"Let your cooker run where it wants" debate

[-Chris-]

I think the question is do you cook by meat temperature/feel or time? If you cook by time, controlling the temp is critical. If you cook, "until it is done" the exact pit temp is less critical.

Chris

 

[lwdbo1]

i see this all the time and while i do see where a new guy should follow this rule. for me i do not follow this rule. i can make any cooker i have ever had run where i want it to run. be it 225 or 350. if my split runs my pit at 225 and i am adding every hour then i can add sooner and run at 275...or i can add 2 splits at a time and run at 325 or use a bigger splits to run hotter. i control the temp by coal bed and fire size. the cooker does not tell me how long i am going to cook my brisket. :heh: to me it is more about knowing your cooker and what type/size fuel and airflow is needed to achieve a certain temp. in my verticals this is even easier by controlling intake/exhaust, using a maze, starting with more or less lit fuel, etc.

what side of the fence are you on? is this one of those old rules like cooking at only 225? is this gospel to you and i am a ranting idiot? :shock:

3...2...1 :boxing::boxing::boxing:

X2!!

 

[BKING!]

i see this all the time and while i do see where a new guy should follow this rule. for me i do not follow this rule. i can make any cooker i have ever had run where i want it to run. be it 225 or 350. if my split runs my pit at 225 and i am adding every hour then i can add sooner and run at 275...or i can add 2 splits at a time and run at 325 or use a bigger splits to run hotter. i control the temp by coal bed and fire size. the cooker does not tell me how long i am going to cook my brisket. :heh: to me it is more about knowing your cooker and what type/size fuel and airflow is needed to achieve a certain temp. in my verticals this is even easier by controlling intake/exhaust, using a maze, starting with more or less lit fuel, etc.

what side of the fence are you on? is this one of those old rules like cooking at only 225? is this gospel to you and i am a ranting idiot? :shock:

3...2...1 :boxing::boxing::boxing:

While I have limited experience on offsets this what works best for me...

1. Vents are utilized primarily to control smoke characteristics (i.e billowy white, thin blue, or transparent.
2. The size of the fire is the main controlling factor for pit temp.
3. While both vents and fire size influence pit temp, I try my best to eliminate variables as best I can by only controlling one variable (in my case fire size)

Here is an example. I know that if I want TBS or transparent smoke I need to run my vents all the way open. I do not touch my vents for the whole duration of the cook and only add the appropriate size split once my cooker hits the bottom of the temp range ( I use 275-325 deg) once I add the split temps will shoot from 275- 325 and back down to 275 over the course of an hour. The bigger the pit the smaller the temp range assuming all things are equal such as wood split sizes.

Short version: set your vents open and use fire size to determine pit temp and don't be afraid to cook in temp ranges. A bigger pit will have a smaller temp range than smaller pits. Small hot fires produce transparent smoke (light smoke flavor) and large cool fires produce thick white smoke (heavier "flavor" and bitter) It will take about 3 trial runs to learn the perfect balance between vent settings and fire size in the firebox at ONE given temp range. If you cook at different temp ranges it will take longer.

 

[Smoke on Badger Mountain]

i see this all the time and while i do see where a new guy should follow this rule. for me i do not follow this rule. i can make any cooker i have ever had run where i want it to run. be it 225 or 350. if my split runs my pit at 225 and i am adding every hour then i can add sooner and run at 275...or i can add 2 splits at a time and run at 325 or use a bigger splits to run hotter. i control the temp by coal bed and fire size. the cooker does not tell me how long i am going to cook my brisket. :heh: to me it is more about knowing your cooker and what type/size fuel and airflow is needed to achieve a certain temp. in my verticals this is even easier by controlling intake/exhaust, using a maze, starting with more or less lit fuel, etc.

what side of the fence are you on? is this one of those old rules like cooking at only 225? is this gospel to you and i am a ranting idiot? :shock:

3...2...1 :boxing::boxing::boxing:

I'm with you, and not. Yes, I can make my pit run at whatever temp (range) I want. But it does have a sweet spot. That is 230-275 it runs steady in this range, clean and does not burn through wood like crazy. I can add more wood and run at 350 if i want, or let it burn down use minimal wood and keep it cooler. My stick burner weights in at around 1000 lbs and runs at that temp by adding a split about every hour or so, and I control my temp with the door.

So yes, I believe you can make it do what you want. But I believe there is a sweet spot that is clean and efficient.

 

[ebijack]

I am able to control all my smokers. Reason I made them that way. I can use coal/wood and smoke from 180* on up, or grill from 250* up to 750* burning pure wood.
Like alot of us here. OCD. I need to plan out when what goes on, comes off when. 20-30 mins no big deal. But when you are not in control of your temps. That doesn't work very well. Especially when doing large cooks for 50-500 Veterans for example.

 

[electron_si]

I have a pellet cooker so I can’t really weigh in on this but I’m planning on getting a Hunsaker.

I’ve read that they like to run at 300 but most of my cooks I run 225-275. I’m hoping I can run it in that range because that’s what I’m used to for timing purposes.

If it doesn’t work I guess I’ll run at 300 and figure out how long hinges take all over again

 

[lcbateman3]

I can run my pits at various temps. But each one of my pits has a temp that seems to run at with little fuss, this is where I usually cook at.

Plus if I am aiming for 225 and it settles in at 240, it's not that big of a deal to me.

 

[ssv3]

Wherever they like to run at unless I need a specific temp for a special cook or smoking cured meats. I can control all of mines as well.

 

[KevinJ]

I have a pellet cooker so I can’t really weigh in on this but I’m planning on getting a Hunsaker.

I’ve read that they like to run at 300 but most of my cooks I run 225-275. I’m hoping I can run it in that range because that’s what I’m used to for timing purposes.

If it doesn’t work I guess I’ll run at 300 and figure out how long hinges take all over again

The Hunsaker will run at whatever temp you want, it's just that most people that cook on them like to cook hot. I like to cook Ribs (Beef or Pork) at 275, Butts, Briskets at 300, Poultry and leaner cuts of beef and pork at 350-375. I also believe cooking at higher temps gives a cleaner smoke profile because I'm not choking down the vents restricting airflow to maintain lower temps.

I'm planning on adding a Pellet Cooker and know I'll have to cook at lower temps to get the smoke profile I'm looking for at least for the start of the cook anyways. Looking forward to the learning curve.

I remember the days of cooking on the MES @225 watching my Butts go into a death stall for hours and hours thinking did the cooker break, is the Mav working, because the temp hasn't moved in 3 farkin hours. :crazy:

If my target temp is 275 and the cooker locks in at 280/285 when I set the vents then I'm going with 280/285 as long as it's consistent and I have a good idea of what my timeline will be I let it roll, I just need to be in the ballpark to hit a home run. :-D

 

[aks801]

My 22 WSM seems to typically settle at about 280. I can MAKE it cook lower or higher, but it involves more work, which seems antithetical to the whole WSM idea. So I go with the 280 +/-20, which seems like a great range to me.

 

[lankster35]

Keep in mind I've only been burning sticks for 1.5 months but I think it is all about knowing your cooker and making 1 adjustment at a time. I always start mine the same (no charcoal) and have now learned I need to start it with less wood because it will hit 400F so I always have to let it come down which is bad news for my coal bed. I have tried a few different sizes of splits, I can't walk away for 45mins yet but I know I will get there when I learn more. I did 2 cooks back to back using same size splits and used the intake damper on the 2nd and could keep it steady around 250 without a problem.



I had a discussion about this a few weeks ago. An average temp is an average temp, your meat doesn't know if there were temp swings or not. If you cook for 10 hours at 250F steady or you have temp swings but average out at 250F after 10 hours, there is no difference in your cook. It MIGHT make a difference for competition cooking but for backyard cooks it does not. The guy I was talking to did not agree, steady temp is the only way to get great food. :doh::doh:

Just a thought: If you only start with a few small sticks you will never have a big coal bed to maintain a good fire/temps. It takes longer but I start with a bigger fire and just wait for it to burn down to the proper temp and start from there but my fire is much easier to tend from that point forward.....

 

[lankster35]

On the let it run where it want to topic. I have always been a 250deg guy which means 225-275deg. My experience (30 yrs - still learning) is 225 is hard to maintain on any cooker because when it falls off the fire is already pretty small and I was originally taught for 250 when it starts dropping add a stick and it bumps to 275 then starts dropping. Cook at whatever temp you like and works for you but I beleive "smoking is 225-275" and "grilling is 300 plus" people do these days. Not saying you can't make a good brisket or Ribs at 300 plus but I prefer 250. Pork butts anything goes.

 

[ironmanerik]

Can I make it run at any temp 200-350, yes. 250-275 is effortless, where cooler or hotter takes me paying a lot closer attention. Haven't found a reason so far to run cool, I will cook whole birds at 350 but I only have to pay attention for an hour and a half.

 

[el luchador]

no, a cooker should absolutely NOT run where it wants to run. in that case the cook has no control of his medium and therefore has no consistency.

unless of course the cooker just happens by coincidence to be running where the cook wants it at.

 

[Bob C Cue]

I once let my PBC run where it wanted and it ran next door and started making cozy with a WSM. Needless to say I nipped that in the bud right quick. :wink:

 

[CptKaos]

no, a cooker should absolutely NOT run where it wants to run. in that case the cook has no control of his medium and therefore has no consistency.

unless of course the cooker just happens by coincidence to be running where the cook wants it at.

That seals the deal right there
This discussion only really applies to wood fired cookers, anybody can run a coal burner

Larry

 

[Smoke on Badger Mountain]

no, a cooker should absolutely NOT run where it wants to run. in that case the cook has no control of his medium and therefore has no consistency.

unless of course the cooker just happens by coincidence to be running where the cook wants it at.

I have never had a cooker that was not consistent. So if you have that you can plan your cooks accordingly. If you have wild fluctuation from cook to cook then you would not be able to plan ahead to have it run where it wants to. But I would say that is more of a fire management problem.

 

[Westx]

I let mine run where it wants once I get it to the temp I want it to run at. If I get busy and the temp drops to much I just add a larger split or 2 smaller ones. I run a pretty large range especially if * have other things to do which is normally 250 to 325. Ran those temps on Saturday and had 40 lbs of butts done and in the cooler in 7 hours. Ribs done in 3 hours and fatties in 1 1/2 hours. All came out wonderfully delicious.

 

[16Adams]

Primo Oval XL- I can control temp like an oven
Tiernan SOB- runs 325- and up with internal FB
The Pit Barrel Cooker- Mystery- guessing 250/325 no thermometer
BGE Mini- 260-650

They all have their strength/weaknesses pros/cons
Depends on the meat/amount/variables which cooker I use.

Sorry, what was the question?

Bottom line. PBC runs where it wants,?other three requires early adjustment to set temps then you can walk away. They can get away from a cook not paying attention.

 

[ncmoose]

On the let it run where it want to topic. I have always been a 250deg guy which means 225-275deg. My experience (30 yrs - still learning) is 225 is hard to maintain on any cooker because when it falls off the fire is already pretty small and I was originally taught for 250 when it starts dropping add a stick and it bumps to 275 then starts dropping. Cook at whatever temp you like and works for you but I beleive "smoking is 225-275" and "grilling is 300 plus" people do these days. Not saying you can't make a good brisket or Ribs at 300 plus but I prefer 250. Pork butts anything goes.

I always see 225 as some magic number. When I first started I fought to maintain that. I never cook this low anymore.