hey guys i just recently purchased a BBQ GURU DYNA Q. I decided to try it out today on a 14 lb brisket. I got my
WSM set up for minion method using 10 lit kingsford coals surrounded by a basket full of unlit coals. I set my bbq guru pit temp at 225 degrees with all vents closed
except the top dome vent and the bbq guru fan vent which is about 50% open. Despite me only using a few lit coals and all vents closed , my current pit temp is 296 degrees and headed toward 300. Thats way hotter than i wanted to cook my brisket at. What did i do wrong? I have no water in the water pan, as it is covered in tin foil. Any advice on getting the pit temp down? Thanks yall.
Using the following methods, of my cookers, only my PID controlled
Rec Tec RT 590 is capable of running tighter and more consistent temperatures than my
WSM.
My
Rec Tec can hold temps for as long as it has pellets in it to within plus or minus 5 degrees of it's set point.
I have gotten to plus or minus 10 degrees or less of my target temperature in my 22in
WSM using the following steps with the BBQ Guru for brisket cooks lasting in excess of 12 hrs.
Your problem is likely with your top vent being open as opposed to the damper vent in your fan being wide open.
You need to shut the side vents as in the BBQ Guru instructions. But run the fan with the fan damper wide open.
But you need to close that top vent down to about 1/2 to 1/4 open. Or you can adjust it in 1/3rds.
The top vent has the most influence on your temperatures.
I have a BBQ Guru Cyber Q and for the few years I had it, ran into a similar problem that you are describing. Runaway temperatures.
A friend of mine has the Thermaworks Billows. Strangely enough, the instructions for the Billows are what changed things for me and my BBQ Guru.
Unlike BBQ Guru, where they tell you to shut down the side vents and leave the top vent wide open,
Thermoworks recommends for the Billows that you shut down the side vents and then shut down the top vent to just a crack, and adjust that top vent in order to dial in your temp control.
They do not have you run the top vent wide open.
My advice. Get your fire started with a few coals. Say about 1/3 or 1/2 chimney. Pour those on top of your unlit coals.
I run play sand in my bowl, and cover the sand with foil. But you can run water. Either will help you with your temperature control because the fire has to heat up either the sand or the water as well as the smoker. The contents of the bowl act as a heat sink. But for a long cook, you may end up having to add more water to it. This is why I have switched over to sand.
But I would not run an empty water pan. Just me.
Put your center section on ASAP after putting the lit coals onto the unlit ones
Start with that side vents shut down like BBQ Guru tells you. Open the fan's damper to full.
Put your lid on immediately afterward. And then shut down that top vent to half to 2/3 way. You want to just see "crescents" when you look down at the top vent.
Let the fan blow as hard and for however long it wants to on the way to reaching your target temp.
If your temps aren't dialing in, right where you want them, or to about plus or minus 10 degrees, then adjust that top vent in 1/3 increments opening it or closing it as needed until your temps settle in.
This will keep your
WSM temps under control with the Guru better than running that top vent wide open.
For some proof of what I'm talking about when I say that the top vent on the
WSM has a lot of influence on your overall temps, take a look at this device.
TipTopTemp™ is perfect for regulating the temperature of your charcoal grill. Simply place the device on the vent of the grill and adjust the settings.
tiptoptemp.com
Notice which vent it attaches to for temp management. It attaches to the top vent.
Also, I mentioned the
Thermoworks Billows. Here are the instructions for it.
Notice they call for only a
1/8 opening of the top vent to start with, after shutting all of the side vents.
Your problem is that top vent being wide open while you're running the Guru, is letting your temps run away. But that is what the Guru instructions say to do. Opening the top vent all the way open, invites just what you are describing, and what I have experienced. The Guru instructions, IMO, leave some to be desired.
For further proof, among my cookers is a 22in WSM. I have it "tricked out" somewhat. Mods done to it include felt gaskets to minimize air leaks at the lid and the fire door. Cajun Bandit stainless steel door and hinge. Cajun Bandit over sized fire ring.
I have bored another hole into the left side of the mid section of it and attached a second rubber grommet into it for another set of temperature probes.
I have bored two holes into the bottom section of it and installed the BBQ Guru Weber adapters directly into the bottom bowl as opposed to using the attachments by securing them to the vents.
This allows me to just use the vents if I don't want to use the BBQ Guru.
I have two holes perpendicular to one another, because I have now started to run two fans with the BBQ Guru. I get a more even burn of the fuel in the bottom section with fans blowing perpendicular to each other as opposed to one fan blowing air in one direction.
In other words, with one fan, I tend to get ignition of my coals in a straight path about 12 inches or so wide from the fan port and directly across the fire ring.
With the perpendicular fans, I get a more even burn of my fuel across the front to back and the left to right aspects of my fire ring.
I do not use briquettes. I use either Jealous Devil Lump Charcoal, or Kamado Joe Big Block charcoal and I fill the fire ring completely.
I have included images of my setup and also images to show you how tight I can get the temps on my WSM using the "Top Vent Method" that I described earlier. This was a 15hr brisket cook of a 17lb brisket. The Guru was set at 230°F and I never saw a anything below 221° nor anything above 240°. For the most part it stayed in the 225-230 range for the cook. For this cook, I was running my two fans. And I always run them with the dampers in them set to wide open.
I have found that when I was running one fan, it was imperative to not let the coals get too cool. Especially back when I was running briquettes.
This causes the fan to end up working hard and blowing harder and longer in an attempt to stoke the fire.
Because briquettes tend to generate considerably more ash than a quality lump charcoal, this resulted in blowing ash inside the cooker, some of which can settle on food.
This led me to running the damper on the fans wide open. I believe that it tends to cut down on ash because the lit coals stay hotter. I want every puff of that fan to count.
The top vent is shut down to about 1/3 open. All of the bottom vents are shut.
There are 3 probes in this brisket from the Guru and another one from my
Thermoworks Smoke, and the Smoke's grate probe is being checked against the Guru's grate probe. They show about a 5.5° discrepancy.
I strongly believe that your issue, is first your top vent. Secondly, your water pan either needs sand or water in it.
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For more information on the influence of your top vent, or exhaust vent, Harry Soo offers the following:
"Of the three components I mentioned: intake, fuel choice and amount, and the exhaust, the most effective component to maintain constant temperature is not the intake nor the fuel. It’s the exhaust. Many beginners I come across are not aware of that. All seasoned pitmasters know how to intuitively draft their pit using “clean” smoke to color and flavor their barbecue meats. The draft refers to the vacuum effect when you open or close the exhaust vent of your pit.
When you open the exhaust vent on the WSM, you allow hot air to leave the pit and this creates a vacuum suction to draw air in from the bottom intakes. Thus, by skillfully manipulating the top vent, you can control your WSM like a pro. Many beginners constantly fiddle with their intake dampers in hopes to maintain a constant temperature with less success"
In short, don't fool with the bottom dampers ie the damper in your fan to control your temps. Your bottom dampers are already shut and the only air getting in at the bottom is coming from your fan and it's blowing through a single hole of one of your dampers.
Your fan will stop blowing or reduce blowing when your target temp is being approached. This is the equivalent on having a shut or partially shut damper. Your fan will handle the air coming in from the bottom, be the damper in the fan wide open or not.
Control the temp in your WSM with that top vent.