New Akorn

[Swamp_moss]

hello all, been quite a while since I have stopped in. I incesantly use the site to find resources but don’t post much..as a matter of fact, my last post was about my fried MES

Well it’s time for round 2. I got myself an akorn a few days ago and all but one evening I have been playing with it to figure out what will yield low and steady temps. Tonight made my night.

I’ve been struggling to get it to settle, took me an hour and a half to get it to 226 but it finally held steady! My TP20 is down right now until I get new probes so I was using a digital probe stuck in the exhaust of the smoker to check against the stock therm. Pulled out the digital probe and ran to Walmart, came back to temps in the mid 250s couldn’t understand why. Nothing had changed.

Ran to Lowe’s for chunks and had (what I believe to be) and epiphany. These smokers are sealed well so that tiny adjustments on vents control temperature. My probe was all but completely blocking one “half moon” exhaust vent which was starving the cooker of a small amount of air flow. When i pulled it out to go to the store, it created more flow and thus, more heat. Duh . I experimented with this when I got home and could replicate it closely. Made me feel like I’m doing something right lol

Anyway, none of my friends gave a crap so I figured if any group of folks could relate to my elation, and new revelation, it would be the folks of SMF.

Stand by for q-view on my first akorn smoked butt Saturday

 

[jcam222]

I love my Kamado but temp management was a steep curve for me :). I use mine mostly for grilling but love it. Good luck with your cook

 

[drunkenmeatfist]

Good to hear you are getting it dialed in. If it runs easier at a hotter temp then I would say to let the cooker do its thing. Especially on something like a pork shoulder. I let them go at around 300 and they are great.

 

[mike243]

If your running too hot with all of the bottom vents shut down and have to block a exhaust vent to hit temp its leaking air, every thing I have always read say that its better to starve the fire of air than smother it and create creosote ymmv, glad you are figuring it out, any cooker can make good food but the learning phase can be a pain.

 

[daveomak]

Hooray !!!! Way to go... paying attention to the details, to gain knowledge, is a good thing... Then, putting that knowledge to use and sharing it........ AWESOME!!!

 

[Swamp_moss]

Thanks guys. I rarely if ever cook below 250 but I like to know I can if I want to

 

[one eyed jack]

I'll second Dave's congratulations. I congratulate your choice of the Akorn, too. In the 5 or 6 years I've owned mine I've told many people that it's the best bang for your buck grill / smoker out there.

I'm not familiar with the newer versions but back when I got mine, they were known for being pretty leaky. I spent some time sealing it up and that payed off real well. I have also used the "snake" in the Akorn which makes low and slow very easy.

It's been a while since this picture was taken but, best I recall, this load of briquettes was good for 5 hours at 225* - 250*.

 

[Swamp_moss]

Thanks for the comments guys! I’ll post my Q-view here.

Got started around 6 am and brought her up to temp...felt like i struggled to keep it up in the 250 range but the butt finished in 9 hours anyway. I never foil but a storm rolling in pushed me to prep it for the oven if the need arose so I foiled, but kept it on the Akorn. The rain never got bad so I finished it there.

Get this. As I pulled it and started on sides, the power went out and stayed out for 3 hours! My girlfriend convinced me to do snap beans in some water, butter and garlic salt on the grill cranked to 375....frickin delish btw.

Just as we sat down to eat the power came on! But man this Q beats my old MES 30 Q by a long shot.

Happy weekend guys, I’m going to finish my dinner

 

[boatman1]

Go to BBQ Guru and get what you need you will never look back