Help with SnS Temp Control

[gijsveltman]

Hello, let me first start by wishing everyone a Happy New Year!

I took my Kettle down to the beach with the family, but I'm having problems getting to and maintaining 225f with the SnS. Yesterday I smoked some salmon. I started with 12 lit briquets and when they were fully lit I put in half a chimney. I'm using Kingsford original briquets. I followed the SnS instrucions and when it got to around 175f I started playing with the vents to stabilize but all it did was slow the rise in temp significantly and it stalled, I had to open up more and more. Then it flared to around 240f quickly and had trouble stabilizing. But in the end it worked out OK.

Today, though, I woke up early to prepare some baby back ribs. Same procedure except full chimney and water reservoir to 3/4. When it got to 225f I put in 3 racks of ribs with some rib holders, but the temp is taking too much to get to 225f. I've had to open all vents fully, and if I close some a little the temp starts going down. It'd been almost an hour and still climbing very slowly even with vents fully open, currently at 218f.

Why do you think it's taking so long to climb and stabilize? The day is very warm, no breeze so far and I've followed the instrucions closely. Any tips on next time getting faster to 225?

Thanks,
Gijs

[Lowjiber]

I only have a limited amount of experience with the SnS, but I've found it easier to "sneak" up to 225^o than to overshoot and then cool downward. I get the SnS running at the vent openings recommended in the instructions and then go prepare my ribs, whatever.

When I get back outside, she's usually pretty close to the temp.

I wouldn't worry about exactly 225^o anyway... 225^o to 250^o works great on my kettle with very few adjustments needed.

BTW: I fill my water tray to the top.

[OneEyedJack]

From my limited experience, it sounds like you are introducing too many variables at once. I strive to control the heat with just the lower vents while leaving the top vent 100% open. Adding a large mass of meat may be affecting the temp stabilization to a certain extent. I usually put my meat on when the grill temp starts approaching 170* (about 50% open on the bottom vent with my grill) and then monitor the temp every 5 minutes, or so, looking for the 225* to 230* spot. Also, you must be sure that the only air intake is from the bottom vent. Use at least 4 large binder clips to help seal the top dome to the kettle to reduce air leakage. Make sure ALL ash is removed from the kettle prior to starting your cook and remember to use the vent adjusting lever to sweep ash out during your cook. I used a Sharpie Pen to make index marks on the ash catcher so I have an idea how much open the bottom vent is. Just look into the kettle a make a mark for 100 open and 100% closed. Then eyeball where 75%, 50% and 25% are and mark those positions. Keep a log so you know what your last action was and note what happened to the grill temp. If you don't have a kettle with a single lever vent adjuster on the ash catcher, things get more complicated with the old three bottom vents models. Don't worry if you don't hit and hold 225* exactly. Stabilization in the 225* to 240* range will work well for you.

[Atalanta]

When I rehabbed the weber I picked up, I added an ash catcher and did the markings.

[Reds Fan 5]

gijsveltman, The SnS takes some practice. The biggest lessons I learned (thanks to some trial and error and advice from The Pit): Don't obsess over 225 and only subtle vent adjustments are necessary for temperature control. So, as others here have suggested, of you can keep it between 225 and 250 you will be fine. Make very small vent adjustments. You'd be surprised how little it takes to change temp.

Also consider allowing the cooker to go to 235-240 before you add the meat. Three racks of ribs will cool the cooker when you add them.

Good luck and Happy New Year!

[gijsveltman]

Thanks for the help everyone. What I found weird was that it was taking an hour to reach at least 225. How does that affect my cooking time? I've been wondering about that. If a recipe says 3-4 hours at 225 but it took 1 hour to reach at least that?

[ribeyeguy]

I rarely use mine according to the instructions, I prefer an SnS style Minion Method. I'll load it up with about 3/4 of the coals I intend to use then light the remaining 1/4 of them in a chimney. When they're ashed over I dump them on top of the unlit coals. Put the kid on with the dome and bottom damper open about 1/4. You'll have an instant spike to about 400 or so but let it stabilize for a few minutes then bring the temperature down by nearly closing the bottom damper. If it's a particularly windy day I might have to close it off completely.

Maybe I've just been lucky with mine but depending on the weather conditions I can usually have it dialed in and stable at whatever temperature I want within 15 to 20 minutes. Throughout the cook any further adjustments are minimal.

[Huskee]

I rarely use mine according to the instructions, I prefer an SnS style Minion Method. I'll load it up with about 3/4 of the coals I intend to use then light the remaining 1/4 of them in a chimney. When they're ashed over I dump them on top of the unlit coals. Put the kid on with the dome and bottom damper open about 1/4. You'll have an instant spike to about 400 or so but let it stabilize for a few minutes then bring the temperature down by nearly closing the bottom damper. If it's a particularly windy day I might have to close it off completely.

There's several ways to skin this cat as we all know...but, doing it that way is using up a lot of the energy at the start. We encourage following the lighting instructions so as to get the full longevity of 8+ hrs on the basket of coals (often up toward 10.)

[Huskee]

Thanks for the help everyone. What I found weird was that it was taking an hour to reach at least 225. How does that affect my cooking time? I've been wondering about that. If a recipe says 3-4 hours at 225 but it took 1 hour to reach at least that?

Are you adding hot/boiling water? This is important so the coals aren't using their energy (and time) to heat the water. It really shouldn't take that long, I'd say 15-20 min after adding the lit coals and [boiling] water is my guess, though it's been a long time since I've actually timed it. I've been putting my meat on when the kettle is ~170 and let the kettle come up to temp with the meat on. This takes a little longer, but your meat starts cooking quicker and there's less worry when you're trying to get back to 225 after dropping from adding meat. You've got this!

[gijsveltman]

I added hot water, just under boiling. Next time I will add boiling water. Thanks for the tip about adding at 170. That what I don't have to go to 225 and then suffer a big loss of heat when putting meat on. Will try next time.

[gijsveltman]

Thanks for the help. Ribs came out fantastic!

[OneEyedJack]

Tah-Dah!

[lschweig]

Your smoke ring and bark is fantastic. Well done.

[JeffJ]

I just follow the lighting instructions and it works like a charm in both my 22 and my 26. But then, I don't stress about nailing an exact temp. 220-280 and I'm happy. Once it has settled in it's very easy to tweak the temps with minor adjustments to the top vent. When the water evaporates temps will climb and the top vent will often need to be almost completely closed. Even then, I have found it to be very easy to use.