Ok so a lot to cover tonight. I’ll try to keep it short. Kind of experimenting based on some recent topics. Kettle used was the 26
730. I dumped leftover coals from other grills and had way more coal going than I needed for my salmon. I wanted to burn off yesterday’s cook so I had the lid cracked and pegged the lid thermo. At 730 I closed the bottom vent completely and closed the top down to a quarter or so.
740. Lid temp read just under 400. I put the salmon on.
750. Lid temp fell below 300. I opened the top fully.
755. Temp continues to fall. I opened both events fully.
810. Lid temp back up to 350-375. Salmon reached 140ish and was done.
815. Ate salmon and it was delicious. I tried Malcom reed recipe of a molasses / soy marinade and a pastrami seasoning.
900. Earlier I left bottom vent closed and top open to see where temp would settle. Keep in mind I had a massive amount of coal in the grill so there would be the potential for heat rising. After 45 minutes the lid temp settled just under 200 and stayed put.
Tip top temp theory. I owned one and gave it away. Their instructions say to close bottom vent and place it over top vent. Well of course it handles low and slow because the bottom vent is closed and it’s impossible for temperature to rise regardless of if you have a gadget mounted to the vent lol. I had always theorized this but hadn’t tested. I assume they ran their tests on a 22 which would run a little higher putting it at the sweet spot most likely.
This begs the question, does anyone here cook entirely with the bottom closed and top open for low and slow? Admittedly I have not tried cooking anything in this fashion but temperature wise I would guess it would work on a 22 or 18.
937. Opened vents fully and roasting garden peppers and tomatoes for salsa this week.
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