Water or Sand

[Bam Bam]

Hey Joe,

I meant to post today on this.  I went and bought some ceramic briquettes from Lowes and saw a substantial difference with the WSM's.  I use the Guru Cyber Q but with wind or direct sunlight I still have spikes that shoot over the set temp by 10 or 15 degrees.  With the ceramic I never varied more than 3 degrees from the set temp.  I think I remember you saying the you live close by, youre more than welcome to give the guru a shot on a cook, youll just need the adapter for your cooker.   

[joe2chillo]

Bam Bam,

Thanks. I may take you up on that. I have a Pro Q so not sure where I would get the adapter but it should be almost the exact same as the WSM. I too got some lava rocks and put them in my water pan last night. Temps were really good. Too hot if anything. I had to almost close all the vents and it was still getting warm. The temp held a goo 275 over night which is what I was looking for. This morning as the coals were dying down it started dropping. I added more coal but that it was getting too hot and I had trouble getting it down. I think once I get used to the lava rocks this is the way to go. Still the Guru sounds so awesome. Maybe we can meet up one night for a beer and say hi. Before long we can be doing some BBQs together. I need a BBQ buddy. All my friends just look at me with glazed over eyes and nod there heads when I start talking about it but they seem to like the food.

[Bam Bam]

LOL!! Anytime man! You need to come up to these mini comps.  All we do is talk BBQ.

[joe2chillo]

Wanted to give an update. I have been using the lava rocks for a while now and have got the hang of it now. I can really maintain good temps with much less fuel now. My coal is lasting much longer and my temps stay very steady. Thanks for the help everyone. Bam Bam let me know when one of those mini comps is going on.

[Bam Bam]

Nice man!  Will do! Come cook at the boo bash in Oct.  It would be a great comp for your first time.  Everyone will be there, and you can get tons of help and advice.

[c5rulz]

So I am trying the lava rocks. I put a bag of them in the water pan and covered them with foil. I am trying to maintain a temp of 275 for a few hours. So far I am having trouble maintaining the temp. I get it up to where I want it and try to turn down the air flow and it drops too much. I have been playing with it for a couple of hours and I am either too hot or too cool. Due to my constant watch over it, it has not got out of control to where it is going to mess up my food but I do need to figure out how to stabilize it soon so I can go to bed. That digital guru sure is sounding nice about now.

The temp on the cooking grates is quite a bit higher than the temp indicated on the smoker dome.

[bucaguy]

I have been trying new ways of using lava rocks for the last few months.. lately I have been mixing them with the Charcoal and it is working great.. Today I fired the Q up at 7am It is 530 and it is is still at running at 235! I did not have to add anything else during the cook expect a little more wood.   All the charcoal will but out and I can just shake the lava rocks clean.. I have never had this smoker hold that temp for this long.. 

On a side note.. it is easily the best brisket I have ever done.

[bucaguy]

My Pro Q went 14.5 hours and stayed right at 230-235 the whole time on one batch of charcoal.I am very pleased about this.. loving my lava rocks