Ceramic Grill (Primo) with Temp Controller and Blower

[mcolson1590]

I did a brisket this past weekend on my primo and used my CyberQ with the Pit Bull blower. I noticed the fan would come on for long periods of time and would be as high as 100%. The temperature of the brisket was going up and down with the running of the fan. I had my vent barely open and damper on the blower at 1/3. Did I close up the vent and damper to much so there wasn't enough natural air flow?

[SmokeyGator]

Probably. For low and slow I leave the fan damper at about 2/3 to 3/4 open (hard to tell which) and the top vent open about 1/4 or so. When the fan cuts off there is still some airflow.

if you close things off too much due to the excellent heat retention the fire gets very low before the temperature drops, so the fan has to run on high to revive it. Then when the fan revives the fire it gets too large, creating too much heat - meaning another long cycle of no fan.

I have also found the top vent does more to control airflow than the bottom.

Try a test run. Fire in empty grill. Set the controller to low and slow then fiddle with dampers until you get a few hours of stable temperature.

[LA Pork Butt]

I cook on a Big Green Egg, and while I have not used your particular blower I have used the PartyQ. I don’t know what you mean by the vent on the damper being 1/3 open, but my recommendation would be leave it wide open ant the blower will only add air to the fire when needed. Secondly, when I use the PartyQ I leave the pebbles on the Big Green Egg open. My theory is smoke needs to escape and the controller adds air when necessary.

[BarbecueBob]

I use the Pit Viper 10 CFM blower for my Large Green Egg and have not had any issues as you describe. Like you I have the damper on a third. The Pit Bull (25 CM) blower seems rather large for a ceramic grill. Was there any chance that the air flow inside the grill was restricted due to ash or fines in your charcoal? Did the blower run like this from the very start or only towards the end?
How did the brisket end up?

[mountainsmoker]

I would say yes like the fellows above me. I close all dampers on the lower grill, so the blower provides the only air. I set it to 1/2 to 3/4 depending on the weather. The top vent is then adjusted to 1/2 to allow the smoke to have an outlet.

[mcolson1590]

Thanks everyone.

I've come to agree with Barbecue Bob that the Pit Viper would likely have had enough airflow. I let BBQ Guru's site size the fan based on my grill.

[Attjack]

I always leave my fan fully open and my top vent barely cracked. I've never had any issues with inconsistent temps or excessive fan usage. What the idea behind using the fan's damper?

[mcolson1590]

My thought was to let the grill maintain its heat. As SmokeyGator pointed out though, these things hold there heat so well that coals are nearly distinguished when the fan kicks in again. Rookie mistake.

Being in MN, I have found that closing it some helps limit the amount of cold air getting kicked in. It's what I use though for the Thankgiving Turkey and Christmas... whatever it is that year.