New to me Pro-Q excel.. Help with Fire

[smp440]

https://goo.gl/photos/vPnWWiz2U5xuBC7y5 I bought this thing to play and see if a like this type of cooker. I've always cooked on an off set stick burner.

So I searched and have not found any info on when to close the vents down when starting the briquettes. So far I've done 2 dry runs.

1st run 70ish degrees and lite wind. I put about 3-4 pounds of K briquettes and then pulled about 6 cubes off and lit them. Once they were red hot. I put them back on top in the center. Put the 3 stacks and lid on, then closed 2 bottom vents and the last one on bottom and the top wide open. Had the pan about half full. The temp stalled at about 150. So I opened the other 2 bottom vents wide open. The temp never would come up passed 175. So I broke the stack shifted the coals to one side and add about 4 pounds more of briquettes. The temp came up to about 225-230 for about 3 hours before the coals for gone.

2nd attempt. 65-70 some wind. Added 12 pounds of K briquettes, pulled about 15 cubes. Once ready added them like first attempt. 1 inch of sand in dry water bowl. This time I left all 3 bottom vents wide open until it reached 205 about 20 min. then closed 2 bottom vents, and set the 3rd to half. At 225 about 20 min. I set the last vent from half to quarter. It continued to rise. At 243 about 35 min. I closed it all the way. That kept it at the 240-245 mark about 20 min. But I want 225. So at this point 1hr 35min in I break into the stack at the sand and add more sand. This dropped it from 245 to 216. It slowly rose back to 245 took about an hour. I then added water to the sand thru the door until it came to the top of the sand and set the 1 vent to about 1 third open. That brought the temp to the 225 range for about 5.5 hours and the coals were gone.

Tell me what might fix this. I know I went from 1 extreme to the other. And that I need to be somewhere in between. But where?

Also is it safe to cook with wet sand should I decide to use this option in the future to cool temps?

Thanks for any help

 

[Evil-g]

Check out YouTube, they have some videos of them. There's is one Pro Q vs WSM and the Pro Q holds it's own. I own something similar. A BBQ Pro Grill Dome Deluxe branded by Sears. I have never found out where they were manufactured. Story goes it was (obviously) a WSM clone. And the Pro Q was a clone of both. Mine is thin walled but hold 350°+ for 6 hours. I use it to cook butts in the summer.

When starting I keep all vents wide open then close the bottom vents a little and control temp with top vents.

I've never seen another one and it only cost $10.00

 

[Evil-g]

Here is that video.

[ame]https://youtu.be/Y8UFWM31M_U[/ame]

 

[smp440]

Check out YouTube, they have some videos of them. There's is one Pro Q vs WSM and the Pro Q holds it's own. I own something similar. A BBQ Pro Grill Dome Deluxe branded by Sears. I have never found out where they were manufactured. Story goes it was (obviously) a WSM clone. And the Pro Q was a clone of both. Mine is thin walled but hold 350°+ for 6 hours. I use it to cook butts in the summer.

When starting I keep all vents wide open then close the bottom vents a little and control temp with top vents.

I've never seen another one and it only cost $10.00

I have searched quite a bit. I've also seen the video you posted. Thats the one that made up my mind to buy it and try it. Thanks for the info.

I have done a little more reading today and found where someone said to set the bottom vents as soon as you put the hot coals in and stack it.

Also still wondering if it would be ok to cook over sand and add water to it if needed. I think it would be but not 100% sure.

 

[Evil-g]

I filled my water pan with sand and covered with foil and it acts as heat sink.
I would think you would want to cook with water only to achieve 225°.

 

[robert-r]

Many years ago I had a Napoleon Apollo 300 (Canadian ProQ), which is probably/most likely the equivalent to the ProQ Excel 20.

Here's my take:

It's mid size between a 18.5 & 22.5 WSM - has good capacity. It's a fuel hog if you use it with the water pan. If using water in cool/cold weather - it will be a struggle to cook at 225* - let alone higher temps. It's leaky... doesn't seal well between sections. Doors also did not seal well. If you like using the doors to add charcoal or meat or whatever - they are too small, imho.

The metal was not porcelain enamel coated (this could have changed) & the lid had runs in the powder coating (that always bothered me as it was purchased new). Thickness of metal - about the same as a WSM.

I liked the way the sections could "clamp" together & also the handles. Looks like you have an extra stacker. It had a rod in the lid so you could hang meat/sausage & came with hooks for that.

Had grommets to insert temp probes in each section, but they are too small. Because they were stainless steel, I couldn't enlarge them to accommodate Maverick probes - they just spun while attempting drilling.

Given what I know now, it could be a good cooker depending on how you use it. I cook direct & at higher temps these days, never use a water pan & rarely a diffuser so I think it would work well if you didn't use water in it.

If I were using it today.... I'd do a MM start & close two of the bottom vents about 20 - 30* below target & adjust the 3rd bottom vent as necessary. Would not use water.