Did this as a separate post to my last one, which was intended to report on the end of my testing session. I take it all back.
Today, with 25 degree temps, 50 degree wind gusts, sleet, etc, I was able to set the vents and hold 215-235 pretty much the whole day with minimal intervention. Very impressed how well this held temp in those conditions!!
Good to hear you got it figured out. Wind is the hardest to overcome in my experience and I've found that the Weber doesn't seem to get affected quite like other smokers I've used, but I think that's because I generally have the vents opened so little. In cold weather climates I've found it the perfect cooker! I love seeing it hold the temps when it's single digits outside.
I use a DigiQ blower and stuff the intake vents with foil. The damper blades never seem tight enough so the exhaust damper is overburdened. I wonder if putting a weight on the damper blades would help?
Also impressive, this was the amount of charcoal left over after a 10 hour cook in very windy, mid-20's weather. As you can see from the areas of unburnt coal, this was hardly full to the brim when it started.
If not cooking outdoors, I am cooking on the stovetop with my 14" carbon steel wok, 12" CI skillet, or in the oven with my two Lodge CI pizza pans, or two dutch ovens. I've also got a nifty Lodge carbon steel grill pan that rocks for veggies outdoors.
It looks like these may have been test runs with water rather than food, but I would like to point out that on most kamado style cookers, no water pan is usually needed. They are so efficient, and the airflow is so low in kamado mode that the meat has plenty of humidity for bark formation, etc. A water pan so high in the grill will also probably never quite reach boiling, so serves as a heat sink the entire cook.
I don't have the Weber Summit, but do have the Slow 'N Sear Kamado, which I use in both kamado mode, and with the Slow 'N Sear. I never use a water pan when cooking in kamado mode, but do fill the water reservoir in the Slow 'N Sear with boiling water at the start of the cook, if using the SNS. I don't use a water pan on my offset.
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