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first cook on 22 wsm, trying soo's donut method on 2 pork butts, anyone know about how much fluctuation I can expect to see in temp? I'm in the first 90 min and the temp has stayed at 240 degrees then it suddenly dropped to 230, now slowly coming up .....normal?
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Not too unusual, although I don't have that model. Could be a shift in wind, or just more charcoal getting lit. I wouldn't worry as you said it is coming back up. Have fun. -
I get some fluctuation in my 14.5. It becomes more consistent after it's been used a few times.Comment
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As those wood chunks catch on fire you will probably get some fluctuation in temp also. Good luck with your cook!Comment
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Not to worry, 10° ain't even a blip on yer radar...
How ya' got yer vents set fer this cook?
Don't fiddle an' fuss with 'em, unless ya' start to see a dramatic rise or fall in temps that needs to be headed off...
Even then, make small adjustments, an' expect it to take some time to stabilize...
Ya' got this, an' we'uns got yer back!!!
Pork butts are easy, an' fergivin'...
Put some good music on, grab an Adult bev, an' enjoy th' beautiful day, an' th' delightful smell of wood smoke, an' pork!Comment
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all 3 bottom vents half open , I started with top vent half open and temp slowly dropped so I opend 3/4 of the way and it seemed bring it up around 230 then it started to drop down to 222 so I opened top vent all the way, now its stayin around 232, the wsm with the fire board is a lot of fun and works great, yep time for that adult beverage.
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dang it , temp keeps dropping, I have plenty of coals, top vent all the way open, bottom vents half open....should I open bottom vents a little? just 1 vent at a time or all 3 opened evenly?Comment
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or just let it go, I'm just trying to get it dialed In for when I try a brisket since those are less forgiving...Comment
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I usually have the bottom vents open 3/4 - 7/8 and then control temps with the top vent. I also put water in the bowl (timed to evaporate after a couple of hours) for the beginning of the cook. This enables the vents to be almost fully open allowing more oxygen to flow to the wood which increases the likelihood of getting that coveted blue smoke.Comment
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I find the kettle seems to breathe a bit better. I find it easier to get thin blue smoke in the kettle than I do in the 14.5 WSM. I have to let the WSM pre-heat for a good 45 minutes before the fire settles in and produces blue smoke. I get blue smoke almost immediately in the kettle. kmhfive
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Yup, open up th' bottoms more, regulate with th' top seems to work best, least fer me...
Take a looky-loo, see what yer coals are doin'...might need to add a lit chimley, or portion thereof, if temps continue to fall...mebbe a stir'll do ya', instead.
Might throw ya couple more chunks o' wood on, while ya' got th' door open...
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I never moved the vents, top is still wide open , bottoms still half open, now its reading 154! Is this kind of temp. swings ok for brisket?Comment
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THis is a fairly typical cook on the WSM 22 .... I am not fiddling with vents really at all. It's the nature of the beast that you will see normal variations and fluctuations in temps as charcoal and wood light, cool off, convection happens, etc. PS if you stuck your ambient probe in your oven in the house you would see it vary over time as well.
In this particular case I was cooking beef plate ribs, so no meat probe. But the important part is seeing how the WSM temps vary over time. The sharp downward spikes are me opening the lid, by the way. The smoother up and down curves the natural cycles of the fire and the heat in the WSM.
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For an interesting comparison, here is the temperature chart while cooking pit beef on my Hasty-Bake .... notice that I get much less temp fluctuation on the Hasty-Bake
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Swings are normal, especially with a new cooker that isn't well seasoned. Once you get a few cooks under your belt (and assuming your ambient temps stay fairly steady) you'll dial in your vents and fire management. At least that's how it worked with my 18.5" WSM. In my initial cooks I used the water pan as a heat sink because my temps ran hot. After about a dozen cooks or so I figured out where my vents should be and how to keep a steady, consistent fire. Now I can pretty much let it run on its own, even for 10-12 hours overnight. Regardless of your process, the cold meat cools off the cooker interior, and as the temperature of the meat rises so will the cook chamber. You got this. Just keep an eye on it, record the results so you have a baseline. Relax and have a cold one. You're smokin'!!!Comment
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