Since I've had my drum I've noticed it has a tendency to like to run hot. It has the common three 3/4 intakes and has a Weber lid. I think most drums from what I've read like to run around 240ish with 1 cap on and the valve 1/2 to 1/3 open. Mine wants to run at 240ish with just the valve about 1/2 to 1/3 open.
On a longish smoke where I didn't need to fiddle with the lid much, it held pretty steady. Over the course of a smoke the temp would creep up to the 260s as the meat came closer to finish temp. Not the end of the world, I learned but if I wanted to do something along the way like mop or spritz, even if I closed the intakes before removing the lid and left them closed for a bit after I put the lid back on, the temp seemed to creep up higher and I really had no luck bringing it back down. At the end of a smoke, if I just closed the intakes, the drum would hold steady temp until the fuel ran out. If I closed the exhaust though, the temp woud drop like a rock.
I double check my intakes to make sure there were no leaks around the fittings and there didn't seem to be any. I attributed it partly to the light, airy composition of the Kingsford Comp and the fact that it doesn't pack well but the same thing happend, eventually, last weekend while I was using Cowboy lump.
After wracking my brains trying to think of a way to tame it a little bit, I surmised that if I were able to interrupt the vertical updraft out of the charcoal basket a bit, that might help keep the temp from creeping up.
So today, I loaded up the charcoal basket like normal . . .
lit my 8 briquettes, dumped them in and put a 13.5" x 10" piece of 1/8" plate on top of the basket.
It's actually one of the tuning plates out of the SnP.
Loaded the basket in the drum and started monitoring temps.
It took quite a bit longer to warm up which is really no big deal and I expected that. Temp difference from center to edge is a lot closer than normal but that never really bothered me anyway. It has been going since 8 am and is holding right around 210° with both caps on and the valve 1/2 open. I even lifted the lid a couple of times to simulate "spritzing" without touching the valves and the temp seems to be dropping back down on its own. Even lifted the lid and dumped a tablespoon of Rich's rub on top of the charcoal basket.
http://www.smoked-meat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5060
So far, it seems to be working pretty well. I imagine that plate should be plenty hot enough to sizzle any fat that drips on it so I'll still get that UDS signature flavor. I'm going to start bumping up the airflow a bit and see where it will be when it settles around 240ish. The drum is empty so I figure that's a worse case scenario. If I can keep the temp down empty, it should be no problem with a big hunik of meat absorbing the heat and disturbing the airflow even more.
Dave
On a longish smoke where I didn't need to fiddle with the lid much, it held pretty steady. Over the course of a smoke the temp would creep up to the 260s as the meat came closer to finish temp. Not the end of the world, I learned but if I wanted to do something along the way like mop or spritz, even if I closed the intakes before removing the lid and left them closed for a bit after I put the lid back on, the temp seemed to creep up higher and I really had no luck bringing it back down. At the end of a smoke, if I just closed the intakes, the drum would hold steady temp until the fuel ran out. If I closed the exhaust though, the temp woud drop like a rock.
I double check my intakes to make sure there were no leaks around the fittings and there didn't seem to be any. I attributed it partly to the light, airy composition of the Kingsford Comp and the fact that it doesn't pack well but the same thing happend, eventually, last weekend while I was using Cowboy lump.
After wracking my brains trying to think of a way to tame it a little bit, I surmised that if I were able to interrupt the vertical updraft out of the charcoal basket a bit, that might help keep the temp from creeping up.
So today, I loaded up the charcoal basket like normal . . .
lit my 8 briquettes, dumped them in and put a 13.5" x 10" piece of 1/8" plate on top of the basket.
It's actually one of the tuning plates out of the SnP.
Loaded the basket in the drum and started monitoring temps.
It took quite a bit longer to warm up which is really no big deal and I expected that. Temp difference from center to edge is a lot closer than normal but that never really bothered me anyway. It has been going since 8 am and is holding right around 210° with both caps on and the valve 1/2 open. I even lifted the lid a couple of times to simulate "spritzing" without touching the valves and the temp seems to be dropping back down on its own. Even lifted the lid and dumped a tablespoon of Rich's rub on top of the charcoal basket.
http://www.smoked-meat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5060
So far, it seems to be working pretty well. I imagine that plate should be plenty hot enough to sizzle any fat that drips on it so I'll still get that UDS signature flavor. I'm going to start bumping up the airflow a bit and see where it will be when it settles around 240ish. The drum is empty so I figure that's a worse case scenario. If I can keep the temp down empty, it should be no problem with a big hunik of meat absorbing the heat and disturbing the airflow even more.
Dave
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