Temp spike when opening lid?

thedart51

Member
Messages
12
Grill(s) owned
  1. Stampede
Hope someone can help with these questions. Smoked a brisket for my second cook ever today. Ran out of pellets and saw temperature steadily dropping 75 deg below the set point. I refilled the hopper. Next thing I know the grill goes up 30 deg over set point. I assume that was because it relit the new pellets? I then opened the lid to let cool air in (20 deg outside today) to drop the temp, but that didn’t work either. In fact, the temp stayed elevated until I just left it alone, after which it slowly came down to set point. From reading other threads, I understand it’s because the controller decided to burn more pellets not realizing the lid was only briefly open. Is that right?

Assuming I’m correct both times, for future cooks, I should never let the hopper run out to avoid the temp spike described in my first question, right? But then what do you do to avoid temp spikes every time you open the lid in cold weather (like for spritzing, mopping, probing brisket, etc)? Do you set the grills super low immediately before you open the lid, then turn it back up after you close the lid?

hope I’m being clear...thanks for any thoughts!
 
Always make sure you have enough pellets in the hopper for your cook. Opening the lid for your purposes will not harm your cook, just do not open the lid excessively. The short temperature swing you will have after your spritz,mop, etc. will not effect your meat. Just think, your brisket is in the cooker for hours, a five minute temp spike is nothing, your brisket will not know the difference.
 
Hope someone can help with these questions. Smoked a brisket for my second cook ever today. Ran out of pellets and saw temperature steadily dropping 75 deg below the set point. I refilled the hopper. Next thing I know the grill goes up 30 deg over set point. I assume that was because it relit the new pellets? I then opened the lid to let cool air in (20 deg outside today) to drop the temp, but that didn’t work either. In fact, the temp stayed elevated until I just left it alone, after which it slowly came down to set point. From reading other threads, I understand it’s because the controller decided to burn more pellets not realizing the lid was only briefly open. Is that right?

Assuming I’m correct both times, for future cooks, I should never let the hopper run out to avoid the temp spike described in my first question, right? But then what do you do to avoid temp spikes every time you open the lid in cold weather (like for spritzing, mopping, probing brisket, etc)? Do you set the grills super low immediately before you open the lid, then turn it back up after you close the lid?

hope I’m being clear...thanks for any thoughts!
When you open the lid, the PID is trying to compensate for that large leak so it starts dumping pellets in to get it back to temp asap. It can only control the temp to the set point in a controlled environment. Leaving the lid closed kept it controlled so it could bring the temp back down with its own fan.

The temp spikes from spritzing will do nothing really to your cook. If anything, the temperature of your spritz would matter more than the grill temp spike.

Also, your "actual temp" isn't really an actual temp from what i've gathered. It's a calculated temperature average of the entire grill.

You could have had an ambient temp probe in the grill ( not the meat ones) and see that when you open the lid and close it right away and the the temp drops way low, even though the "actual temp" still doesn't. Most grills i've seen are about 10-20 degrees lower than the set temp from factory.
 
Most grills i've seen are about 10-20 degrees lower than the set temp from factory.
So do we need to set the temp 10-20 degrees higher than what a recipe calls for? Does everyone use an ambient probe instead of relying on the “actual temp”?
 
So do we need to set the temp 10-20 degrees higher than what a recipe calls for? Does everyone use an ambient probe instead of relying on the “actual temp”?
Calibrate the RTD probe using a trusted thermometer and keep the lid shut when cooking. If you know the lid is going to be open for more than a minuet turn the grills temperature down to low this will help with the temperature spikes after it's shut.
 
Thanks, you mean extreme smoke mode?
This will work or just down lower then what the temperature you were cooking at. Generally if you just ignore it the grill will catch back up to set temperature in 20 minutes or so after longer lid openings at the mid to lower temp cooks. If the app is working correctly your phone is going to be blown up from all the notifications.
 

Create an account or login to comment

You must be a member in order to leave a comment

Create account

Create an account on our community. It's easy!

Log in

Already have an account? Log in here.

Latest posts

Back
Top