Tried using the minion method in my wsm tonight and its been a rough start so far lol. Idk what I did wrong but my temps skyrocketed to nearly 325. Fought it for 45 mins before I decided to dump some coals. When i removed the top the whole dang ring was burning no wonder i was running hot so with my tongs i removed approximately 1 chimneys worth of coals. Now im down to 250 for the last 30 mins idk what happened hopefully all goes well pulling an all nighter on my pork butts. Oh by the way im using royal oak green bag if that makes a difference
Bad start to first time minion
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themule69
Epic Pitmaster
fwismoker
Master of the Pit
Brackness
Smoke Blower
stevec1584
Newbie
x2. It takes a surprisingly small amount of charcoal in your chimney to get the minion method rolling at smoking temps. If you go even half a chimney it's definitely going to shoot you above 300 in a hurry. The key is to restrain yourself at the beginning and only light a relatively small amount in your chimney.
Are you using a water pan as a heat brake? I'll often get my minion setup rolling with an empty water pan, then fill the water pan with a gallon of cold water when temps hit 275 or so. It starts absorbing the heat and levels you out around 250-275 for hours. If I don't fill the water pan at that point it usually shoots straight up to 325-350.
fwismoker
Master of the Pit
.. and my bad for not reading the whole post. I assumed you lit a small amount... Guess I shouldn't ASSuME!
stevec1584
Newbie
You're gettin close! Keep on keepin on, brother. You'll know better next time, and in the meantime sure looks like you've got a real treat on your hands.
Brackness
Smoke Blower
Morning..... Some folks even start the minion method with as few as 8-10 lit briquettes.... takes a little longer to warm up... but, starting to cut off the air supply at about 180-200 should keep you from overshooting the desired temp too far.... Once you figure out the damper position for a smoke at 225 or so, resetting the damper to that position or even closed a little will allow the temp to rise slowly.....
At times, the learning curve gets a little scary.... making notes on results, makes life a little easier..... Keep the sand in the water pan for the first few go-rounds.... That way, you will know how high the temp goes, and using sand, reduces the amount of briquettes you use.... You are not wasting fuel trying to super-heat water....
Dave
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