Erratic Temperatures on Weber Kettle Grill

[RAmorris]

Cooked a chicken on my Weber 22 inch kettle grill yesterday afternoon. I did not smoke it, just cooked it on indirect heat with a drip pan filled with hot water under the chicken. I have been cooking chickens this way on a Weber kettle grill for over 20 years. But this time I could not get the temperature to stabilize. I wanted to cook at 350 degrees. But the best I could do was fluctuations between 300 and 400 degrees. The same settings on the air intake and exhaust dampers produced inconsistent and different results. The chicken turned out great. But I don't understand why I couldn't stabilize the temperature. This is the second time I have cooked on this grill. And the first time, last week, I had no problem.

[Medusa]

WOW! Did you have goofy weather conditions, i.e., wind ( off - on ), rain, etc. I haven't seen this on mine, but you have 20 more years experience than me.

Here's a thought, though. You could let it run hot ( once it gets there, say around 375 ), and then control the temp by spritzing the kettle lid with water as needed. This is a trick from Pit Boss , and it certainly helps to control unruly high temps.

Sorry, don't have any real answers here. Can't figure out the low temps, either.

Good luck; hope someone here has better answers!

-- Ed

[Valsacar]

I had temp issues on mine today as well, couldn't get it up high enough. Was a fairly cold day, but it just would stay over 300 (I wanted 325, was doing a loin). Full open, all coals lit... just would not stay up.

[David Parrish]

You've got a leaky lid problem. Try using binder clips to reduce the leaks. I bet this fixes things nicely.

[Danjohnston949]

RAmorris, Now that you brought the subject up RA, I seem to be having a bit of a problem with temp control on our new Weber Performer Deluxe! Not being the sharpest knife in the drawer I blamed this on the Maverick 733 and never having this good a way to monitor grill temp beforehand? Then I thought it was related to the S 'n S and the amount of Charcoal use Different? Slowly I am becoming convinced that it might be related to the redesigned ash catcher and vent system including the shape of the new vent openings? The first Weber Kettle we had 30-40 years ago you set the bottom vents turned the Lid so the Top Vent was opposite the front leg and you turned the grill so the front leg was facing the wind! The Second Weber came with the ash catcher and I still ran the top vent opposite the front leg but orientation to the wind didn't seem as important as beforehand? Now with the new Weber with it's redesigned ash catcher and vent system I think the Top Vent and Lid may need to be turned to maintain temp settings? I am going to try turning the lid 90* this afternoons? Dan

[Jerod Broussard]

Occasionally my kettle will allow the temp to creep up ever so slowly. I press down firmly and rotate the lid 10-15 degrees, problem solved. Just did it again.

[RAmorris]

The temperature was in the mid 80s, and the wind was calm, 3 - 5 MPH. The lid fit tightly in place. There's no reason I can find that the temperature was so uncontrollable.

[CapersQ]

Were the coals fresh, did they get soaked and since dried out?
That could be an issue.

[David Parrish]

How did you have your coals arranged?

[Siouxfan]

Guess I never thought about wind orientation with the top vent. Ive used my new Performer Deluxe a handful of times, and no issues yet. 6hrs running it yesterday, and I was able to maintain 218*-225* with very small adjustments.

[RAmorris]

The charcoal was Kingsford, from a new bag. The coals were arranged for indirect heat using charcoal rails, an accessory made by Weber for indirect cooking. The coals were lit using a Weber chimney starter. Here are pictures.

[FLBuckeye]

A problem I had was my lower vent blades were slightly bent upwards, allowing too much O2 into the kettle. I got new ones, installed them and had no further issues. Are you saying that you used a brand new grill for the second time?

[RAmorris]

The Slow N Sear finally showed up, but I have not had a chance to use it yet. I checked my lower vent blades and they are fine. I think my problem was with my new ChefAlarm. We are getting a new kitchen because of water damage from a faulty ice maker. Thankfully, insurance is covering the cost. Anyway, yesterday, I smoked 4 slabs of spare ribs and 2 turkey breasts on my Landmann vertical gas water smoker, and gave 3 slabs of ribs and one turkey breast to the two workers. But I couldn't stabilize the temperature on my gas water smoker either. I remembered that when my ChefAlarm was showing fluctuating temperatures on the Weber, the thermometer in its lid was fairly constant. The thermometer in the door of my Landmann smoker, which is reliable, was also fairly constant at 260 degrees, while the ChefAlarm fluctuated from 220 to 300 degrees with very small adjustments to the flame. Then when I switched to the food probe, it showed a turkey breast temperature of 173, when the ThermoWorks Thermo Pop showed 145. I'm going to call Thermoworks today. By the way, the workers are back and they raved about my BBQ. One of their wives even called last night and said it was the best BBQ she had ever had.

[bep35]

Great troubleshooting! I love it when people figure these things out. It helps the rest of us who now have something to think about if we have a problem maintaining temperature down the road. Thanks!