Hey all, a bit of a newbie to this stuff - meaning a total newbie. I have what seems to be the opposite problem to most people on the forum- I can't seem to keep my temps up. I have no problem getting my kettle with the S'S up to 225 or so, but around hour four, temps
Just start to drop almost linearly, even if I open the bittem vent full way (I never touch the top, leave it half way or so). Any thoughts on what I am doing wrong?
I had a thought: I might be suffocating the coals by using some grey ones from a previous cook. I wonder if that is getting too much dust in there?
Sorry if this is too "cooking 101" - trying to get up to speed! Food turns out great, as I can just finish off on the gasser or inside, but I feel like I am cheating!
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I haven't had issues with using some left over coals from previous cooks. Are you knocking the ash off of them before reusing them?
pknj, In addition to what you and @Rfullrez have been discussing have you checked that your top vent is 180* from the S 'n S. Check their directions at ABC.com. Provided your charcoal was OK I think your temp should hold! Dan ðŸ‘ÂðŸ‘ÂðŸ‘Â
pknj I've read through the thread an will offer a few tips.
1) It's OK to reuse partially burned charcoal, but make sure you knock the ash off the charcoal and clean all the ash out of the grill before you start cooking. One cook's worth of ash won't choke airflow too bad, but two cook's worth of ash will.
2) If you were able to hit 225 F initially then the problem isn't your lighting procedures, so I wouldn't worry your charcoal wasn't initially ashed over enough.
3) Make sure you are completely filling the charcoal basket with charcoal and wood. It takes a full basket to get 8+ hours of cook time. Since you didn't knock the ash off your partially burned charcoal I suspect you were starting with much less charcoal than you think you were. A charcoal briquette that has been burned will sometimes look as big as a new piece of charcoal, but if you knock it with your tongs you'll see a lot of it crumbles away into ash.
4) Don't be afraid to touch the top vent. I've actually found I need to close the top vent to around 1/4 to 1/3 open to maintain 225F. The SnS is very efficient and temps will often run hot with top vent that's 1/2 open.
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This is awesome and why I love this site and the SnS - thanks for taking the time to respond to what must seem like such as simple question to experts like you guys.
I am going to work with only new briquettes this weekend and see how that goes. I would also point out that even with my issues, the food turned out great and 10 pounds of pork went fast, plus I had some great conversations around the grill - what it is all about!
I just wanted to close the loop on this - it was indeed the ash from the old briquettes that was prematurely clogging the air vents. So, really operator error. After a few weekends and some great food, I am loving my set up.
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