low and slow

[baking with fire]

I have a real hard time keeping temperature low.

Last night, I filled the basket with lump, start a few pieces in a chimney maybe a ¼ full or less, when glowing dump on top of coals in the KK and closed the lid.

open top vent 1 turn,

bottom vent door closed, small wheel open all the way.

20 minutes later temperature was at 700ºF, all coals are lit and fire is roaring.

Reduce top vent to 1/8 turn open.

Bottom vent door closed, and wheel open the smallest amount possible~ 1/16 open.

Temp dropped to about 325 I put the chuck roll in, about 11:00.

Checked at 12:00/ 320F, 4:30am and 8:00am, holding at 300ºF.

What am I doing wrong?

[Curly]

Re: low and slow

I have a real hard time keeping temperature low.

Last night, I filled the basket with lump, start a few pieces in a chimney maybe a ¼ full or less, when glowing dump on top of coals in the KK and closed the lid.

open top vent 1 turn,

bottom vent door closed, small wheel open all the way.

20 minutes later temperature was at 700ºF, all coals are lit and fire is roaring.

Reduce top vent to 1/8 turn open.

Bottom vent door closed, and wheel open the smallest amount possible~ 1/16 open.

Temp dropped to about 325 I put the chuck roll in, about 11:00.

Checked at 12:00/ 320F, 4:30am and 8:00am, holding at 300ºF.

What am I doing wrong?

Low-in-slow for me is bottom vent completely closed with wheel open the very smallest of cracks. Top closed all the way tight...then open about the width of a tile or 2....just enough to allow smoke out.

Always come up to the temp as slow as possible. I allow about 2 hours of the grill climbing to 225'ish before I put a slow cook on the grill. After I fill it up with lump I shoot it with the torch for 5-10 secs and then close it...with the vents as above...let it take as long as it wants to climb up to the temp. If it gets hot and heat soaked to start with it can take a long long time to get DOWN to temp.

Bottom line, I believe you are just opening it up to much

[baking with fire]

Thanks Curly

I had the fire go out once before on an overnight and was feeling uneasy about cosing the vents too much.

I keep getting that jump right away, so letting the kk get hot, slower is what i will try next time.

[tcoliver]

When you close the top damper close it down really tight and then back it off. Sometimes you may close it to what you think is tight but the gaskets are just touching and this will allow more airflow. Try tightening down as tight as you can get it before starting the coals just to see what completely closed really is.

[Jim Malter]

BWF-

I use K extruded charcoal. Load 1/2 box. Light with the gas attachment. Get the KK to about 200 with the top and bottom wide open. Then close it down with the top about 1/4 turn open and the bottom wheel open between a dime and quarter. The temp will settle to around 20-240 but will vary depending on exterior temp, wind etc. Small changes in airflow will take some time to alter the temp. Try not to make too many adjustments and give the cooker 30 min or so to reequilibrate after a change.

If manual does not work, consider a guru. It is pretty much foolproof.

Jim

[leejp]

You can ballpark the top damper...

You can ballpark the top damper (within 1/4~1/2 turn or so) but the Bottom damper has to be spot on.

For low and slow, smaller lump pirces are better (more surface area contace between adjacent pieces). Use the minion method Full load of coals with few lit pieces placed around the top, smoke wood dispersed throughout.

The KK is so darned efficient that for my low and slows I am barely cracked open on the dial. I have asked Dennis on another post if he can make triangular shaped openings for the dial so finer inlet air control is possible.

[baking with fire]

much better than brisket

After reading Curlys suggestions, I Closed bottom vent completely (door and wheel) and was able to get and maintain 220F.

At about 5:00pm internal temperature of the chuck roll was 186F,

opened bottom wheel all the way, and the top ½ turn open, and got her up to around 280,

at 7:00 PM internal temp was 194F, and I took it off.

And grill was at 300 for the first 9 or so hours, then 9 hours at 220 and last 2 at 280,

total cooking time of 20 hours.

This was my first chuck roll and it came out excellent!

Thanks again for the help.

[Curly]

Re: much better than brisket

This was my first chuck roll and it came out excellent!

Thanks again for the help.

You can do a lot with that beef...all kind Mexican dishes...veggie beef soup...no end of ideas.

[Nator]

Latch Adjustment

BWF,

Sounds like curly's advice got you straight and you were able to low and slow. I had a similar problem when I first go my cooker but I needed a latch adjustment. You should not have any smoke leak between the top and bottom. The latch adjustment is as easy as it looks...just loosen the bolts on either half, reposition and tighten. It should take just a bit of effort to put the latch in the second more closed position.

[DennisLinkletter]

Re: Latch Adjustment/ Temp Control

It should take just a bit of effort to put the latch in the second more closed position.

You should always press down firmly on the handle when latching or unlatching your cooker..

I completely close down the top and then open as little as possible. At this adjustment the damper top can barely rock either side to side or forward to rear a little bit. (The oversized acme threads permit this movement.)

At this point, if you hold your hands over the top you can feel the heat escaping.. if your smoking this is easy to see in a low late afternoon light. Now make the lower adjustment just a sliver. I can set my OTB at 175-180 this way.. As long as you can feel heat escaping up top, your coals will continue to burn...

I make minor adjustments down below.