Moisture release from opening the grill

[Breaktheory]

this is a 2 parter - Kamados are well known for their moisture retaining abilities and I gather a lot has to do with the minimal amount of airflow needed to stay at temp.

does opening the dome mulitiple times towards the end of the cook to probe interfere with this effect?

does using an automatic temp controller like flame
boss add airflow that could be drying out meat? Using a fan controller you are basically blowing air at all times to maintain the temp rather than just letting it settle in and ride like w manual

[Huskee]

No and no, at least not an appreciable amount. You mention at the end of the cook, which most of the humidity during the cook has done its job. Controllers only run when needed, and in a kamado it'll be very little since the insulated cooker will not need much stoking to keep the temp up.

[Henrik]

What Huskee said

[Breaktheory]

No and no, at least not an appreciable amount. You mention at the end of the cook, which most of the humidity during the cook has done its job. Controllers only run when needed, and in a kamado it'll be very little since the insulated cooker will not need much stoking to keep the temp up.

I’m using a flame boss and the fan is almost always blowing unless I’m over temp - it seems to maintain temp by keeping fan speed between 20-60% throughout the cook - is this amount of air negligible?

[Polarbear777]

You may need to set the exhaust vent a little more open. The fan should be switching on and off as you cook.

If this fixes the problem you’ll likely have a cleaner fire as well.

[LA Pork Butt]

I use a Party Q on my BGE and it doesn’t run all the time. Maybe your top vent is open too wide or you have lots of leaks around you casket causing it to constantly play catch-up with the temp. I am assuming you are running between 225!and 275. Running at a higher temp could change things.

[Huskee]

I’m using a flame boss and the fan is almost always blowing unless I’m over temp - it seems to maintain temp by keeping fan speed between 20-60% throughout the cook - is this amount of air negligible?

Interesting, I wouldn't suspect that. I would suppose it's negligible. Try a cook w/o using it. See if you need it running and if it affects the end result.

[Breaktheory]

It’s not so much that it’s always blowing but since it blows at different speeds it’s rarely on 0% - if I heat the grill to 225 manually then switch to the flame boss I do get more stability in fan speed. Still having said that, I generally only see a 0% fan when the temp is over - even if it’s 2 degrees under my target the fan will blow at say 4 or 5%

i think it’s possible that 5% is the equivalent of natural airflow since the fan itself is blocking the intake

as to my exhaust I leave it open a crack about the size of a meat probe

[Polarbear777]

That sounds just fine. If you plot the temp and you get set sets of even swings above and below the set point, it’s working as it should.

When it switches to 0% the temp goes down, so the airflow is a low as you can get it and still maintain temp with your fire.

[EdF]

Well if you have a case of MCS, look into the Smobot - no fan, just adjustment of the top vent. https://www.smobot.com/

Of course you have to have a supported kamado, and I don't know which brand/model you have.

Here's a typical cook with it.

[hogdog6]

That’s impressive

[jgg85234]

I have a Kamado Joe with a Flame Boss 200. When I start the cook, I watch the temperature for a while. If it's running a few degrees too hot, I close the upper vent a little and recheck.
If it's having a hard time getting up to temperature, I open the upper vent a little more. Once it's in balance, the fan runs very infrequently and at a very low percentage when it does run, and my overnight graphs normally only vary up and down by about 1 degree.

Here's a sample graph. The green line at the bottom is the fan percentage.

It's December, but remember I'm in Arizona. Overnight temperature was somewhere in the mid 40s.

https://myflameboss.com/cooks/171342

Best regards,
Jim

[HouseHomey]

Interesting read but above my paygrade. I'm just a cook.