Hi,
Just taken delivery of a Weber Smokey Mountain 57cm, very happy with it.
I'm aware of the issues it has (door, poor thermometer) and I'm planning to rectify.
After reading the advice of others I've decided to do a few dry runs to practice getting it up to temp .. Which was a good move as I'm having a nightmare.
I've been watching plenty of videos on YouTube in preparation for my first attempt, mainly "T Roy Cooks" (Really down to earth guy and easy to follow).
I purchased a 4kg bag of Weber Briquettes for my test run, flipped my Weber starter chimney over and filled the short end with briquettes until level.
Poured the rest on to the coal grate and made a little hole ready to put the lit coals in to. (Think this is the minion method)
Coals where ready in about 20 minutes, so poured them in.
Put the top on, filled the pan with water and shut the door.
I've left it now for an hour and it only seems to have hit 130c and won't go any higher.
All vents are wide open.
What am I doing wrong here?
I was hoping to get the temp up to 175c so I would be ready to practice on a couple of chickens.