Webber kettle question

[Fishonshawn]

Just got my 22" copper kettle today and am doing a little burn in. Used half a chimney of charcoal and threw it in there with vents wide open. Got up to 450 degrees real quick but then I wanted to see if I could get it back down about 250. Closed both, bottom and top vents to about a 1/4 open.... checked it after 15 minutes... temp never moved, just held where it was... lifted to lid to give a little look see at it and it dropped 25 degrees from opening it but then it just stayed at that new temp... here it is 35 minutes later and the temp hasn't dropped except when I've opened the lid. Am I doing something wrong here? I thought closing the vents was suppose to snuff the coals and drop the temp... how long is it supposed to take? I can't find anything about how long it should take or why it wouldn't be working. All the videos i watch just show people closing it and reaching their desired temp..

Or do I need to close them more? I figured 1/4 cracked open would be fine. Should I just have the bottom closed and top cracked? Any tips..

One other thing. I noticed with the bottom vents, because the vents/ash dump slots are "P" shaped, that even when closed there is some air flow cause it doesn't cover the D part of the P . If that makes sense. Is that normal for that little bit to always be open.

 

[Fishonshawn]

The bottom vent can be confusing. I dont know why weber made it like that.

Watch this vid. It will help you out some.

Those vent don't look like mine.
And yeah that video wasn't very helpful really... just marking how far its open which I already planned on doing. My issue was when I closed it the temp never dropped. I opened the lid just to check how far the vents were open since I wasn't cooking and just doing my initial burn in anyways. But even with them closed most of the way the temp stayed steady at 350+ degrees for 45 minutes and never came down... I want to know how the hell to actually drop the temp on this thing. Every video I watch or article I read just shows them closing the vents to a crack, maybe a 1/4 open, which i did and nothing changed... temp stayed super high.

 

[Gonna Smoke]

On my 2 Weber kettles, I always have my top vent wide open and adjust airflow with the bottom vent. I have mine marked with a sharpie in 1/8 increments. I typically run my bottom vent around 1/8 or 1/4 open at the most and many times completely closed. But I use lump charcoal, which burns much hotter than briquettes, and a wood split or two.

I do not use the built in temp gauge, but rather a digital thermometer. If it gets too hot, I just take the lid off to dump the heat. I'm able to control the cook temp fairly easily.

 

[Fishonshawn]

You can see my vent down there at the bottom. Its P shaped.

 

[Buckeye02]

Got up to 450 degrees real quick but then I wanted to see if I could get it back down about 250.

If I'm wanting 250 that can easily be achieved with 12-15 briquettes. Instead of driving yourself crazy trying to come down from 450 to 250 do the opposite. Once it starts hitting around 225 I take the bottom vent to 1/16" and the top about half closed. I cooked ribs yesterday for 5 hrs and maintained 245-260 for 5 hours once it was set. IMO it's easier to take the temp up little by little than to try and bring it back down once it's ran away. Hopefully that helps!

 

[JckDanls 07]

Once the fire gets away from you (too hot).. it's really hard to get them to come back down... Close the bottom vent all the way and leave the top an 1/8 to a 1/4 open... it will take some time for temps to start coming back down...

Since this is just a test/seasoning run I wouldn't worry a whole lot about it... For your next run use the minion method which is unlit coals and chunks of wood mixed in with just a few (6-10) lit coals placed at one end of the unlit pile... open all vents and let temps come up slowly... When temps start getting close (20-25 degrees) to what you want, close the intake vent way down (1/8-1/4 open).. temps will stat to stabilize then... then adjust accordingly... It doesn't take but just a hair adjustment to change temps... usually takes about 10-15 minutes to start noticing changes... If you close the bottom vent all the way and temps are still climbing then you know you have an air leak somewhere ... contrary to what people say about leaving the top vent wide open, you will have to close it down some too (if temps still rising with bottom closed)...

It's much easier to bring temps up rather than trying to bring a run away fire down (as you are experiencing right now ...

 

[BGKYSmoker]

Once the fire gets away from you (too hot).. it's really hard to get them to come back down... Close the bottom vent all the way and leave the top an 1/8 to a 1/4 open... it will take some time for temps to start coming back down...

Since this is just a test/seasoning run I wouldn't worry a whole lot about it... For your next run use the minion method which is unlit coals and chunks of wood mixed in with just a few (6-10) lit coals placed at one end of the unlit pile... open all vents and let temps come up slowly... When temps start getting close (20-25 degrees) to what you want, close the intake vent way down (1/8-1/4 open).. temps will stat to stabilize then... then adjust accordingly... It doesn't take but just a hair adjustment to change temps... usually takes about 10-15 minutes to start noticing changes... If you close the bottom vent all the way and temps are still climbing then you know you have an air leak somewhere ... contrary to what people say about leaving the top vent wide open, you will have to close it down some too (if temps still rising with bottom closed)...

It's much easier to bring temps up rather than trying to bring a run away fire down (as you are experiencing right now ...

Damitman

lol

 

[Fishonshawn]

Are you overseas like OZ or NZ

Some of the webers there have the P shape vents.

No in the good ol USA.

 

[Fishonshawn]

Once the fire gets away from you (too hot).. it's really hard to get them to come back down... Close the bottom vent all the way and leave the top an 1/8 to a 1/4 open... it will take some time for temps to start coming back down...

Since this is just a test/seasoning run I wouldn't worry a whole lot about it... For your next run use the minion method which is unlit coals and chunks of wood mixed in with just a few (6-10) lit coals placed at one end of the unlit pile... open all vents and let temps come up slowly... When temps start getting close (20-25 degrees) to what you want, close the intake vent way down (1/8-1/4 open).. temps will stat to stabilize then... then adjust accordingly... It doesn't take but just a hair adjustment to change temps... usually takes about 10-15 minutes to start noticing changes... If you close the bottom vent all the way and temps are still climbing then you know you have an air leak somewhere ... contrary to what people say about leaving the top vent wide open, you will have to close it down some too (if temps still rising with bottom closed)...

It's much easier to bring temps up rather than trying to bring a run away fire down (as you are experiencing right now ...

Thanks. Yeah if cooking something like steak I'll definitely try not to let it get that hot. But this being the test run I wanted to see how adjustable it was and how long it took... never did get it to drop down on its own. And like I said with these damn P shaped vents I can't actually close them all the way. The D portion at the top of the P is open when the vent is in the closed position.

 

[Colin1230]

And like I said with these damn P shaped vents I can't actually close them all the way. The D portion at the top of the P is open when the vent is in the closed position.

Fishonshawn,
Something's not right here. I have seen the P vents on several kettles and the sweeping blades on every one of them completely covered the P shaped vents effectively shutting them off. My thought on your problem is to check and see if it was assembled correctly.
I've been watching for the P shape design change to show up on the Performer Deluxe. When it does, I'll be buying one. It is a very effective 'Smoke' feature. Check you owners manual. I sure hope this helps.

 

[Fueling Around]

Congrats on the Weber. If god (or wive) said only 1 it would be a kettle,
Learning curve is something I'm still learning. I have a 1995 model rescued from the curb.
if you didn't wave the lid to dump the heat, the crappy built in thermometer doesn't adjust to chamber temps fast enough

 

[Fishonshawn]

Fishonshawn,
Something's not right here. I have seen the P vents on several kettles and the sweeping blades on every one of them completely covered the P shaped vents effectively shutting them off. My thought on your problem is to check and see if it was assembled correctly.
I've been watching for the P shape design change to show up on the Performer Deluxe. When it does, I'll be buying one. It is a very effective 'Smoke' feature. Check you owners manual. I sure hope this helps.

I wonder if I can take the bottom apart and reposition the blades....

Edit: Doesn't seem that way... just watched a video of someone replacing the vents/ash fins and its all made to only fit and work 1 way...so im not sure how to correct mine and actually get it to close all the way... unless I get a dremel and maybe and cut into the housing where the handle goes so it can go to the closed position just a little further...