Full Product Manual

Setting Up the Weber Vents to Cook
“Low and Slow”
The approach to smoking “low and slow” requires setting
the vents on the Weber kettle correctly. Individual weather
and climate conditions will vary your results with the
Smokenator. Always do a test run with your setup to
understand how your smoker will work before cooking with
food.
As you know, the Weber kettle has two controllable vents –
a lower and an upper vent. The upper vent is used to vary
the temperature of the grill. The lower vent controls the
oxygen flow into the closed grill.
We recommend setting the lower vent wide open. If you
have a leaky grill (ie. The lid does not fit well) you may need
to close the lower vent partially. The upper vent requires at
least a 3/8” opening – this is about the width of a common
wooden pencil and can be used to gauge the minimum
opening.
Charcoal is very sensitive to fluctuations in oxygen. A gap
of 3/8” in the upper vent as shown will maintain a
temperature of about 230°F dome temperature (210°F food
support grill temperature), depending on ambient
temperature (70-90°F), humidity, and smaller cooking loads.
You will vary temperature by opening and closing the top
vent.
Most customers use a thermometer placed in the dome
vent unless a thermometer is built into your kettle grill lid.
Digital thermometers with wired probes can also be used to
get a more accurate temperature inside the kettle grill.