Frank

[holehogg]

The kettle is not named Frank but a fellow smoker here in Port Elizabeth is.
He came around today to drop off pork bellies for me and with a radiant smile announced he had just recieved Meatheads book.
He has just briefly thumbed through the book and asked me a few questions on temp control in a kettle.
I explained my method and in doing so learnt his Weber has 3 vents in the bowl. I can't recall having seen or read about such model here and could not offer him any further advice.
I said I would ask the guy's from the pit and get back to him.

The question mainly revolves around when cooking indirect where does one position the vents in relation to the coals and do you work with all 3 vents or shut off 2 and only use the one?

Sidebar: I am prepared to lay a wager on him joining the pit at sometime. I also loaned him one of my XR50 so the hype will be intensified.

[ofelles]

The first one is free. Way to reel him in!

[JoeSousa]

Older kettles had the three vents in the bottom. Can't remember when they switched away from the three vents but my early 80s kettle has them.

I would usually just run with one vent open for low and slow with the coals opposite the open vent. Not sure it make a ton of difference but my thinking was it would create more air movement in the kettle.

[holehogg]

Thank you

[rickgregory]

I have a weber like that with an SNS. I start all 3 at about 1/4 open, light ~10 briquettes in one corner of the SNS and then when those are fully lit, add more. Top vent is about 1/2 open. That usually starts at about 220, drifts up (to about 275 or so in the summer) and then back down.

[holehogg]

Thanks will pass on this info.

[Attjack]

I have an antique weber with three vents. They're in pretty poor shape and thus hard to use. So I leave them all open and use the top to adjust airflow as Weber recommends.

[holehogg]

Not sure how old his is, said he bought it second hand about 10 years ago. It's still in very good condition.

[Troutman]

Just tell him to convert to fan control using one vent for the fan and closing the other two for good. He'll thank you for it.

[holehogg]

I hear you loud and clear but no toys like that these parts. If there were I'd be on it for myself 😐

[latenight71]

The one-touch bottom vent was introduced in 1983 but was not applied to all models until 2000. three vents were standard 1959-1983.

http://weberkettleclub.com/determine-age-of-old-grill/

[HawkerXP]

Yeah I've got one of them also. Whenever I use it or a newer one I put the baskets or SnS to the side and foil on the rest of the charcoal grate. Leave them open or close as needed. Most of temp control is from the vent on the lid unless things get out of hand.

[rickgregory]

Here's where I got the above vent settings:

6. Open the top vent fully and the bottom vent about halfway. The temperature will slowly rise as the grill and the water in the reservoir begin to heat up. When the temp at grate level reaches 150° F to 175° F, close the top vent to about ½ open, and the bottom vent to a crack (¼” wide). Continue to monitor and adjust vents as pit temp settles in between 225° and 250° F. Adjust vent settings as necessary based on weather/altitude.

https://snsgrills.com/pages/slow-n-sear-lighting-instructions

The challenge is that you don't want too many coals to light at once or the temps go up and it's very hard to get them back down.

[Bkhuna]

The last model I had with the three separate vents was a Homer Simpson Anniversary Model. Why Oh Why didn't a buy a couple of extras?!?!?