# Akorn low-n-slow woes,,,,



## GA1dad (May 7, 2015)

I've had my akorn for a couple of months now and cooked on it several times. From the get-go I struggled with "low-n-slow" on it. The cooker just seemed to like settling around 325 to 350. To make it worse, any effort to bring temps back down resulted in snuffing out the coals.

This has been great for chicken cooks, but when I wanted ribs I would fire up the trusty old UDS to insure temps wouldn't get too hot. After reading post after post of others having the same issue, it became clear that low and slow took finesse and did not come easy on akorn's.

Well two weeks ago I had an idea. I filled the unit up volcano style with some RO red bag lump and each day after work I'd light it up for dry runs and try to get it settled below 250. And each day it would begin getting too hot and I'd wind up snuffing it out trying to dial it back down. Then I'd go to bed a failure and start the process over the next day after work. After two loads of RO and a dozen failures, I was getting pretty frustrated and was considering swapping it off for something else. 

And then yesterday I decided to give some Kingsford BB a try using a standard horseshoe minion method and small chunks of peach wood,,, and behold we ran for hours at 217 degrees!!! 

Today I got home and run the same minion test with RO lump. I put an empty Weber chimney on the bottom grate and piled the lump up around the chimney forming a nice horseshoe 3/4's of the way around. Then I lifted the chimney out and lit off one end using a single alcohol soaked cotton ball.  Once the cotton ball burned out, I closed the lid and left all vents open. Once the cooker got up to 175, I closed the bottom vent to the number 2 and the top vent to about a quart inch open. That got me settled at about 250 degrees. Then I closed the bottom vent to a quarter inch below the 2 hashmark, and the top vent to about an eigth of an inch or so. We are currently cruising at 230 dome temp,,, and have been since 6:00 pm. 

Needless to say I'm pretty happy right now. I'm gonna let it burn over night and see what it looks like when I get up in the morning. Now that I have a grip on the vent settings, I'll try lighting off a pile again and see if it works.

My whole point to this long post is that if you are new to the akorn and struggling like I've been, stick with it! Do yourself plenty of dry runs. You can get a half dozen (or more ) attempts out of a load of charcoal. Once you dial it in that first time, you've got it!!

Side note- Instead of chunk wood, today I  used the "Amaze-N" pellet tube in the center of the horseshoe to see if it would have enough airflow to operate,,, it is working perfectly, with just a light whisper of oak/apple smoke exiting the cooker.


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## rfeltman41 (May 7, 2015)

Awesome...good thing about most low and slow meAts are that they are pretty forgiving (except brisket). I cook all of my butts around 300 and they turn out great. I cooked some ribs last summer and lost track after a few adult beverages and they spiked upwards to 325..I was like dangit and low and behold everyone said they were the best I had done! I'm intrigued by cooking, it's the tinkering and learning that gets me.


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## Gadestroyer74 (May 7, 2015)

The most important thing with the akorn and low and slow is to do just that.. Make your volcano . I use Webster lighter cubes. Break one in half. Put it on the edge of the volcano on one side. Open your vents to around 4 or 5 on top and bottom once you see the temp gauge get to 100 close the vents to 1.5 on each. You can leave the bottom at 2 of you like. When you make an adjustment only move the bottom bent and move it very slowly like 1/4 inch a time and wait it takes it good 10 mins or so to take affect. Also you could have air leaks causing the temps to rise. I upgraded my gaskets to the high temp gaskets made a huge difference I did this on lid ash pan and vents. If it's getting air it's gonna get hotter. Once you learn the kinks and how to's it's easy I own two of them and let me tell ya I snuffed some fires out to begin with


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## JR'S GUIDE (May 7, 2015)

Have ya'll akorn owners ever look into getting a BBQ GURU with a 10 cfm fan, I have seen them for the BGE and YouTube videos for those type cookers, I am sure you would get better burn times and better temp control plus up to 3 meat temp probes on some models.


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## Paymaster (May 8, 2015)

Never had a problem myself with just filling up the charcoal space with lump lighting a cube in the center and controlling the heat with the vents. For 225* I barely open the bottom vent and the top at a 1/4" or so. I have run for 30 hours with this setup and never getting heat above 250*.


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## Duff (May 8, 2015)

Great thread! My runs alot like Pay's. This tells me, most all of the cookers are different and you need to find which method works best for you.

I agree with the op. I was ready to give mine away after the first few cooks. With some good advice from folks on here, my family and I love it now.


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## cjones (May 8, 2015)

The key is definitely to start with a small fire and let it grow to where you want it.  If you start off with half a chimney of lit coals, you're too hot out of the gate for the Akorn and you'll probably snuff it out by trying to get it cooled down to where you want it.

I didn't have much success with the lighter cubes (I was usually rushing at the last minute to get the fire going and got impatient), so I started throwing 1-2 good-sized lumps in the chimeny and starting them over a propane burner and then throwing those lumps onto the pile of lump in the Akorn and letting that be my starter.

I also very rarely close the top vent down past about half-way.  Not sure if it helps or hurts, but it's how I've gotten comfortable doing it.

One thing that I have definitely learned -- don't use charcoal briquettes in the Akorn unless you like the taste of chemical in your food.  I guess the Akorn is sealed so tightly that the chemicals in the briquettes get absorbed into the food before they can escape through the vent.


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## elfiii (May 8, 2015)

JR'S GUIDE said:


> Have ya'll akorn owners ever look into getting a BBQ GURU with a 10 cfm fan, I have seen them for the BGE and YouTube videos for those type cookers, I am sure you would get better burn times and better temp control plus up to 3 meat temp probes on some models.





I bought one for my Stump's so when I finally pull the trigger on an Akorn all I will need is the bottom adapter for the fan. They are expensive but you set it and forget it. No more worries about controlling the cooking temp. Some people may call that cheating or being lazy. I'll let my Q be the answer to that.


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## K80 (May 8, 2015)

JR'S GUIDE said:


> Have ya'll akorn owners ever look into getting a BBQ GURU with a 10 cfm fan, I have seen them for the BGE and YouTube videos for those type cookers, I am sure you would get better burn times and better temp control plus up to 3 meat temp probes on some models.



http://www.auberins.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=14_27&products_id=395 I use this and my char-griller wireless thermometer to watch meat and grate temp while watching TV,  working in kitchen,  or at alarms and go to bed.


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## Miguel Cervantes (May 8, 2015)

Paymaster said:


> Never had a problem myself with just filling up the charcoal space with lump lighting a cube in the center and controlling the heat with the vents. For 225* I barely open the bottom vent and the top at a 1/4" or so. I have run for 30 hours with this setup and never getting heat above 250*.


^^^^This

Contrary to what anyone says on the Akorn or Kamado blogs about the Akorn temp control I have learned the same thing Pay has. Once you get the hang of it you will feel confident in walking away for hours while your grub cooks.


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## GA1dad (May 8, 2015)

cjones said:


> The key is definitely to start with a small fire.



And therein lies the lesson I think I picked up with the minion trials. It gave me an idea of just how small you guys are talking about. With the narrow bed of coals used in the minion method, I probably only had 2 to 3 coals halfway lit when I began closing vents. When using the volcano or pile method, I can see now that even though it seemed like a small fire, I simply had too many coals lit from the start. This, with a new perspective on venting settings and I should be on track to try a couple of sausage fatties this weekend.


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## NCHillbilly (May 8, 2015)

I have the same exact feelings and experiences as Paymaster. To run at 250, my top and bottom vents are both set at less than one most of the time. I think starting with way too much fire and trying to get it to temp too quickly is the problem a lot of folks have. With the diffuser and drip pan installed, it usually takes me 30 minutes or more to get mine up to 250 and stabilized, sometimes longer. But if you bring it up slow, it will hold that temp pretty durn solid all day long. I have done no mods to mine whatsoever. I just fill the firebox with lump, being sure to leave an airspace in the center, then light a very small fire, put everything in, and leave the vents wide open until it hits about 150, then I'll start easing them down so that it's still rising, but very slowly. When it gets within about 10* of my target temp, I'll crank the vents down to 1 or less, then fine-tune them until it stops rising and holds. BTW, don't overthink temp anyway. There is no "magic temp". You can cook great bbq anywhere from 200 to 350, a lot of the competition-winning stuff is cooked at temps over 300. It's all about learning to cook at the temp you prefer. I used to run 225, but nowadays, I run at 250-275 for smoking pork and such, and like the finished product better, and it's also done sooner. No need to spend 24 hours cooking a butt if it don't turn out at least as good as the one you cooked in 8 hours.


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## NCHillbilly (May 8, 2015)

JR'S GUIDE said:


> Have ya'll akorn owners ever look into getting a BBQ GURU with a 10 cfm fan, I have seen them for the BGE and YouTube videos for those type cookers, I am sure you would get better burn times and better temp control plus up to 3 meat temp probes on some models.



If I wanted to cook on an automated machine, I'd just use the oven. Half the fun of smoking is getting to know your rig and learning how to master it. As for burn times and temp control on an Akorn, just like mine came from Lowe's, I have run for 14 hours or more without hardly touching the vents, and it would probably have run 14 more without adding any more fuel.


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## Dub (May 8, 2015)

Paymaster said:


> Never had a problem myself with just filling up the charcoal space with lump lighting a cube in the center and controlling the heat with the vents. For 225* I barely open the bottom vent and the top at a 1/4" or so. I have run for 30 hours with this setup and never getting heat above 250*.




I was very fortunate that strategy worked just fine on my Akorn and on my Kamado Joe.

I suspect, though, that some folks may have air leaks that may explain the struggle to get temps down low.

All the "gunk" that tends to build up on the vents of my cookers has helped seal them even better, in my opinion. 

It's not unlike the dirt that's holding my high milage truck together.......one trip to the car wash and she may fall apart on me.  






elfiii said:


> I bought one for my Stump's so when I finally pull the trigger on an Akorn all I will need is the bottom adapter for the fan. They are expensive but you set it and forget it. No more worries about controlling the cooking temp. Some people may call that cheating or being lazy. I'll let my Q be the answer to that.



I hear ya, Elfii.    You gotta really be enjoying that Stumps.  That's a fine, fine smoker.  You've truly got the best of both worlds.......higher capacity and steady Stumps.....and then an easy to use, fast cooking Akorn that takes minimal warmup time or cleaning.  It's easier than a gas grill.


As steady as my kamados are when fed quality lump......I still very much want a pit controller/fan.

I want one so that I can set it and forget on overnight cooks or on days when I've got to leave the house.

I've studied the mess out of what's on the market and the features and limitations of each.   I've talked to owners of a number of different products.

The one that I've decided to get.....as soon as the grilling funds are available......is the BBQ Guru DigiQ-DX2.  I don't care for the wifi/cyber features of other types.  I very much want straightforward and simple controls of a single pit unit.

I'm certain that's the one for me.....now it's just a matter of getting the funds that I can peel off for more grilling toys.





GA1dad said:


> And therein lies the lesson I think I picked up with the minion trials. It gave me an idea of just how small you guys are talking about. With the narrow bed of coals used in the minion method, I probably only had 2 to 3 coals halfway lit when I began closing vents. When using the volcano or pile method, I can see now that even though it seemed like a small fire, I simply had too many coals lit from the start. This, with a new perspective on venting settings and I should be on track to try a couple of sausage fatties this weekend.




Proud of ya, man.    Glad you hung in there and found a workaround.


It's like Elfii stated........it's the results of the flavor that matters.......not how we have to get it.


I'm glad you found a method that worked for you.

I really feel like those Akorns are simply the best grill deals on the market after a Weber kettle.

There is a learning curve.....and unfortunately it applies to your specific unit.....that may perform slightly different than mine.......or someone else's.    Once you learn what works, then you'll begin unlocking the real potentials of these cookers.


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## GA1dad (May 8, 2015)

Dub said:


> I suspect, though, that some folks may have air leaks that may explain the struggle to get temps down low.



That was certainly a consideration. I got out after dark one evening with a flashlight inside the cooker. I couldn't get even the tinyest sliver of light to spill out by the seals or vents. I reckon if you can't get light to slip out, you shouldn't get any air slipping in. Atleast not enough to make a difference. I did however tighten up the hasps a bit to make the seals a little tighter for good measure.

I tell you one thing I love about this cooker,,, is the ash clean up. That couldn't be any easier.

Another question. When do you guys opt to use the deflector plate, and when do you not use it. I've used it everytime I cook on it, but didn't know if there were times that no plate would be better.

NCHillbilly, I certainly don't disagree with you. Low and slow is not absolutley required. Once I cooked a 17 pound brisket in 6 hours at 375 degrees,,, and it turned out quite good and very tender. All the guest raved about it??? It wasn't exactly planned that way and the only thing I can think of that saved it was sitting wrapped in a cooler for several hours before it was served.  But for now I'm really focusing on temp control, not to exceed 250 at the dome thermometer. Which by the way turns out to be quite accurate at cooking temps in comparison with the Maverick.


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## NCHillbilly (May 8, 2015)

GA1dad said:


> That was certainly a consideration. I got out after dark one evening with a flashlight inside the cooker. I couldn't get even the tinyest sliver of light to spill out by the seals or vents. I reckon if you can't get light to slip out, you shouldn't get any air slipping in. Atleast not enough to make a difference. I did however tighten up the hasps a bit to make the seals a little tighter for good measure.
> 
> I tell you one thing I love about this cooker,,, is the ash clean up. That couldn't be any easier.
> 
> ...



I use the deflector for all my smoking and baking pizzas or bread. I don't use the deflector when I'm grilling something, like burgers, chicken breasts/leg quarters, spatchcocked chickens, pork chops, etc. The Akorn works much like a Weber kettle for direct grilling. For super-hot grilling like searing steaks, I usually do that on my barrel grill-much easier, I can crank the coals up an inch under the meat on it. The dome gauge seems to be pretty accurate until you get up to higher temps, then it starts to deviate a good bit. Around 250 on my dome seems to be a spot that my Akorn likes to run, so I do most of my smoking around that temp.


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## Oldstick (May 8, 2015)

And I will cast yet another vote for very small opening on my Akorn if I want it to inch up and hold in the 200-250 area.  Less than the 1 mark, maybe a half inch of opening at the most for the bottom vent.  30 minute or more process to get there, like others mentioned.

That's a good point about the different types of coal possibly giving different results though.  I am still working on the same bag due to how little I use it up.


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## frosty20 (May 8, 2015)

Paymaster said:


> Never had a problem myself with just filling up the charcoal space with lump lighting a cube in the center and controlling the heat with the vents. For 225* I barely open the bottom vent and the top at a 1/4" or so. I have run for 30 hours with this setup and never getting heat above 250*.



this is the same way I've done mine. No problems yet


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## Oldstick (May 9, 2015)

Did a test yesterday with the remote temp probe in place on the cooking grate.  Got a little fire started in the middle as usual then waited for it to rise to around 160.  Went ahead and put the meat on then and closed it.  I left the bottom vent set right on the 1 mark and the top openings about a quarter inch (at the widest part of the holes).

Then I didn't touch it for a while.  The temp steadily inched up then finally stabilized in the 290 range and it took roughly an hour 15 minutes to reach that.


I got thinking (dangerous) this may be one major difference between the Akorn and the Eggs.  That 200 lb of ceramic probably acts as a huge heat sink, which would help stabilize the temps inside the unit.  Helping to prevent swings up or down once you get to where you want.

The Akorn is just a relatively thin steel body with insulation, so the inside air temp is the temp you get thus it is more finicky on the exact charcoal burn rate and what the exact air flow is at the time.


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## Paymaster (May 9, 2015)

Well, I do open my vents at the start and when the temp is up over 150*, I shut the vents to the positions I mentioned above. Usually takes 15-20 minutes to get to 150*.


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## Gbeagle (May 9, 2015)

I have found thru trial and error my Akorn prefers the minion method. Bottom vent closed completely with the top cracked a 1/2 moon. Last 2 slow and low cooks once I hit 150 on the initial light up shut her down to these settings and let it come to temp. Not sure how long she will burn like that but I smoked a cpl chickens for 4 hrs and a butt for 12 no problems. When I first got mine I was wanting to do all the mods but I find myself enjoying it much more just figuring it out without the mods. One thing about grills and smokers no 2 burn the same.


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## sbroadwell (May 9, 2015)

Yeah, I read up on all the mods myself. But, figured how I would see how it worked out of the box. And, never had any real trouble. I do like the others above, and start shutting it down before it reaches where I want it to stay.

I did tighten up the clasps on the ash tray by just wrapping some black tape around the part that hooks into the thing, and it got a lot tighter. And, I see a couple of little puffs of smoke sometimes around the outside of the top vent, only when it's pretty hot. Took the vent off to seat the o-ring better, and found the metal is a little bit misshapened. If this causes a problem ever, I'll just seal it with some stove cement.


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