 |
Your Temperature control is all in the air flow for smoking and grilling with equipment! |
How do you keep a charcoal grill at 200°F? How do you cool down a charcoal grill? Do you keep the vents open all the time?
These
are some of the common questions posed when it comes to learning how to
control the temperature of a grill or smoker. This can be a challenge
specifically for charcoal/wood units as they rely on the human hand to
determine when to add fuel as opposed to a gas/LP unit that has
continual, regulated flow.
You might assume that the only combustible material used in these units is charcoal or wood but there is another one. Oxygen.
I’m
going to provide my top tips on gaining control of temperature by
instructing you on airflow or oxygen regulation in specific styles of
charcoal/wood burning equipment.
Intake and Outtake
For
many of the charcoal/wood using units, they are built with an intake
and an outtake vent. Let’s make sure you understand what these vents
are and what the purpose of each is.
Intake Vent: It
has one job – bring in oxygen to control the heat of the fire. If you
need to raise the temperature of your unit, open the intake vent. Too
much heat, close the intake vent which starves the fire for oxygen.
Note: if you close the intake vent entirely while keeping the outtake open, you
will still starve the fire and put it out.
Here’s
the trick – each unit will have a “sweet spot” for the perfect balance
of oxygen flow. Find that spot, and you can maintain a temperature
easily in your equipment. But, I’m getting a little ahead of myself.
Let’s discuss the opposing vent.
Outtake Vent: This
goes by different names (chimney, flue, outtake, vent) but has the same
purpose regardless of what you call it; vent out the gases from the
combustible material and pull in oxygen from the intake vent which is
commonly know as draft. Remember a charcoal/wood fire produces gases
which need to be vented. If they aren’t properly vented, they will
smother the fire.
When learning how to regulate your equipment for
the desired temperature setting, always start with the outtake vent
fully open. This allows you to manipulate only the intake vent until
you reach the desired temperature. That will help you learn where the
sweet spot is on your equipment.
There are times when no matter how you play with the intake vent, you never seem to get the temperature to hold. What now?
Time
to look for leaks in your equipment. If an access door or lid are
bleeding smoke, then you know where the extra oxygen is coming from.
That will affect the draft between the intake and outtake vent and
result in fluctuating temperature that cannot be controlled. Best
course of action is to try to seal the leaks with food grade silicone or
other materials suitable for high heat appliances.
The Shape of the Equipment
In
my opinion, the vertical-style equipment models tend to be much easier
to get airflow/temperature control. Horizontal units also referred to
as off-set smokers and grills, specifically the inexpensive models, tend
to have poor design in the vent placements as well as poor insulation
that results in heavy leakage.
If you insist on purchasing a
horizontal unit, read reviews and ask questions about how the unit is
insulated. Get specific with the materials used, quality of the metal
parts, etc.
Always try to light your initial fuel product, whether briquets,
lump hardwood charcoal,
or charcoal in a chimney starter so you can control the quantity with
every cook. Use the chimney to add hot coals to the unit when you need
to increase temperature. Although you can have unlit charcoal in your
charcoal area so it will ignite as the lit produce makes contact, this
isn’t always a guarantee that you won’t produce some temperature
variance. The best chance of getting the temperature regulated is by
adding hot coals as needed, even if this may be every hour or so.
To
summarize, learn to control temperature by using the same quantity and
type of material for the fuel, lit it with a chimney starter, only add
hot coals to increase the temperature, and always have the exhaust vent
open at least ½ way when cooking. Remember the number one thing is
Temperature control is all in the air flow and you will have tasty
grilling results!