# Smoking with Weber kettle



## thenovaman (Jun 27, 2012)

I have a Weber 22.5" Silver, and I have two problems:

1. Temp climbs even with bottom vents completely closed

2. Medium white smoke instead of TBS.  (Food tastes great in spite of this, so fixing this is lower priority than #1.)

I rather suspect my problems are operator error, so I'll explain how I set it up.  I divide the charcoal grate about in half with four firebricks, and almost fill the shy 1/2 side with Kingsford.  I leave a little space at one end of the crescent for 12 lit coals from my chimney.  I put the lit coals in, and it comes up to temp (225*F) in probably about 30 minutes.  I have the top vent wide open and opposite the coals.  I measure the temp with a laboratory thermometer stuck in through one of the top vent holes so that the bulb is just a little higher than the meat.  Once I'm ready to put the meat on, I add a small chunk, maybe 1" x 1" x 2" of well-seasoned cherry on top of the burning coals.  The temp slowly climbs, and when it reaches my upper limit, I put a few ice cubes on the food grate on top of the burning coals to calm it down.  I'll post some pics in a little while in case anything is less than crystal clear.


----------



## thenovaman (Jun 27, 2012)

Grill with ash on the bottom to help seal the vents:








Ready for lit coals to be added:













After adding 12 lit coals:







Smoking configuration, complete with lab thermometer (I really need an ET732):







20 minutes after adding the lit charcoal (during which time I posted the pics), the temp is about 212*F.


----------



## thenovaman (Jun 27, 2012)

Well, 212*F must have been an optical illusion.  I cleaned the goo off my thermometer, and it was actually way less than 100*C, so I opened up the bottom vents some and got it up to 100*C (212*F), where it stayed put.  I just opened the vents up a little more to try to get it up to 225*F.  There are two differences between today and yesterday: today it's windy like usual, but yesterday was almost perfectly still, and today I didn't put quite as much unlit charcoal in to start with as I usually do.  Would those two factors really make the difference?


----------



## rabbithutch (Jun 27, 2012)

I don't know for sure, but I suspect that those fire brick are absorbing a lot of heat.  Of course, they will release it, too; but they will do so slowly over a longer period of time.

Here are a couple of suggestions.

1)  Remove one of the firebrick at a time and see what difference doing so makes.  In fact, I would try my next fire with only 2 fire bricks to see what the effect would be.

2) Experiment with the number of lit and unlit briquettes and the total number you use.

I've only done a little smoking with my kettle.  I use a mini-WSM or the MES40, depending on the time required to hold temp and how much I'm willing to futz with heat.  When I HAVE used the kettle, I used indirect heat with fire only on one side.  I normally have briquettes on only about 1/3 (or less) of the area of the coals grate.  I use a piece of expanded metal to contain my coals.  I can move it to make the fire area larger or smaller.  I also use it to help me bank more coals into a pile in a smaller area if I want a hotter fire.  I always reserve a cool side of the cooking grate.

Take all of this with a grain of salt because I'm still learning every time I light up my kettle.  I put a thermometer in the lid to give me a better idea of the temps inside.  I've also started to use a lower number of briquettes to start and add more if I don't get the temps up to the level I want.  I've also learned to add only a few briquettes - maybe half a dozen and wait 10 minutes to read the effect.  If it's not hot enough, I add more, etc.  until I approach something just above the temp I would like for the whole smoke.

HTH


----------



## thenovaman (Jun 27, 2012)

Those are good suggestions.  I may have been overenthusiastic with four firebricks instead of two.  Another idea that occurred to me today was the possibility of making sort of a square using the side of the grill and three firebricks.  Today I was very careful when letting it get up to temp, but I had to open the vents to get up to 225*F, and then I had to keep them at least a little bit open to maintain temp, which is pretty much the opposite of how it went yesterday.  Today I could calm down the fire by closing the vents, which I wasn't able to do yesterday.  I'm getting the impression that smoking with a kettle takes alot of babysitting no matter how you set it up...

Go to this thread for some Q-view: http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/123912/smoking-johnsonvilles






(But give me a few minutes to post it!)


----------



## thenovaman (Jun 28, 2012)

I want to play with my grill, but it's just too darn hot out, so I'll ask a few questions instead.

When using the Minion Method, do you wait for the lit charcoal to be uniformly gray before dumping them on the unlit?

Are you supposed to use seasoned (dry) wood for smoking or fresh (green) wood?  I'm using dry-as-a-bone choke cherry, and it always smokes white.  Not thick, billowing clouds, but thicker than TBS.


----------



## rabbithutch (Jun 29, 2012)

I agree with you about it being too hot to tend a grill, at least it is for me.  We've had triple digits for about a week straight and I'm too old to be sweatin' over a fire.

When I do my mini version of the Minion method, I allow the briquettes to get completely lit - grayed over - before putting them on the unlit.  I never do a very large fire, however, like those who have really big smokers do.  Usually, I'm just controlling the burn of a fairly small ring of charcoal in a basket in my mini-WSM.  That will usually give me a good long smoke for chicken and ribs without having to add any coals.

Always use dry wood - never green.  The moisture in green wood will keep it from smoking well at all and there's no telling what toxins you might be releasing, IMO.

Keep at it.  You'll get better each time you light a fire but none of us will ever get it perfect every time.


----------



## JckDanls 07 (Jun 29, 2012)

lighting them in my chimney (12-15) I only let em get about 1/2 way lit... then I dump them all in one pile at the end of my unlit charcoal and I'm off to the races from there... for me, I find that letting them get red hot and ashed over in chimney tends to start my cook to hot after dumping them in the smoker... Now I'm fighting to get my temps down... So I just start out with em half lit and let them come up to temp in the smoker....Start with all vents wide open and start closing down intake when temps start getting around 210`...  give it a try one time both ways (once half lit, next time hot and ashed over)..  see which way ya like better...

For smoke I just drop a chunk or 2 of dry wood on when needed


----------



## mneeley490 (Jun 29, 2012)

I don't think I'd use a glass lab thermometer to monitor temps in the grill. Too much chance of something going horribly wrong there if it were to break or burst over your dinner.

You can use a round oven therm on the grate, or some type with a long steel probe you can slide thru the vent.


----------



## cliffcarter (Jun 30, 2012)

I set up my kettle differently, no fire bricks needed. The open space to the left is for 12-15 lit briquettes, the wood is standing upright and is about 3 inches long and about 3/4 inch thick.







With a butt on-







I cook at temps between 260°-280°,  I find that the kettle seems to settle in at these temps, so don't get too hung up on trying to achieve that almost mystical 225°, you will find it easier to manage

if you just adjust the vents to keep the range of temp nearer to the higher marks I mentioned. Yes it is still BBQ.

The butt you see in the picture was an 8.5 pounder that was done in 10 hours using this method, no more overnight cooks for me.
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





You should also get a probe thermometer, this one cost me $10 at Target-







One last thing, you do not need to keep the ashes covering the intake vents IMHO, seems counterproudctive to me.


----------



## thenovaman (Jun 30, 2012)

Well, I smoked some CSRs yesterday, starting with 50 unlit coals and 12 grayed-over coals fairly evenly distributed on top of the unlit.  It went better - I only had to use ice once.  kept the bottom vents completely closed the whole time, but not covered with ash.  When the temp got a little too high for comfort, I closed down the top vent a bit, and that seemed to work well.  I'll post Q-view later (I have company over right now).  The CSRs came out pretty darn good.

The lab thermometer just is a temporary solution.  I'll be buying an ET-732 pretty soon because I'm sick of messing with the lab thermometer in the vent (which is NOT easy to read) and poking the meat thermometer into the meat and then having to wash it, poke again, wash, etc.  Sometimes laziness is a good thing.


----------



## thenovaman (Jul 17, 2012)

Sorry for the half-month delay.  Here's the promised Q-view.

The gray coals in this pic are not lit - I was just storing them there temporarily.







12 completely lit coals







Lit coals distributed evenly on top of the unlit coals:







Partway through the smoke:







Resting:







After caramelizing on some sauce:







Smoke ring!


----------



## savupoika (Dec 20, 2012)

I am going to smoke a ham with a weber 22.5" kettle day after christmas. What would be the best way to keep temp low enough ?

I just purchased chargoal basket and i would like to use them for the first time. The weather is going to be around 14F.

I have not smoked a ham before so this is my first time, i use weber briquettes, but what wood should i use for the smoke flavor ?

My stock has walnut, oak, alder, hickory, apple, mesquite and cherry, i never used apple, mesquito or cherry for pork.

Suggestions ?


----------



## rabbithutch (Dec 22, 2012)

Savupoika said:


> I am going to smoke a ham with a weber 22.5" kettle day after christmas. What would be the best way to keep temp low enough ?
> I just purchased chargoal basket and i would like to use them for the first time. The weather is going to be around 14F.
> 
> I have not smoked a ham before so this is my first time, i use weber briquettes, but what wood should i use for the smoke flavor ?
> ...



I have had good success by making a ring of briquettes around the outside of the kettle.  Pile them up until they are about the width of your hand from the edge and no more will stay on top without toppling over.  You can them light about 10-15 briquettes in a chimney starter or even in an aluminum pan.  When they are hot enough that you don't have to worry about them going out, dump the starter set in one spot on the ring.  Put the top on the kettle and wait for it to reach the temp you want, say 250° F (120° C).  Then place your meat on the grill and monitor temps.

The size of the ham will determine how long you need to smoke.  I did 4 small pork loins a month ago that turned out very well without even using half the circle of briquettes.  I cooked at about 220° F until I got to the internal temperature I wanted (150°F).  I don't remember how long it took but because the cuts of meat were so small, it cooked very quickly.

If you have the Weber cooking grill with the hinged sides, you can always add more briquettes to your kettle.  Be very careful if you must spin the grill to position them for adding fresh fuel.

As for the wood, I would use apple.  I've used it in the past with both pork and poultry, but I don't have much access to apple wood here in Texas.  Hickory, cherry or alder should be good as well.  For me, oak gets a bit too strong.  When I use oak, it is always with other wood and in small amounts.

Hope this helps!

Hyvää joulua!


----------



## savupoika (Dec 24, 2012)

Thanks! You to have a nice christmas.

I will use apple for the smoke and thanks for the great tips. Im going to use charbaskets for this one, but shurely i have to test smoking with the ring method. I think 12-15 lighten briquettes sounds pretty good.

I notisted that its hard to lighten small amount of briquettes with chimneystarter, i should make small insert so it would be easier. Maybe sodacan or something ?


----------



## rabbithutch (Dec 28, 2012)

If you are having trouble with the chimney and small amounts of briquettes, try turning it upside down.  It works for me.


----------

