EGGARY Posted March 28, 2012 Report Share Posted March 28, 2012 Tonight I am cooking Korean Short Ribs. They are about 1"+ thick with the bones. I figure I would smoke them for an hour before I grill them at a higher temp.. I am shooting for 250. The temp now is 300. The Lower Vent is about 1/4 and the Top Vent might be turned 1 1/2 times. How much lower do I need to go to get it to 225 250 ? This is for my own knowledge for the future. Also, when it says a turn, is that from where it is completely closed ? One turn from there might not be enough. Does that make sense ? Thanks. Gary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadMedik Posted March 29, 2012 Report Share Posted March 29, 2012 Re: Help with Temperature Please 1/4 to 1/2 turn on top and just less than 1/4 open on wheel at bottom will get u close to 250. It doesn't take much . When closed, turn the top by the metal tab/dog ear. 360 degrees is 1 turn. If dog ear at 9:00 and it is completely closed, turn it to 6:00 and you got 1/4 of a turn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paswesley Posted March 29, 2012 Report Share Posted March 29, 2012 Re: Help with Temperature Please One thing to guard against is letting the KK heat soak at a higher temp than you are cooking with. The hot face, once heat soaked, is notoriously slow to shed heat, due to the excellent insulating properties of our cooker. Much better is to gradually rise to the correct temp than to overshoot and then try to go lower. Just a voice of experience trying o help, for what it's worth... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firemonkey Posted March 29, 2012 Report Share Posted March 29, 2012 Re: Help with Temperature Please 250 degrees on my grill is way less than what MadMedik is getting. I would be 325 or more after a couple hours with those settings. For me, 250 degrees is about the thickness of a coin (maybe a 1/4 inch at most - depends on fuel and outside temps) in the lower dial, and then about a 1/4 turn on the top...just enough until you can see a little smoke or feel a little heat escaping. While there may be some nuances to the various grills, you can be sure that once you find *your* settings, they are consistent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EGGARY Posted March 29, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2012 Re: Help with Temperature Please The Temperature went up to almost 400 with the settings that I was at. I also cooked the meat Direct. I closed up the vents and now the Ears of the top Vent is not at 9:00. Is that o.k. ? So it doesn't take much to get to Temp ? Gary For What it is Worth = FWIW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paswesley Posted March 29, 2012 Report Share Posted March 29, 2012 Re: Help with Temperature Please Part of the joy of owning a KK is the learning curve that goes with it. Within a few cooks, you will develop an ability to control the temp. It is simple, once you learn how. How long that takes, varies according to aptitude and motivation. Note the upper and lower vent settings at a given steady temp and record them. Those same settings will produce the same temp consistently, within + or - 5 degrees or less. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firemonkey Posted March 29, 2012 Report Share Posted March 29, 2012 Re: Help with Temperature Please My top vent ears have never been at 3 and 9:00 when closed. Mine is more like 4:30 and 10:30 when shut down. There is a gasket in there that compresses a bit, so snug is more important that the position. When I close mine, i flip one ear with a finger and it spins shut, then I just snug it a little more before walking off. With your top open over even just a half a turn, you were definitely going to see some high temps. 250 requires very little airflow; all you need to do is loosen the top so its barely off the gasket. For me, its so little of a gap that only the front left side of the top hat actually comes up off the gasket and vents smoke and heat when doing a 250 cook. Just to give you an idea how much the top damper controls your fire, check out this thread where several of us were experimenting with using only the top damper to roast chickens: viewtopic.php?f=30&t=4272&start=15 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cookie Posted March 29, 2012 Report Share Posted March 29, 2012 Re: Help with Temperature Please 250 for me is right where Firemonkey has described it...1/4 to 1/2 turn on top, a dime's thickness on the bottom. 1 hour(ish) to heat soak. Firemonkey can chime in if in disagreement, but for me, this also means using a FULL basket of fuel, and I usually light about a tennis ball size area dead center. If you don't have a full basket, airflow will be inconsistent, leaving you with inconsistent temps from cook to cook. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mk1 Posted March 29, 2012 Report Share Posted March 29, 2012 Re: Help with Temperature Please This +1 for me too... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EGGARY Posted March 29, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2012 Re: Help with Temperature Please So it doesn't take much. I take it the Top is w used the most to set the Temperature. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
