Joined WSM Club

[bluesbear]

awww crap!!

I had it closed for the last hour at least. The temp still hasnt risen above 170...

 

[bluesbear]

even at 170 though wont they just take a little longer to cook?

 

[jirodriguez]

It will cook eventually , but not sure of the results - might dry out since ribs aren't a large cut like a butt. Main thing I was concerned about was the creasote. If the meat tastes bitter it will be from creasote. On my WSM I leave the top 100% open, and to start the 3 bottoms are also 100% open as well. Once it gets to 200° on the lid therm I turn the bottom vents to 3/4 closed, let it run for 10-15 min. and it should stabalize around 230-250 on the lid therm. If you want it to run lower close the bottoms completely when it hits 200°, and it will stay around 200-220 on the lid therm.

 

[njsmoker83]

thats good to know i thought you can close the top lid at least halfway

 

[jirodriguez]

You can cut it down to 50%, but you will get a much stronger smoke flavor on your meat, especialy on the longer smokes. I personally never close my top vent unless I am killing the fire completely, then I shut it 100%.

 

[njsmoker83]

i have it running at 255 deg right now and all lower vents are 100% closed.  it is rising a bit, can i close the top lid halfway to lower temp (it is going to get to almost 100 in NJ today.

 

[jirodriguez]

Yeah, if you need to close them I wouldn't close them more than 50%. Start with 10-15% the drop a tad more if needed. If you are running at 255° with all lower vents closed I am guessing you are getting a lot of air leaking in through the door. If you poke around the threads there are some people that use high temp. silicon to create a good door seal to prevent that. Any uncontrolled air flow will make it harder to adjust the temps the way you want/need to during a smoke.

 

[njsmoker83]

Yeah, if you need to close them I wouldn't close them more than 50%. Start with 10-15% the drop a tad more if needed. If you are running at 255° with all lower vents closed I am guessing you are getting a lot of air leaking in through the door. If you poke around the threads there are some people that use high temp. silicon to create a good door seal to prevent that. Any uncontrolled air flow will make it harder to adjust the temps the way you want/need to during a smoke.

i shut the bottom one fully and it is holding now at 225 steady for hours.
 

 

[jirodriguez]

i shut the bottom one fully and it is holding now at 225 steady for hours.
 

That's probably good enough.

 

[my87csx481]

Mine's runnin' hot today too....fighting to keep lid temp under 250.

Doing a rack of pork spares.

njsmoker83:  you gonna' have some Q-view for us?

 

[bluesbear]

So I did get to 225 and she stabilized for me. The ribs were great and I cooked them a little longer. No dryness. Really strong smoke flavor though. At least i learned from these mistakes and now my next batch will be better. My next task will be brisket. First time ever and never even had a brisket in my life. Thanks for all your help

 

[jirodriguez]

So I did get to 225 and she stabilized for me. The ribs were great and I cooked them a little longer. No dryness. Really strong smoke flavor though. At least i learned from these mistakes and now my next batch will be better. My next task will be brisket. First time ever and never even had a brisket in my life. Thanks for all your help

WOOT! Glad it all worked out! Congrats!

 

[njsmoker83]

So I did get to 225 and she stabilized for me. The ribs were great and I cooked them a little longer. No dryness. Really strong smoke flavor though. At least i learned from these mistakes and now my next batch will be better. My next task will be brisket. First time ever and never even had a brisket in my life. Thanks for all your help

its crazy how good the WSM is.  The temps were moving a little bit for me, but with ribs im sure that is expected since you have to take the lid off every hour.  Im going to try a chuckie this weekend i hope.