WSM 18" Low Temperatures

[BeeRich]

this thread seems exhausting

How will you survive?

 

[Harbormaster]

Tossing my $.02 in here.
I had an 18" WSM that I couldn't get up to temp. This was at a comp no less.
When I got home, I noticed the lid seemed heavy.
Years of use had allowed a very thick layer of shiny hard gunk to build up on the inside of the dome. The build up must have somehow affected the airflow in the WSM.
I used a wood chisel to scrape all of the gunk off the inside of the dome and gave the thermometer (basically a TelTru) stem a thorough cleaning. It resolved my low temp issues.
To drill down a little bit, is this a newer WSM with the Weber thermo in the lid? There were reports when Weber started putting them on that the stock thermometers were not very accurate. Have you tried an oven thermometer on the grate to see what the true temp is? Is it possible that the thermo stem is touching the meat?

 

[BeeRich]

To drill down a little bit, is this a newer WSM with the Weber thermo in the lid? There were reports when Weber started putting them on that the stock thermometers were not very accurate. Have you tried an oven thermometer on the grate to see what the true temp is? Is it possible that the thermo stem is touching the meat?

Same shiny stuff on the inside. It's 14 years old now, something like that. No meat getting close to the probe. I've not calibrated it in years. But I too cleaned off the probe which was caked in that black flake. I will calibrate next time.

 

[LloydQ]

Maybe light the whole charcoal ring instead of the minion method. Then use the dampers and water pan to regulate temps.

 

[BeeRich]

Maybe light the whole charcoal ring instead of the minion method. Then use the dampers and water pan to regulate temps.

Like I said, it was never an issue. I don't need to supercharge it. There's something wrong that I should be able to fix.

How do you light the whole charcoal pan? Fill it with 6 roaring chimneys?

 

[SirPorkaLot]

You are making this much harder than it needs to be.

Lol

Pretty easy to get temps up in a WSM. Lots of good advice above.

Ps..water pan is just there to stabilize temps, nothing else. Most people use it as a catch pan, not a water pan.

 

[smoke ninja]

You are making this much harder than it needs to be.

Lol

Pretty easy to get temps up in a WSM. Lots of good advice above.

Ps..water pan is just there to stabilize temps, nothing else. Most people use it as a catch pan, not a water pan.

no you don't understand. it's not anything that has been mentioned and definitely not operator error

 

[BeeRich]

You are making this much harder than it needs to be.

Lol

Pretty easy to get temps up in a WSM. Lots of good advice above.

Ps..water pan is just there to stabilize temps, nothing else. Most people use it as a catch pan, not a water pan.

Did you read the thread? It should help you.

 

[SirPorkaLot]

Did you read the thread? It should help you.

No.
I can’t read, I’m just here to annoy the likes of you.

Here’s my next suggestion

 

[BeeRich]

No.
I can’t read, I’m just here to annoy the likes of you.

Here’s my next suggestion

Then double your meds.

 

[LloydQ]

Like I said, it was never an issue. I don't need to supercharge it. There's something wrong that I should be able to fix.

How do you light the whole charcoal pan? Fill it with 6 roaring chimneys?

Lighter fluid. Put a match to it within a couple of minutes of dousing and it doesn't soak up the taste.

 

[BeeRich]

Lighter fluid. Put a match to it within a couple of minutes of dousing and it doesn't soak up the taste.

Uh, that was discussed and avoided well over 15 years ago. I'm not roasting. I'm using a smoker.

 

[smoke ninja]

Uh, that was discussed and avoided well over 15 years ago. I'm not roasting. I'm using a smoker.

You don't really want help do you? There is a proper way to use lighter fluid. The suggestion of starting with a full load of lit was to see if you could get high temps in a more extreme manner.

 

[Juggy D Beerman]

So far, I think you have received some good advice on what can contribute to your low temperature issues.



If I am using a lesser quality brand of charcoal in my WSM, I will mix in lump charcoal with the briquettes and three fist sized pieces of smoking wood. I place the briquettes in first along with the wood and cover the fire grate with the briquettes. Then I use a mixture of lump and briquettes. I use water in the pan and have no problems with keeping a steady temperature of 275F and can cook as high as 325F. Once the desired cooking temperature is achieved, I will reduce the air intake vents to almost closed. If the temperature drops, I will open the intake vents and will prop the lid so it is not completely sealed. The gap between the lid and the middle portion of the WSM helps the air draw. Once the temperature is where I want it to be I place the lid so it is sealed and close the air vents about half-way and go from there.



That is what works for me, your mileage may vary..........


One thing that may not have been addressed - that charcoal may have drawn moisture and may not be burning as hot as it would have had it not been compromised. This moisture could have introduced before or after you purchased it.


Lager,


Juggy

 

[BeeRich]

You don't really want help do you? There is a proper way to use lighter fluid. The suggestion of starting with a full load of lit was to see if you could get high temps in a more extreme manner.

OK, you need to read the thread. None of this is about inventing new ways of baking the snot out of the smoker. There's no reason why this shouldn't be behaving properly with the usual techniques. We've already identified what could be wrong, so I fixed that and tested quickly.

Why is this so difficult for some people to understand? No I won't turn my smoker into a huge firebox. That accomplishes absolutely nothing. Suggesting I rip things out of it, fill it half way with roaring charcoal, isn't "fixing" anything, and is therefore not any help at all.

 

[BeeRich]

So far, I think you have received some good advice on what can contribute to your low temperature issues.



If I am using a lesser quality brand of charcoal in my WSM, I will mix in lump charcoal with the briquettes and three fist sized pieces of smoking wood. I place the briquettes in first along with the wood and cover the fire grate with the briquettes. Then I use a mixture of lump and briquettes. I use water in the pan and have no problems with keeping a steady temperature of 275F and can cook as high as 325F. Once the desired cooking temperature is achieved, I will reduce the air intake vents to almost closed. If the temperature drops, I will open the intake vents and will prop the lid so it is not completely sealed. The gap between the lid and the middle portion of the WSM helps the air draw. Once the temperature is where I want it to be I place the lid so it is sealed and close the air vents about half-way and go from there.

That is what works for me, your mileage may vary..........

One thing that may not have been addressed - that charcoal may have drawn moisture and may not be burning as hot as it would have had it not been compromised. This moisture could have introduced before or after you purchased it.

Ya the bags are kept inside and are super dusty. The problem is that they get bashed and pieces get small. Performance reduces by the end of the bag. So I like your idea of mixing the two.

 

[Juggy D Beerman]

I recently purchased some Royal Oak briquettes that wound up being the worst charcoal that I had ever purchased and this includes the "Always Save" brand that I purchased one time only. I had used Royal Oak several years ago and was happy with the product. The last batch of Royal Oak was just horrible. It would not stay lit and what charcoal did burn, burned quickly. Sometimes you just get a bad batch of charcoal from a reliable company. How the charcoal was stored before it hits the store can affect the quality. Two different ways of affecting quality are by handling it roughly and breaking up the briquettes or storing in it an area of high humidity for long periods of time where it will draw moisture.


I use a lot of lump in my WSM as I am mixing it with the bigger sized leftover charcoal briquettes from the last use. I can still hold a steady temp of 250F for six hours. If I am cooking longer than that I will salvage the leftover charcoal and save it for a shorter cook.



One other good point about lump charcoal is you can add it to the coals if your fire is diminishing and more cooking time is needed. You can add it without pre-lighting it as it catches fire quickly. It will not detract near as much heat from the burning coals to ignite as unlit briquettes do. Try a 50/50 mix of lump next time with your briquettes. If you plan on using the same brand of charcoal again, use a different source for the product and see if that makes a difference.


Lager,


Juggy

 

[70monte]

I feel your pain. I started to have issues like that with my 18" WSM years ago and nothing I did ever solved the problem. Mine was a 2011 model that I bought new and it didn't have a mounted thermometer. I always used a remote electronic one.

For the first several years it worked great and I had no problems running it from 225 to over 300 using the minion method and Kingford briquettes. Then out of the blue I had a cook where I could not get the temps over 200 degrees, even with the door open. That continued for several more cooks. At around that same time I bought a PBC and never used the WSM again and later sold it, never figuring out why I couldn't get the temps to stay up.

I don't really have any advice but just posted to say that I had the same experience with mine.

 

[LloydQ]

Uh, that was discussed and avoided well over 15 years ago. I'm not roasting. I'm using a smoker.

Who said anything about roasting, for Pete's sake! Light the coals, wait for the dirty smoke to burn off, put the water pan in, and close the bottom dampers down until you are cruising at the temp you want.
BTW, I gave up on the Minion method 15 years ago when my meat tasted like an ash tray.

 

[smoke ninja]

OK, you need to read the thread. None of this is about inventing new ways of baking the snot out of the smoker. There's no reason why this shouldn't be behaving properly with the usual techniques. We've already identified what could be wrong, so I fixed that and tested quickly.

Why is this so difficult for some people to understand? No I won't turn my smoker into a huge firebox. That accomplishes absolutely nothing. Suggesting I rip things out of it, fill it half way with roaring charcoal, isn't "fixing" anything, and is therefore not any help at all.

I don't have to reread anything....I don't have a problem getting one of the simplest, easy to use cookers ever sold to run at temp