Over Labor Day weekend I fired up the 22.5 WSM and smoked a 7.8 lb prime rib roast (w smokey Au Jus), a 4 lb pork but and some johnsonville brats. (Post on the cooking w Q-view below). I had a little difficulty keeping the temp in the 230* range after about 2 hours and wanted to get some advice from the other WSM owners out there. Here's all the info I have....
At around 10:00 am I started with a near full charcoal ring with a mixture of Royal Oak Lump and Kingsford Blue (I have the second grate insde the ring at right angles to the bottom ring to limit charcoal drops). Placed a coffee can in the center and dropped the equivalent of a coffee can's worth of fully lit coals in the center, pulled out the can. Started with two vents closed and one vent approximately 1/4 to 1/3 open. Water pan filled with hot water. Placed the Maverick 732 probe on the middle of the top rack and let the WSM creep up to 230* at around 10:30am.
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As you can see, after the prime rib came out the butt stalled for almost 2 hours. At which time I wrapped it and threw it in a 350* oven to speed it up a bit. However, the question I have is how do you get the temps down in the 230* range? It hung in there very well for about 2 hours, then it seemed the WSM wanted to creep up to 250*, which is not bad, but if I want to keep it real low are there any tips, other than fitting it with a Guru or electronic monitoring? Even though I said 1 vent was 1/8 open, it was barely cracked open and the WSM still wanted to be up around 245-250.
At around 10:00 am I started with a near full charcoal ring with a mixture of Royal Oak Lump and Kingsford Blue (I have the second grate insde the ring at right angles to the bottom ring to limit charcoal drops). Placed a coffee can in the center and dropped the equivalent of a coffee can's worth of fully lit coals in the center, pulled out the can. Started with two vents closed and one vent approximately 1/4 to 1/3 open. Water pan filled with hot water. Placed the Maverick 732 probe on the middle of the top rack and let the WSM creep up to 230* at around 10:30am.
Time | Pit Temp | Probe Temp | Ambient | Vent |
10:30am | 230* | 43* (Prime Rib) 37* (Pork Butt) | 77* (Shade) | 1 vent 1/4 |
11:15 | 234* | 50* 60* | 79* (Shade) | 1 vent 1/4 |
12:15 | 232* | 84* 116* | 82* (Shade) | 1 vent 1/4 |
1:10 | 252* | 109* 134* | 83*(Shade) | 1 vent 1/4 reduce to 1/8 |
1:43 | 246* | 124* 143* | 83*(Shade) | 1 vent 1/8 |
2:00 | 250* | 129* 153* | 83* (Shade) | 1 vent 1/8 |
2:45 | 241* | 156* (Butt only) | 85* (Shade) | 1 vent 1/8 |
3:15 | 244* | 156* (Butt only) | 85* (Shade) | 1 vent 1/8 |
4:00 | 240ish* | 161* (Butt only) | 84* (Shade) | 1 vent 1/8 |
4:00 | 350* oven | 161* | ||
5:30 | 350* oven | 205* |
As you can see, after the prime rib came out the butt stalled for almost 2 hours. At which time I wrapped it and threw it in a 350* oven to speed it up a bit. However, the question I have is how do you get the temps down in the 230* range? It hung in there very well for about 2 hours, then it seemed the WSM wanted to creep up to 250*, which is not bad, but if I want to keep it real low are there any tips, other than fitting it with a Guru or electronic monitoring? Even though I said 1 vent was 1/8 open, it was barely cracked open and the WSM still wanted to be up around 245-250.