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It was ment to be a low smoke for about 5 hours but was having trouble getting the heat to drop down to around 250 was up at 300 for a while.will take a few goes to get used to it.Im starting to like the colour now it's a bit different.
How did you lay out the coals? It sounds as if you may have had slightly too many alight all at once or the air vents open a little too far. Mind you 250-300 F (120-150 C) was a good first attempt. With an older Weber the bottom vents can be a bit sloppy and more difficult to seal but with your brand new one they should be nice and tight.
Take a look at this clip on You tube. It may help you to control the temperature a little more finely next time. This guy though likes to leave the bottom vents fully open though and control the temperature just using the top vent. I find though that it is better to close the top vent about 3/4 and then tune the temperature with fine adjustments on the bottom vent.
If you still find you cannot keep the temperature low enough then you can place a piece of heat resistant aluminium foil over one of the bottom vent slots to cover it completely, leaving only two of them open.
I'll have a ok onto that.think I started it with 20 briquettes on each side then added a few during cooking.I read somewhere thanet ones tend to run hotter because the insides are all shiny and more reflective than a seasoned one don't know if it's true
The cheaper DIY store briquettes will usually burn hotter and for less time as they are really designed for grilling. The denser kettle BBQ briquettes (Weber or Heat Beads) are slightly more expensive to buy however they are more controllable and you should use less of them.
That is often the case when using the rails/baskets in pairs. I am not sure why that should be but it could be due the air flow through the chamber relative to where the top vent is. I also find that once one side is dominant it is difficult to get the other side to catch up. I am sure someone on here can give a good explanation as to why that is.
These days I only really use the baskets if I am wanting the higher temperatures for baking and things like beer can chicken. For most of my cooks I use the snake method.