Nick1298 Posted January 6, 2019 Author Share Posted January 6, 2019 Just now, Nick1298 said: Not the best photo - I’ll try and get a better one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Posted January 6, 2019 Share Posted January 6, 2019 Where are the air vents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick1298 Posted January 6, 2019 Author Share Posted January 6, 2019 3 minutes ago, Justin said: Where are the air vents. So there literally just a vent at the top and then a small door latch on each of the two compartments Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wade Posted January 6, 2019 Share Posted January 6, 2019 No vents or gaps underneath at all? When you put the charcoal pan in place is there a gap all round it where air can enter the smoker? From what you describe it sounds as if there is insufficient air reaching the coals. If this is similar to yours then we can suggest a few mods that you can try. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raptor72 Posted January 6, 2019 Share Posted January 6, 2019 I had a similar one years ago until it got dented but I thought there was a vent on the bottom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raptor72 Posted January 6, 2019 Share Posted January 6, 2019 Leave the bottom door open for a bit I’d drill some holes and use magnets to cover them for future Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick1298 Posted January 6, 2019 Author Share Posted January 6, 2019 3 hours ago, Wade said: No vents or gaps underneath at all? When you put the charcoal pan in place is there a gap all round it where air can enter the smoker? From what you describe it sounds as if there is insufficient air reaching the coals. If this is similar to yours then we can suggest a few mods that you can try. Not much of one no. I can obviously leave the door latch open but that doesn’t sound like it’s really enough... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick1298 Posted January 6, 2019 Author Share Posted January 6, 2019 1 hour ago, Raptor72 said: Leave the bottom door open for a bit I’d drill some holes and use magnets to cover them for future I’ll have a second go using all the advise give and then maybe give drilling a few holes ago if I have no luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Posted January 6, 2019 Share Posted January 6, 2019 Yes I thought the was a vent on bottom too. Make a it difficult to adjust. Maybe weld on a long handle to vent to make adjusting easier. It would explain the lack of temp if that vent was closed. It says a damper on amazon description which is another word for vent. Look at bottom........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick1298 Posted January 6, 2019 Author Share Posted January 6, 2019 1 minute ago, Justin said: Yes I thought the was a vent on bottom too. Make a it difficult to adjust. Maybe weld on a long handle to vent to make adjusting easier. It would explain the lack of temp if that vent was closed. It says a damper on amazon description which is another word for vent. Look at bottom........ Yeah I’m going to check when I get home but I’m almost certain there isn’t one on the bottom. The damper is on top I believe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Posted January 6, 2019 Share Posted January 6, 2019 An air dumper flap and 2 doors help to control the air flow inside the cooker and can be opened and closed to help control and regulate the air going through in order to increase or reduce the cooking temperature Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick1298 Posted January 6, 2019 Author Share Posted January 6, 2019 2 minutes ago, Justin said: An air dumper flap and 2 doors help to control the air flow inside the cooker and can be opened and closed to help control and regulate the air going through in order to increase or reduce the cooking temperature So basically I need to use the doors as well... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Posted January 6, 2019 Share Posted January 6, 2019 (edited) Ok the opening at top should always be left fully open and the open door by degrees to achieve temp. You do not need much of a gap for temp to rise. It is about adjusting flow. On Weber Smokey mountain. Which has three air vents I use a pencil on all three to start with. That gives me a base point the I adjust to achieve target temp range. Typical 110 to 120c. Try setting it up. The work out a base point from doors for future ref and adjust from there. Base point is not always same of course due to Atmospheric cconditions and is sun shining on BBQ for instance. Edited January 6, 2019 by Justin 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick1298 Posted January 6, 2019 Author Share Posted January 6, 2019 1 minute ago, Justin said: Ok the opening at top should always be left fully open and the open door by degrees to achieve temp. You do not need much of a gap for temp to rise. It is about adjusting flow. On Weber Smokey mountain. Which has three air vents I use a pencil on all three to start with. That gives me a base point the I adjust to achieve target temp range. Typical 110 to 120c. Try setting it up. The work out a base point from doors for future ref and adjust from there. Base point is not always same of course due to Atmospheric cconditions and is sun dying on now for instance. Will give it a go. I’ll post the result once I’ve tried! Thanks 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Posted January 6, 2019 Share Posted January 6, 2019 (edited) The top air dumper flap I think is your flue so you need airflow from doors to make it work properly. Experiment until you get confidence. Try come to a tailgate and we can have a good look at it if you still stuck after the advice here Ok? Edited January 6, 2019 by Justin 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wade Posted January 7, 2019 Share Posted January 7, 2019 On 1/6/2019 at 8:37 AM, Nick1298 said: When I said it barely got above 100 though - that was Fahrenheit! So clearly doing something very wrong! That is even worse than I thought. Were the coals actually alight? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Posted January 7, 2019 Share Posted January 7, 2019 yes I know, you will have to work out how far to open door to gauge temp. interesting. a fine art I dare say. The fact the door is small but if it is closed not enough air gets in and the temp stays that low.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wade Posted January 7, 2019 Share Posted January 7, 2019 Before you go drilling holes in the unit let us try to identify the problem first without damaging it. The first thing to try is to raise up the coals from the bottom of the ban. To do this find a piece of wire mesh (a cheap cake cooling rack cut to size is fine) and bend it so that the mesh id about a cm above the base of the bowl. Put on a chimney of lit coals but leave a small gap at one side of the mesh to allow air to get underneath. Locate this gap nearest to the bottom door. Make sure that the top vent is fully open Firstly, keep the bottom door closed and see what temperature you reach inside. If you still don't reach the required temperature crack open the bottom door about 1 cm and seal the top and side gaps of the door with tinfoil. Just leave the bottom gap open. See if this causes the temperature to increase. If this does not work then we move on to plan B, which will involve drilling holes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wade Posted January 7, 2019 Share Posted January 7, 2019 Another basic question I did not ask !!! How are you measuring the temperature? Is it using the gauge that is in the lid? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick1298 Posted January 7, 2019 Author Share Posted January 7, 2019 29 minutes ago, Wade said: Another basic question I did not ask !!! How are you measuring the temperature? Is it using the gauge that is in the lid? Yes it is! I think there are a number of things I need to do differently next time - mostly using unlit charcoal as I only used one chimney of lit charcoal the first time round Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wade Posted January 7, 2019 Share Posted January 7, 2019 The built in thermometers are notoriously inaccurate so do not rely on it. You are best to buy a dual prove digital thermometer that will give you accurate temperature readings in the smoker and also inside the meat as it smokes/cooks. We cook almost everything by temperature. One standard chimney of fully lit charcoal should have been sufficient. Is it a small or standard/large chimney? The standard/large ones are ~25-30 cm tall and about 17 cm in diameter. Link to an inexpensive digital thermometer. There are others to choose from with more functionality and we can also point you in their direction too. Inkbird IBT2X Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick1298 Posted January 7, 2019 Author Share Posted January 7, 2019 2 minutes ago, Wade said: The built in thermometers are notoriously inaccurate so do not rely on it. You are best to buy a dual prove digital thermometer that will give you accurate temperature readings in the smoker and also inside the meat as it smokes/cooks. We cook almost everything by temperature. One standard chimney of fully lit charcoal should have been sufficient. Is it a small or standard/large chimney? The standard/large ones are ~25-30 cm tall and about 17 cm in diameter. Link to an inexpensive digital thermometer. There are others to choose from with more functionality and we can also point you in their direction too. Inkbird IBT2X Thanks very much. Yes it was a large Weber chimney. In fairness, I butterflied a whole chicken and cooked it on there - took it off after 3 hours and it was pretty much cooked - just had to stick it in the oven for 5 minutes just to get the legs to temp - so there must have been at least a small amount of heat. The pork shoulder I was cooking however was quite raw in the middle after 4 hours Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wade Posted January 7, 2019 Share Posted January 7, 2019 11 minutes ago, Nick1298 said: I butterflied a whole chicken and cooked it on there - took it off after 3 hours and it was pretty much cooked - just had to stick it in the oven for 5 minutes just to get the legs to temp That confirms that the smoker was above 100 F (38 C) so the thermometer must be VERY wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raptor72 Posted January 7, 2019 Share Posted January 7, 2019 I’ve got the two probe inkbird and the 6 probe version. The 2 probe is definitely adequate and good investment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick1298 Posted January 14, 2019 Author Share Posted January 14, 2019 Great news - round 2 was a resounding success! Great smoke rings on the brisket and fall apart pork shoulder! Minion method worked! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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