CSS said
> With
> water, I used to let my WSM go above 250 before throwing the food
> on, it would then drop to 250. With sand, if it goes above 250,
> it takes a long time to come back down. So now my technique is
> to bring the temp up to 200 or so, throw on the food, and let it
> rise slowly without overshooting 225-250 or so.

I've used my WSM a grand total of one time. This first time I simply
let the temp flare as high as it pleased for an hour or so (burn in).
It reached ~350F(?). Then I opened the lid, let the heat out, and
threw on four chicken halves. The temp rose back to ~250 and sat
there {with a few small vent adjustments by a newby (me)}.

How should I better control the temp rise next time?

I see closing the (bottom) vents is the thermal control. Should I
close them slightly... _before_ the initial billowing smoke drops
off? Should I close them slightly..._after_ the initial billowing
smoke drops off? I think I did the later and this is why the temps
spiked so high.

--
Better living through smoking.