Can't Keep the heat low enough

Steve0

Doing an overnight brisket (14lb) on my large. For some reason the temp has spiked twice over 280. Both times I've had to shut off the flow on the top and bottom dampers and start over. I'm keeping the air flow on both dampers at a minimal. The spikes happened both times after I opened the dome, probably increasing the air flow to the embers. What is the best way to lower and stabilize the heat, getting nervous because this guy is cooking quicker the any other ones that I have done. At two and a half hours in I'm at 133. Hopefully this won't be a sleepless night.

Angus1978

Wood chunks too close together? Catching fire and not smoldering. Only a guess

Steve0

Am I doing the right thing by cutting the airflow, dropping the temp, and trying to stabilize?

DMW

Close the bottom to the thickness of a credit card the the top petals almost closed to drop temp. Don't close all the way or you will snuff the fire out.

xiphoid007

Once your hot its hard to stabilize lower. Choking the fire will cool it, but the second you open, the oxygen starved fire will flare up fairly quickly.

If you do as @DMW‌ said, and leave it there, you should stabilize lower, just watch your fire doesn't go out.

When spiking, the worst thing to do is over adjust. Let the egg stabilize and don't tinker too much.

Steve0

Taking DMW's advice and the temp is creeping down. At what point should I open things up a little. I am 246 at the grid/brisket level. Want to keep it between 225 and 250 overnight.

Tjcoley

First of all, stop opening the dome. Let it stabilize per the advice above and let it go.

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Steve0 said:

Am I doing the right thing by cutting the airflow, dropping the temp, and trying to stabilize?

no. You are chasing which will drive you nuts all night. Close it down to like 1/8-1/4 inch on the draft door and crack the daisy where you can see a tiny slit in all the holes. Wait an hour before touching again. That will lock you in somewhere under 300-probably closer to 250 which is perfect. After an hour, Tweak one or the other open or closed a tiny bit to get it where you want and wait at least 30 min before you touch it again. A tiny adjustment can be 20-30 degrees up or down but it may take 30-45 min to get there. This is a little simplistic but it will get you through tonight. Never shut down and ramp up. You will look like a meth addict in the morning because you will be so addled and tired from chasing temps all night and getting no sleep.

The Cen-Tex Smoker

All this assumes you built your fire right and got it stable before choking it down.

Steve0

I seem to have it stabilized at around 244 keeping the bottom damper at the thickness of the credit card. One of themistakes I made was opening it to insert the probe into the meat. The second was that I has the slab folded over at the ends so they would not hang over the flames. I opened it at the two hour mark to unfold the slab. Both of those times is where I did the damage. Lessons learned.

The Cen-Tex Smoker

You are fine on both of those. If your fire is stable, it will come right back. 244 is great. Don't touch it.

Steve0

Thanks all. Confident that it is stabilized. Good night and I will give you guys the update tomorrow afternoon.

Tjcoley

Looking forward to the result. Good luck and good night.

Steve0

Made it through the night without the temp setting alarm going out. Sitting at a 225 dome temp with the brisket at 183. Hopefully I will be pulling this around 2:30 if things go right.

johnmitchell

Fantastic and as an added bonus you don't look like a meth addict...Congratulations on getting a handle on the temp..Post some cook pics..