Hi all, I'm a rookie smoker and I've slowly been working my way through the different meats and things to smoke and I've had this reoccurring issue. Usually after around 6-7 hours of smoking time in my WSM the temp starts dropping and I can only keep it going by continuously stoking the coals. I hear people say that they can get 12+ hours of cook time on WSM's and I'm just wondering if there's something I'm missing.
- I use Kingsford blue original briquettes and I start by putting around 12-15 coals into the chimney and I light them with some newspapers. While they are heating up I fill the coal ring pretty much to the top with a little crater in the middle for the coals.
- I use around 3 fist sized chunks of wood or approximately that amount in chips if there's no more big pieces left. Once the coals are lit I dump them in, put the torso on and fill 3/4 of the water pan with water. After I just put the lid on and make sure all vents are wide open until it approaches around 200° and then I close down all 3 bottom vents until around a pencil width which is what I hear a lot on videos and such.
- Then I do some waiting and a bit of tweaking until I get it to stay stable around 225° and I add my meat. I check the thermometer 1-2 times an hour just to see if the temp is still stable.
- Usually around 3-4 hours in I check on the meat and move the coals around a bit to shake some ash off. Everything stays fine until around the 6 hour mark where the temp starts dropping and I see that there's not many coals left in the ring. I end up stoking the coals every now and then just to keep them going for as long as I can. Eventually I take out the meat and finish it in the oven.
This has happened twice now. Once in August on a windless day and just recently on a colder windier day. I tried to compensate by putting the WSM in a semi surrounded area with some cardboard near the bottom vents to block the wind. I live in Toronto which is usually a pretty humid place. I would appreciate any advice on things I can try or anything I might be doing wrong and I'm happy to provide any more information if its needed.