Temperature control lessons...explain it to me like I'm 5?

[brucemcclure]

Alrighty, I'm going to throw myself on the mercy of the forum here as I'm far from an expert when it comes to properly operating my kettle. Granted, I've made a couple of good meals on it (basic stuff...burgers/dogs, a steak, chicken breast), but I'm struggling to understand temperature control, venting, etc. I'm looking for suggestions on how to keep a constant temp in my grill, etc. as I want to--in the near future--smoke a rack or two of ribs. Some things of note about what I do...

• I use Kingsford Competition Briquets and seem to like them. They burn damn hot, from what I can tell.
• Each time I've grilled, I've loaded the charcoal baskets with new briquets over the ones I used from the last burn.
• I load the two charcoal baskets each time. Is this giving me too much heat (remember, I'm a newb to this stuff)?
• In cooking dinner tonight, I found that, after loading the two baskets and firing it up, I obtained a pretty hot temp (near 500F) and it stayed there, even after closing the vents all the way (and I have no idea why...except to say I use too much charcoal?)

I have to say, The Bride™ and The 12-Year Old Girl To Whom I am Related By Marriage™ have told me I've done a great job feeding them since I got the grill, but I know I can step it up.

Soooooo...can anyone give me a lesson and explain it to me like I'm 5? I'm an interior designer, not a BBQ expert. I joined this forum to become the latter!

[DougWilsonsSlapper]

People will answer better than me. So I'll let them do that.  I've had my grill for over a year now, and so a relative enthusiastic newbie like you.

Have picked up tips on here and have learned from trial and error.  Have also read a bunch of books.

Did my first low and slow this past week...pretty successfully relatively speaking.

Point is....it will come. 

Alrighty, I'm going to throw myself on the mercy of the forum here as I'm far from an expert when it comes to properly operating my kettle. Granted, I've made a couple of good meals on it (basic stuff...burgers/dogs, a steak, chicken breast), but I'm struggling to understand temperature control, venting, etc. I'm looking for suggestions on how to keep a constant temp in my grill, etc. as I want to--in the near future--smoke a rack or two of ribs. Some things of note about what I do...

• I use Kingsford Competition Briquets and seem to like them. They burn damn hot, from what I can tell.
• Each time I've grilled, I've loaded the charcoal baskets with new briquets over the ones I used from the last burn.
• I load the two charcoal baskets each time. Is this giving me too much heat (remember, I'm a newb to this stuff)?
• In cooking dinner tonight, I found that, after loading the two baskets and firing it up, I obtained a pretty hot temp (near 500F) and it stayed there, even after closing the vents all the way (and I have no idea why...except to say I use too much charcoal?)

I have to say, The Bride and The 12-Year Old Girl To Whom I am Related By Marriage have told me I've done a great job feeding them since I got the grill, but I know I can step it up.

Soooooo...can anyone give me a lesson and explain it to me like I'm 5? I'm an interior designer, not a BBQ expert. I joined this forum to become the latter!

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[watkinsb87]

This is kind of a long answer and there are many different ways to do it, but I usually do it this way: I fill up a charcoal basket halfway with unlit charcoal and put 8-14 briquettes in the chimney (depending on outside temp, it was 97 in Dallas today so I would only use 8)and light them. Once they are ashed over I put them on top of the unlit coals in the basket. I installed a thermometer just underneath the vent, but you can also get a digital probe thermometer to put in your meat and at grate level. Keep both of your vents wide open as your temp starts to climb, and once you close in on your desired temp close the bottom vent to 2/3 closed. I leave the bottom vent there the entire cook, and then use the top vent to make adjustments. The key is to be patient as the temp won't immediately adjust after you set the vents. It takes a little tinkering in the first 45 minutes- hour but after that it can hold that temp pretty well. Start with meat that's forgiving like pork which will still taste damn good even if you have temp spikes and fluctuations.

There are many other ways to do it and lots of people on here that are better at it than me, but I've had success with this. Best thing you can do is to just try it out. Good luck!


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[watkinsb87]

Not sure how the emoji got there- that should read eight.


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[Transit98]

I use lump charcoal 95% of the time. Light 1/2 to 3/4 a Weber chimney than add some more as needed. A medium pile of lump will go 275 for 3 to 4 hours.

This weekend I did a rack of baby backs hot and fast. Loaded a full chimney with lump and 4 wood chunks. Dumped them in the 1/3 center so I can place the ribs on the far side indirect for 45 minutes- the temp was close to 450-500 the whole time. Air flow was wide open. 45 minutes later I wrapped and closed vents to 25% open both top and bottom - air and coal amount will change the cook temp. Try afew cooks: a lot of coal, less coal and a small amount of coal. To get it rippen open vents to lower close them. After 10 cooks you will know. Play around and enjoy the cook!


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[watkinsb87]

Here's a picture of the snake method that also works well. Just a little more time consuming to set up.
http://weberkettleclub.com/forums/index.php?topic=48632


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[bbqking01]

I do a lot of indirect, hot and fast on my kettle. Mostly tritip. Some pork loins. I always leave my vents wide open. Never bother to check temp gauge. I do use a meat probe at times. I've just in the past few months done the two zone method with excellent results on steak. And I usually fill up a whole chimney, with kingsford briquettes. Every time I closed all vents I kills the fire...so that has me scratching my head. Keep at it. Time and experience will teach you a lot. And there is a TON of methods and ways to cook everything out there, online.


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[kettlebb]

Let me see if I can help at all.  I'm not an expert but I've learned quite a bit along the way so I'll share what I do and what works for me, other people have different opinions and experiences than I do so they may do things differently.

First off, heat comes from fire.  Fire needs a fuel source like gas or charcoal and oxygen.  If you increase the amount of oxygen you increase the heat, if you decrease the amount of oxygen........

Just being a smart ass there

I like to control temps with my bottom vents only.  I want as much exhaust coming out of the kettle so I always leave my top vent wide open unless no other tricks are bringing my smoking temp down from a runaway.  I believe closing off the top vent while smoking/barbecuing can put "bad smoke flavor" and soot on the food and no one wants to taste a camp fire in their ribs or pulled pork.  Smoke flavor should be an essence in my opinion, not a flavor that overpowers the rub and the protein.  If I want to taste smoke I'll just stick my head over a camp fire.

I've had the most success with the snake method when smoking.  I usually light 10-14 briquettes at the head and let them get good and ashed over while preparing the meat with the rub and getting my drip pan with water ready.  Here is the biggest tip in my opinion, don't shoot for a target temperature.  Shoot for a temperature range.  Kettles aren't ovens and you will have some fluctuation during a cook, if you try to maintain 230 for 12 hours straight you will be tired and pissed off.  I like my range to be 230-260 most of the time, if I'm in that range I'm happy.

Smoke flavor.  I love peach wood and pecan wood better than the rest.  I only use a couple nice sized chunks and I place them towards the head of the snake.  Why at the head you ask?  Meat takes on smoke when it is cold and or wet.  Smoke bounces off of warm dry surfaces.  Remember, I don't like a lot of smoke flavor, so much that you don't taste the rub or meat.  If you want more smoke on your meat you will have to keep spraying it lightly throughout the cook with water.  Only use chunks of wood and keep them dry and seasoned, don't soak the chunks and avoid wood chips if possible.  Smoke color out of the top vent should be a pale blue color.  White and gray mean soot and the fire is starving for oxygen.

Grilling is easier.  Light 1/3 chimney, toss the lit coals to a pile and use a 2 zone fire.  Grill over the coals and move food around as it cooks to avoid over cooking it.  Sounds like you have grilling under control.  If you are going to try smoking I suggest you start out with a small pork shoulder roast.  It's pretty hard to mess up a shoulder roast and if you get it right it's a very nice meal.  I suggest a roast cut because it shouldn't take more than 3-4 hours and you can experiment to learn what works for you.  Then you could move on to ribs and larger cuts of pork and beef.

Takeaways:
Aim for a target temp range, not a single temp.
Aim for blue smoke.
Snake methods are pretty bullet proof and you don't need to spend money on smoking gadgets and accessories.
HAVE FUN COOKING!  If it isn't fun, just use the oven.

[kettlebb]

Also, here is some really good reading on the topic of smoking.

https://amazingribs.com/more-technique-and-science/grill-and-smoker-setup-and-firing/what-you-need-know-about-wood-smoke-and/

[TXFlyGuy]

The single item that will help you is a Smoke monitor, from Thermoworks. You need to monitor the exact temperature at the grate, and the internal meat temp.

https://www.thermoworks.com/Smoke

As mentioned, the Snake is a good way to get long, low temp burns. Adjust your bottom vents to 1/3 open and have the lid vent wide open. My grate temp was 250-260 degrees for over 8 hours, using everyone's favorite briquettes from B&B. You can get burns as long as 12 to 14 hours if you have good control of your intake vents. Always leave the top vent wide open! As stated, the smoke needs to exhaust overboard quickly. If not you run the risk of off flavors...think creosote.

Here are a couple links that might help, with pictures of what we did:

http://weberkettleclub.com/forums/index.php?topic=48576.0

http://weberkettleclub.com/forums/index.php?topic=48499.0

http://weberkettleclub.com/forums/index.php?topic=48632.0

When we did a Prime Rib on the rotisserie, two charcoal baskets were loaded up, and about 6 hot / burning briquettes were added to each basket. This got us a 300 degree burn for well over 6 hours.

edit: When doing any kind of low & slow smoking / cooking, leave the lid closed! Every time you open the lid, O2 is introduced and your fire will run away on you real quick. Ask me how I know.

High temp grilling, steaks / burgers, is less of a challenge. Just load up two charcoal baskets and set them on one side of the kettle for a two-zone cook. One side is searing hot, the other side is much cooler for the "indirect" part of the cooking. Exact temp is not so important with this type of grilling.

And here is a good video that will help the 5 to 6 year old group understand the basics of temp control:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgzuM-1thV8

[Kneab]

Schuey is a member here.
His videos are great.

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[brucemcclure]

Thank you, everyone for the tips and suggestions! I'm planning on going through them all in detail so I can start to educate myself. @DougWilsonsSlapper sent me a video I need to watch, too! So happy I found this forum. I'm grateful for everyone jumping in to try to help get me started.

[Foster Dahlet]

Schuey is a member here.
His videos are great.

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The bloopers are hysterical

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[AggieBBQ]

https://youtu.be/AIXsgPHxt6M


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