Mini WSM help

[gixxerfrk]

I built a mini last year and it works great except.... when I try to slow smoke turkey on a beer can stand it literally cooks in half the time. I did one last year and tried to control the temperature manually and couldn’t get it to hold temperature below 300 without putting the fuel out. Turkey was done in 3 hours flat. Looked great, tasted better but theoretically it should have taken longer.

We did Thanksgiving early this year and I make some improvements. I added a 9” pizza stone for a diffuser and set my beer can stand in a 10”x2” round cake pan. For temperature control I splurged and bought a CyberQ from BBQ Gurus.

I tried cooking at 275 this time and by my calculations the cook should have taken at least 5.5 hours but yet again it cooked really fast and I had to cut the heat to 200 just to slow it down a little at the end.

Can anyone help me figure out why it’s cooking so fast? The skin crisps up nicely and the meat has plenty of smoke flavor but it would be nice to have a better understanding of why it’s behaving like this so I can plan future cooks better.

P.S. I will be cooking one for work the day after Thanksgiving so it would be nice to be able to adjust by then.

 

[browneyesvictim]

What are you using for a temperature gauge? Don't go by the one built in the lid. Since you said "Mini" is this one you built? In any case, you need to get a more accurate and "proofed" thermometer- preferably a digital remote if you aren't using one already.

I use the Guru also and works great for me. Where are you placing the thermometer for that?

 

[gixxerfrk]

I am using the BBQ Guru probes. Last year I used an iGrill2.

Cooker...

image.jpeg

• gixxerfrk
• Mar 11, 2016

 

[browneyesvictim]

Let me rephrase... Where and how are the probes placed inside?
Most importantly, what does your remote therm read if you place the probe in ice water?
I see that is the Igrill in the picture, what model of Guru do you have? Is there a calibrate function?

 

[gixxerfrk]

It is the newest version of the CyberQ. I have not tested the probes for it but I did test the IGrill2 probes for accuracy prior to use last year and since the results were similar I’m assuming it’s not the probes. As for positioning, I used the lower position for the CC temp.

 

[browneyesvictim]

If you are certain your probes are not off, I will leave it at that...

If you close your bottom vent(s)* completely and leave the top vent open that should all but kill the fire, and definitely with the top closed too. Is that not happening?

*Judging by your picture it looks like you have the Silver Joe with only 1 bottom vent is that correct? Can you take a look closely at it an make sure it seals up snuggly to not let any air in when closed? It is made out of fairly malleable metal, that may need some tweaking.

 

[gixxerfrk]

Everything seals snugly and kills the fire if both are shut or if the bottom is closed too much. As for your observation, it does have the single bottom vent, so I guess that makes it a silver; however, with the new CyberQ, the intake has been moved up higher. Guess a new picture would be helpful....

 

[JckDanls 07]

I see you have your probes through the side... are they just sticking in an inch or two.. or do they go all the way in to the middle of the grates ?? Are you putting the probes underneath the meat, or beside the meat ?? If underneath the meat, the drippings will affect performance... meaning it will cool the probe off and make the CyberQ think it needs more heat to satisfy the preset temp ...

 

[gixxerfrk]

The CC probe is not below the meat or touching the meat so that is not an issue either.

 

[JckDanls 07]

In the new picture... what are the bolts at the bottom of the pot for ?? looks like it might be sitting on the bolt heads instead of sitting down in the SMJ tightly... which would let air in ...

 

[gixxerfrk]

I guess I could do a dry run comparison with the iGrill2, CyberQ, and a 3rd probe to verify calibration. I’ll do an ice/boiling water test prior to see if they all agree. Anyone done a turkey with a beer can stand in a mini? Could it have anything to do with the way the air flows around/through the turkey?

 

[gixxerfrk]

In the new picture... what are the bolts at the bottom of the pot for ?? looks like it might be sitting on the bolt heads instead of sitting down in the SMJ tightly... which would let air in ...

It is sort of sitting on the bolts but the side of the pot seats pretty snugly against the sides of the base, or at least it feels like a snug fit anyways. Shouldn’t that reflect in the CC temp probe reading?

 

[gixxerfrk]

Update: Just completed an ice water test with my CyberQ against an iGrill2 and a digital stick thermometer I’ve had good luck with in the past. The CyberQ and the stick thermometer were steady between 30-32 degrees while the iGrill 2 probe floated between 32-39 degrees.

That said, if my probes are good as it appears, if I was having a temperature issue it should show up on my probe, right? Assuming I had an air leak, I’m assuming an intake leak would spike my temperatures rather than diminish them, correct? If that happened, it would show up on my probe, correct? If I was shedding heat it would cause the fan to overdrive my air intake to compensate and if it couldn’t compensate that would slow down my cook not speed it up, correct?

If all my assumptions thus far are correct, then my decreased cook time must be due to a small number of variables. My guesses are as follows: 1) Proximity to heat source, 2) Pattern of air movement through CC and around food, 3) Higher efficiency due to smaller CC and/or lower % of unused space in CC. I don’t think #1 is very likely as there are basically two diffusers between heat source and food. I do think some combination of 2 and 3 are to blame but not quite sure how to prove it or adjust for it.

 

[dirtsailor2003]

Late to the party on this but here we go...

By standing the poultry up and having the open end down you will speed up the cook time no matter what the temperature is. Your funneling heat up the middle and around the sides. The famous commercially made "Turkey Cannon" touts this as why the turkey will cook faster. If you stuffed a beer can in the cavity or an orange or something in there, you'd slow down the cook because the heat would have to work its way into the meat from one side.

The other factor is that you are smoking at higher temps. Which for poultry is a okay in my book. Better skin enough smoke and you get done earlier. I am surprised that you can't get lower temps with the cyber-q.

How are you starting your fire?

 

[gixxerfrk]

I do have a beer can inside but keeping temps at even 200 doesn’t slow down the cook much. As for the fire, I’m preheating to 200 then adding the meat. Pretty much came to the conclusion that it’s operating much like the “turkey cannon” you described.

 

[bill1]

Turkeys look big but they're hollow. They cook really fast standing up with hot smoky air convecting on the inside but stuffed with a beer can you have great conductive heat flow to that inside meat as well. If your smoker's a 200, you can assume that can and the beer inside are at 200 too so that's cooking the inside quite efficiently, even if the air flow is blocked. It's totally different than a big pork butt that takes a long time for that cold inside to come up to eating temperatures.

And it's hard to get any charcoal smoker to cook consistently at <200 if you really want a low&slow cook on turkey. You could try a labyrinth sort of path for the coals so that only a fistful are burning at any one time. Some half-height bricks inside could maybe help establish a sort of Z path??