Kettle temp

[1buckie]

Noticed this also:

"I wanted it to be about 275 (the temp I read to cook the turkey at), so I closed the top vent about halfway.  BIG MISTAKE!!!  Came out about 30 minutes later, and temp was down to 215 or so. "

No, leave your vents open, esp. right at the start.......one thing you don't want is to choke the air & snuff or retard the fire.......airflow thru that bell is the magic of a Weber......

What's going on the there is choking off the free flow of air across the fire.....it's kind of a patience game.....pinching your bottom vents, just a little, leaving the top open to exhaust freely, waiting for maybe 15 or so minutes should have put you right where you wanted in that situation.....

It'll be OK......just takes a little practice........please keep on it, it WILL happen well !!!!

[namtrag]

Thanks Bucki,  I will try without the baskets this weekend!  Lots of great info, and like you said, I just need to keep on keepin on.  The Weber forgives me every time so far.  It sure is fun figuring it out. 

[namtrag]

Noticed this also:

"I wanted it to be about 275 (the temp I read to cook the turkey at), so I closed the top vent about halfway.  BIG MISTAKE!!!  Came out about 30 minutes later, and temp was down to 215 or so. "

No, leave your vents open, esp. right at the start.......one thing you don't want is to choke the air & snuff or retard the fire.......airflow thru that bell is the magic of a Weber......

What's going on the there is choking off the free flow of air across the fire.....it's kind of a patience game.....pinching your bottom vents, just a little, leaving the top open to exhaust freely, waiting for maybe 15 or so minutes should have put you right where you wanted in that situation.....

It'll be OK......just takes a little practice........please keep on it, it WILL happen well !!!!

I had run the grill for awhile before I closed the vents at all, but I did learn that it doesn't take much of a change in the airflow to change the combustion inside.

[1buckie]

Cool Beans......maybe take some notations on how you set & what happens....never a bad idea to then be able to look back & remember what went on.....

Mine are basically recorded here @ WKC !!!!

[1911Ron]

Question for you, are taking your temp at the grate or at the guage on the lid (if you have a lid temp guage)?

[1buckie]

Meat Level (<< that's a Technical Term )



The lid ones are fine, but they will ALWAYS be different than the grate, so you need to check & test for the difference so you do in fact know what's happening at the grate..........

[namtrag]

I need to get another thermometer so I can take the temps at grill level as well.  Lowe's here I come!

[1buckie]

Those little oven ones you can get at the grocery store in the baking equip. dept.

See this also....I tried to re-size it to be readable, might have to copy it & enlarge at home to see it good....




It's from 1956 & physics hasn't changed that much since......

[namtrag]

I see they say leave the top one open and use the bottom vents to lower the temp...I have seen a lot of people who say they do the opposite.  Plus I can't see the bottom vents when stuff is set up . The drip pan blocks the view from the top, and the ash catcher blocks the view from the bottom.

Cool to see a brochure from the 50's! It's older than even I am!

[Chuck]

Like most others around here i find closing the top te wrong thing to do more often than not. Only when I'm trying to drastically drop the temp do I close the top vent.

For the bottom vents, I saw a tip on this board some time ago but I don't have a thread link. While the lid is off, and with the vents closed to the far left, open your vent 1/4, 1/2, 3/4, and wide open. At each opening, use a sharpie to mark it. You'll find these marks become spaced disproportionately wider as you go wider open and that'll be okay. And as you use your grill you'll find the handle to open the grill becomes a bit looser and therefore the marks more approximate, but it'll give you more control than you have now to know where you're at.

[jcnaz]

^^^^ What Chuck said.

[namtrag]

Like most others around here i find closing the top te wrong thing to do more often than not. Only when I'm trying to drastically drop the temp do I close the top vent.

For the bottom vents, I saw a tip on this board some time ago but I don't have a thread link. While the lid is off, and with the vents closed to the far left, open your vent 1/4, 1/2, 3/4, and wide open. At each opening, use a sharpie to mark it. You'll find these marks become spaced disproportionately wider as you go wider open and that'll be okay. And as you use your grill you'll find the handle to open the grill becomes a bit looser and therefore the marks more approximate, but it'll give you more control than you have now to know where you're at.

Great idea, and will do that next time I cook.  My grill is already pretty loose, so the marks should stay fairly accurate.

[Johnpv]

I see they say leave the top one open and use the bottom vents to lower the temp...I have seen a lot of people who say they do the opposite.  Plus I can't see the bottom vents when stuff is set up . The drip pan blocks the view from the top, and the ash catcher blocks the view from the bottom.

Cool to see a brochure from the 50's! It's older than even I am!

I control my temps mainly with the bottom vents, and a little with the top.  When I first got my Weber I played around with it empty to see how open the vents were at different points when moving the arm, that way I'd have an idea of how open they would be when the grill was filled up.

[toddmog]

I need to get another thermometer so I can take the temps at grill level as well.  Lowe's here I come!

Have you done this yet? Also, have you tried testing your lid thermometer in boiling water and/or ice water?  Two fall baskets of Kingsford Blue gets me at 500 +/- at the dome.  Hotter yet with Royal Oak Lump packed in the baskets nicely...I've also had similar results with Stubbs briquettes. 

[namtrag]

I have not tried the test yet, but am planning on doing it this weekend.  I am with you in that it seems fishy my max temp I ever get is showing 320.   I am also going to get a second thermometer for the grill level.