Having issues with my 26" Weber Kettle + SnS

[Dadof3Illinois]

Let me start off by saying I love my weber 26” and SnS. But I seem to have major issues at times getting my temps up above 275F? I thought I was having some leakage issues, which I was, so I cleaned the lid and kettle rims and installed a new gasket. I was really hopeful that this would help the problem but it didn’t
Yesterday while cooking some pork belly burnt ends I had a heck of a time getting up to 225F and holding it. I would say the majority of the cook was done around 210F. I had both vents open 100% and even at the start it took forever to get to 200F. At about the two hour mark I looked and the bottom was clogged with a ton of ash and 2/3rds of the charcoal had already been spent. So I knocked all the spent ash out, swept it into the pan and reloaded more KBB. Again fought getting it up on temp and the charcoal burnt really fast. I had to do this 3 different times in a 6 hour cook.
I was mindful to keep the bottom of the SnS aligned with the charcoal grate so the ash would fall easier into the bottom, but it still wouldn’t drop out.
Now I know it was windy and cold here yesterday and that would account for a little of the fast burning charcoal and lower temps. But I was having this same issue with the clogging bottom last fall, it just didn’t happen as fast.
My low and slow lighting sequence is pretty much as recommended: 10-12 briquettes, I light with wax starter and let them ash over, fill the water reservoir then add a large full chimney of unlit charcoal and set a couple chunks of wood on top. I cover the remaining bottom of the grill with aluminum foil (not the area under the SnS…ha) as to force the air up through the SnS.
Am I doing something wrong or missing a step here? Should I cut out the bottom grates of the SnS and just leave a couple in for structural support so the ash might fall out easier? I know I can get a fan and controller which might help but I worry that at times the ash will blow all over the place?
Does anyone have any advice? Is KBB having problems with above normal ash right now??

[Attjack]

When it's cold I often omit the water. I have the same setup as you.

[Dadof3Illinois]

I leave it out when I'm going hot and fast for something like chicken but even then I can't stay above 300F for very long at all.

[Attjack]

When I leave it out because it's cold I may add water later when my temps start to exceed 250.

[jgg85234]

When it's cold outside, you might want to start with more lit coals. That should get your temperatures up, but won't help with the ash content.

Best regards,
Jim

[JeffJ]

It sounds like you are doing everything correctly. I saw someone suggest lighting a couple of extra coals. Maybe kick up your lit coals to the 15-16 range.

[Attjack]

I light 20 briquettes to start a low and slow cook.

[Jerod Broussard]

Even on the 4th July in the stinkin' heat sown south it took some doin' to get that dude up to cook some thighs.

As mentioned, more coals, and you might want to crack the lid a tad near the coals. That will allow more fuel for the fire.

[FireMan]

Hey, return of lack the crid maybe?

[HawkerXP]

I don't have the 26" nor the SnS with the grate. It is normal to have to knock down the ash even on my open bottom SnS but not at two hours. I would think air leaks would give you higher pit temps. Damp charcoal or not enough air could do this I suppose but you have vents wide open. Strange very strange.

[Huskee]

Where are you measuring your temps at? If by chance your grate probe is at grate-level (instead of an inch or 2 above) you'll read 30 degrees low, or more. I also agree with starting with maybe 20 lit coals in cold weather. If you want chicken temps (325+) start with half a chimney (40 briqs or so) well-lit. You shouldn't need to knock & sweep the ash on a low & slow cook until 3 or 4 hrs at least, but about every 2 or so thereafter to be on the safe side. Be sure to keep your SnS an inch or so away from the outer kettle wall too. That air space is important to coal longevity & efficiency.

[JeffJ]

Attjack

I usually light a dozen coals and haven't had any problems hitting higher temps in the Performer or the 26.

[ColonialDawg]

SNS newbie myself here (since November)...... I usually turn my chimney upside down and fill the bottom section about 3/4 full with KBB (ends being about 20 briquettes) and let them almost ash over before dumping them into the SNS basket that I have already filled with unlit KBB (except the end where I dump the lit coals). I close my lid with top and bottom vents full open and let it burn about 10 minutes before adding water. If I am cooking hot and fast, I don’t use water. I also don’t start closing down my vents until my temps get up to around 200. I have better success, personally, letting the temp overshoot and come back down into my target zone by adjusting my vents. I use bottom vent as course adjustment and top vent for fine adjustment (and by fine I mean closing/opening a couple of millimeters at a time - amazing how very little adjustment on the kettle will affect temp). So far, that has worked pretty well.

I agree with you, though - in my experience I am finding that after 2 hours, my temps drop and I have to stir the coals as the small SNS holes really prevent the ash from dropping into the bottom, preventing air from getting into the coal basket. I’ll have to try Huskee’s suggestion to leave a 1 inch gap between the kettle wall and SNS. That might help air flow as well as insulate the basket a little better.

[Troutman]

I've been using KBB for years but of late they have changed their formula. I've read a lot of complaints about temperature problems, increase in ash as well as duration drops in temps. I have observed some some of these issues with my WSM using the usual minion method (maybe 12-14 coals to start) especially trying to maintain above 300* temps for poultry over a few hours. I just bought a Pit Viper fan with the hopes that will solve some of that.

You might want to try either lump charcoal or (heaven forbid) Royal Oak Ridge as an alternative. Something is definitely wrong, a Weber should not perform that way even in cold weather.

[JeffJ]

Weber briquettes work well and burn for a long time. 20 pound bag can be had for $12 at Lowe's.

[Troutman]

May try the Weber. KBB hasn't been working too well lately, new formula kind of sucks for me. The Professional seems to work better.

[Dadof3Illinois]

Thanks for the comments guys. Huskee that's a good point about the air gap and I need to remember to keep one there.
Yesterday I started my coals like normal, they ashed over nice and I put the unlit coals on and waited for them to kick off with a little flame before I covered with the lid. Took almost 45 mins to bring temp to 220F. That's just strange to me!! When I first started using the SnS I never had this problem and never while I used the chain method. Just the past couple months this has become a problem and it all looks like it's caused by way too much ash clogging the SnS bottom.
I can start with more lit coals to get my temp up faster but I'm not sure that it will last. I'll have to see if I can find another charcoal brand and try it just to see what happens before I modify the SnS.

[Huskee]

The last time I bought KBB was last Memorial Day during the BOGO sale, still have that pallet I'm working on. I don't have the trouble you're describing. Maybe they cheapened their formula, who knows, but I haven't read any complaints like this until now. Weird. Is there any chance this bag you're working on got wet at some point? Sounds like you're using up time & energy drying out wet or damp coals to me. It shouldn't be that difficult at all if the coals were in good shape.

[DWCowles]

I still have about 20 2-packs that I bought 2 years ago when they were on sale.

[Dadof3Illinois]

I thought the same thing but the bag was one of the double bags wrapped in plastic and show no signs of getting wet. Plus I’ve had this problem the last few cooks. Bags are kept either in the garage or in a sealed plastic tub.
I read my temp at grate level and haven’t changed it so regardless it should read the same every time I would think.

[Huskee]

Dadof3Illinois Peculiar....

[Hulagn1971]

When it is cold out I start with 15 or so briquettes. I light them with a cube or two in the corner of the SnS and don't let them completely ash over, just to the point they are very hot and not smoking. That is when I fill the rest of it with unlit coals. Like others have mentioned, it seems like you might not have enough hot coals going, also possibly letting them burn too long resulting in less energy.

[Huskee]

Yeah, I too don't go for the "ashed over" appearance, IMO that does not apply to the SnS and I believe it wastes lots of energy as well. My signal that I recommend is when the blue smoke stops and begins to lessen and gets halfway clear. Then it's go time.

[Dadof3Illinois]

Yesterday after putting in the unlit coals I let those get kicked off before I put the lid on and it still took 45min to get up on temp. To me it seems like an air flow problem more than anything. What’s puzzling is that I haven’t changed anything about how I’m using the kettle and this just started happening.

[Butchman]

I have a 26 inch with a SNS for a 22 inch performer. I have been routinely using about 3/4 of the capacity of the S & S and within about 30 minutes my thermometer is buried maxed out on the high side. I keep my vents wide open and will choke down the bottom vents when I want to reduce temps. Last night I cooked 10 to 12 thighs in about an hour then cooked about 24 wings on the same cook without adding any coals. It’s warm here though like in the low 70s.

[Butchman]

I have the thermometer over the s and s which usually means the cool side is about 150 degrees lower.

[Huskee]

Dadof3Illinois Have you taken the SnS & bottom out and looked at the vent fins down below to make sure nothing is obstructing them? I guess I assumed as was well with your vents. But there may be something going on there. Typically the problem would be not sealing well, therefore air leaks and consistently high temps, but yours is an odd case I gotta say.

[Dadof3Illinois]

Yea I have checked and rechecked. Have my positions marked with a sharpie to. I just cleaned this thing from top to bottom Friday and cleaned the rim of all material before installing the new gasket. I’m pretty much at a loss...ha. I’m going to get a couple different brands of charcoal and do some testing to rule that out first.

[Huskee]

Dadof3Illinois Hmmm. Tough one. At this point I'm going to blame it on a bad batch of KBB. Not typical, by the way. But I've also run this by Dave Parrish (ABCBBQ Dave), to see if he can think of anything else I/we may be overlooking.

[Dadof3Illinois]

I’m thinking the same thing, but it would have to be the while lot that’s bad because I’ve used different bags bought from different merchants. It’s got to be the charcoal though, just seems to be burning so fast and building ash faster than it can fall away clogging the SnS. I’m going to do some testing with a couple different charcoal brands to see if that’s the problem.