KidCactus

On 2/15/2021 at 3:41 PM, Tyrus said:

Nice job, perfecto.///  Check for air leaks and make sure you have a good seal around the doors, flush. Does it shut down without all the coal disappearing?

From what I can tell their are no air leaks. It shuts down quickly when everything is closed and never burns out much more than when I close it up. Is there anywhere common that I should be checking that might have an air leak aside from the main opening seem?

I’ve had my 23” Ultimate for a couple months now and have had some really successful cooks, most recently these tri-tips smoked at 225-250 dome temp until rare then reverse seered on bottom rack at 500 dome temp for a couple minutes on each side. The roasts turned out more medium than medium rare but they were still incredibly tender and juicy (pics below)! I also made a home made Chimmichurri sauce to accompany the meat.

Questions:

1) I can’t seem to get temps to stay at 225 or below. I was reaching 245 to 250 with a tiny crack open in the bottom vent and the top dampener opened about an 8th of a turn. Any tips on how to maintain 225 or even lower?

2) Are there any drawbacks to having a full charcoal basket at the start of each cook? I’ve noticed a lot of you aim to have only the charcoal you need for a cook.