Weber summit charcoal/kamado - fire keeps dying on me.

[souroull]

Hey guys, topic says it all.

It seems to run OK between 260-285, as was the case during yesteday's 12hr dry run (https://share.fireboard.io/509189) but any attempt to keep it at 225-250 always results to the fire dying out on me, as was todays: (https://share.fireboard.io/279936) - temps in celcius.

Bottom vent is just over half way between the off and smoke setting, and top is just under 1/4 open. The difference between yday and today were slight adjustments to the top and bottom vents in order to dial it down to 225-250, and although it ran ok-ish for the first 4hrs, it suddenly fell off a cliff.

Thoughts?

I'll try to include pics in the fireboard timeline next time for better visuals.

Thanks for any input

 

[mcyork28]

I have noticed if I go below the smoke setting on the bottom vent my fire will die. I don't go any lower than the smoke setting and make small adjustments with the top vent only and don't have any problem running lower temps.

 

[souroull]

Thanks for the tip! Looks like im getting there but with the lower vent at the smoke setting, the top needs to be substantially choked off. Proportionally, bottom is open at least 3 times as much as the top.... what about dirty smoke?

 

[mike243]

It aint a stick burner so smoke wont be as clean imo, a smaller load of wood and air flow. if temps can't be controlled leaving the top vent wide open it may never be thin blue, food will still be great.

 

[souroull]

hey Mike,

I've been obsessed with Meathead's top vent wide open and bottom to control, but anything i've read on this cooker thus far says exactly the opposite, Weber themselves included. I was stubborn and insisted on going the opposite way for the better part of a month but been failing to keep temps since the very beginning.

This is the 24th hour onwards from yesterday's playing about .... https://share.fireboard.io/19EBF6

Still on a 10 pound load of lump, just over 30hrs in...

Have not touched it for the past 13 hours and it looks perfect... but top vent is just 1/8inch (not even 1/8 of the way) open, and the bottom is at the infamous smoke setting, that miraculously solved all humongous temp spikes and the fire dying down...

Not sure how i feel right now.

 

[sandro]

hey Mike,

I've been obsessed with Meathead's top vent wide open and bottom to control, but anything i've read on this cooker thus far says exactly the opposite, Weber themselves included. I was stubborn and insisted on going the opposite way for the better part of a month but been failing to keep temps since the very beginning.

This is the 24th hour onwards from yesterday's playing about .... https://share.fireboard.io/19EBF6

Still on a 10 pound load of lump, just over 30hrs in...

Have not touched it for the past 13 hours and it looks perfect... but top vent is just 1/8inch (not even 1/8 of the way) open, and the bottom is at the infamous smoke setting, that miraculously solved all humongous temp spikes and the fire dying down...

Not sure how i feel right now.

Truth is, exhaust is much more important to temp control than intake; just think of the PBC and how cracking the lid shoots it past 400 with the same intake slit that kept it at 275 for hours. While it's true that intake can choke a fire and limit combustion (thus temps), air can and will find a way in when there's a vacuum (pressure differential between the cold outside and hot inside) but if CO2 can't escape fast enough not enough oxygen can be pulled in

I understand there might be a reluctancy to using the top vent to regulate temps, however it must be accepted that convection on a grill is not as important (nor abundant) as it is on a stick burner, no matter the cooker (kettle, PK, kamado, pellet) you won't be moving a comparable volume of air; leaving the top vent completely open to promote convection is a bit of a moot point in such small devices

 

[glitchy]

Souroull when I first got my WSCG i learned to run it manually for several cooks. My experience was similar to yours that for 225, the top vent was barely open and I made most adjustments at bottom.

Now I run LnS using my Fireboard drive and almost always cook at 250-275 as I think the flavor is better from the WSCG at those temps. With that setup the top vent is closed a little more even, and the bottom vent is my fan.

 

[mcyork28]

I think you might be overthinking things. Top vent wide open simply does not work on all cookers.

My cooker might not run "thin blue" all the time but I have cooked on a wide variety of cookers and know when the food has been affected by dirty smoke. I can say that I have never tasted it on anything coming off of my Weber Summit Kamado.

My recommendation is to let the cooker settle in to the temp your looking for and cook. As long as the smoke isn't thick and dirty you will be fine. There is a point were the smoke will go from thick and gray to thin and light and that's were I cook.

The other thing I find helps with the Weber Kamado is using smaller pieces of wood. I take pieces out of a bag of Weber or Kingsford chunks and split it into 3 or 4 smaller pieces and spread them evenly throughout the kettle.

 

[gtsum]

I have found similar with my summit kamado when trying to do reverse sears around 225-250. Unless it’s just a few coals in there, she doesn’t like to run that low imo. I never use it for bbq as I use my workhorse offset for that. I let her run around 275-300 as the smoke is better and I’m not fighting it as much.


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[Meatsweat Mike]

I had similar difficulties initially when I got my summit Kamado a few months ago, having trouble holding anything at or under 240-250 especially when I tried to go with the smoke setting on the bottom vent. Sometimes when I choked it way down I could get into the 230s but then I’d be worried I was choking out the fire. I used to start it with 8-12 briquettes in a chimney then putting it on the charcoal in there.

What’s worked quite well for me recently is just taking a small half paper towel balled up with some vegetable oil on it (kind of cheap so didn’t get starters) and then placing it between a clump of charcoal and lighting that, I’ll shut the top and just keep both vents wide open as it burns. Once the charcoals are lit I’ll spread them a little then put the diffuser and everything in place and monitor the temps. Once it gets to 120-125 I put the bottom in the smoke setting and then the top 1/3rd open and the temps will very slowly come up. It could take up to an ~45ish mins but as I get closer to 225 I make any adjustments to the top vent and can usually settle it from 220-230 and it holds pretty well for the most part. If I let it get too hot before I put it into the smoke setting I’ll have trouble keeping the temps low. Hope this is helpful.