the smoke wood; let it catch and flame up and close the lid. Next I set the intake and exhaust and wait for the white smoke to clear. My exhaust vent is set at 25% and the exhaust has about a 1/4 inch wide opening; I fine tune with the exhaust. This gets me 225 to 250 degrees. I can adjust from there or turn on the ATC unit. Took eleven years to learn how to use my home built. Just keep trying.

[Hoss]

As stated above.Start slow and ramp up.Easier to heat up than to cool down.

[orcagriffin1]

Just need to summarize so I understand the suggestions. So if I let the temp climb from the start (lid off), dampeners 1/4 way open -watch the temp until reads my desired temp (with lid still off?). I appreciate that I am coming across very specific and 'want' answers, but it's more that I don't want to screw up a cook with such high temps and waiting a half day for it to burn down. Today's experience was hard to watch.

Once the temp gets to where I'm aiming for, add smoking wood. Place lid back on with the lid exhaust open to 1/4 way open? It's certainly worth a try so that I keep practicing and get the fire set right.

Thanks everyone.

[TexaQ]

The lid is off and the intakes are open only to get charcoal burning. Once the charcoal is self sustaining then the lid goes on. Leave the intakes open and the exhaust open. Watch the temperature. Slowly reduce the intake, waiting approximately 10 minutes between adjustments. Fine tune the temperature with the exhaust. Don't wait to throttle back the intake until your at your set temperature; you will over shoot the temperature you want. You want the exhaust to allow slightly more exit than intake. You will not be able to start the charcoal and set the exhaust and intake from the start up. It has to be tuned in each time to account for all the variables that your cooker is in. These include ambient temperature, humidity, fuel type, cooker load, wind. etc.

[TexaQ]

Don't forget that your INTAKE has to be set for the oxygen at your altitude. An elevation like Albuquerque NM at 7,000 feet has less oxygen available than say Houston TX at sea level.

[orcagriffin1]

Thanks. That's clear instructions for next time. Hope to square time next weekend and work a couple days at it to build the experience and understand it better.