WSM Top Vent Open 100%?

[JWFokker]

WSM and other vertical cookers like kamados and IVCs aren't intended to be run wide open unless you are doing high heat cooking. Under 300F you will need to close the top vent down quite a bit.

 

[Hamdrew]

WSM and other vertical cookers like kamados and IVCs aren't intended to be run wide open unless you are doing high heat cooking. Under 300F you will need to close the top vent down quite a bit.

.. <300*F is pretty easy to attain with the exhaust wide open, with or without the water pan. It simply requires less lit charcoal.

 

[Colorado0321]

Ran mine fully open on all vents with a full water pan for 11 hours of a 12 hour cook this past weekend. I only choked the bottom vents a couple hours in when I was getting into the 280's. Temp range was typically 240-270. Started with the bottom full of charcoal and wood chunks, and dumped on a full chimney of coals. Let it go for an hour when the smoke got clean before adding meat. Any time the temp would dip, I'd stoke the coals a little and temp would go back up. Did add a fully lit chimney of coals about 8 hours in which spiked the temp to 300, but then added more water and that seemed to bring my temp back down to the 260's after a few minutes.

My cooking conditions are probably a little different than most since I live a mile high. It's also pretty dry in my area of CO, so I like to keep the cook chamber as humid as possible. Conditions were calm during this cook.

 

[SlowmotionQue]

Ran mine fully open on all vents with a full water pan for 11 hours of a 12 hour cook this past weekend. I only choked the bottom vents a couple hours in when I was getting into the 280's. Temp range was typically 240-270. Started with the bottom full of charcoal and wood chunks, and dumped on a full chimney of coals. Let it go for an hour when the smoke got clean before adding meat. Any time the temp would dip, I'd stoke the coals a little and temp would go back up. Did add a fully lit chimney of coals about 8 hours in which spiked the temp to 300, but then added more water and that seemed to bring my temp back down to the 260's after a few minutes.

My cooking conditions are probably a little different than most since I live a mile high. It's also pretty dry in my area of CO, so I like to keep the cook chamber as humid as possible. Conditions were calm during this cook.

That is a lot of variance in temperatures. 240s-280s. Flirting with 300 will work, but it makes for hard work.

Throw in having to stoke coals, adding in another chimney of coals, and adding more water in attempt to keep things stable, and that is a lot of work over a 12hr cook for a WSM. That is a lot of work for a 12hr cook in a WSM.

I don't know if you stated earlier, but is this an 18in or a 22.5 in. WSM?

But good luck with getting your temps more stable as there seems to be a lot of rom for improvement.