Added Some Vents to the 18.5


 
Robert-R

Robert-R

TVWBB Diamond Member
I added some daisy-wheel vents to the top & bottom of the 18.5.

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Some serious high heat here!

Dry brined a chicken in Kosher salt for an hour and one half. Rinsed it. Rubbed with Weber Kickin' Chicken.

Buried several chunks of apple in a layer of KBB. Added a Weber chimney of fully lit KBB. Lets talk instant TBS.

Hung the birdie for 85 minutes. Might add... it pegged the lid thermometer the whole time.

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It came out great... a tad salty. Might rinse the bird twice next time. Or change he rub. The meat was a bit on the dry side. Maybe cook a few minutes less.
My quest for crispy chicken skin is now over! Killer skin!!! Crunchy!!!

I'm going to do it to the 14.5 real soon.
 
I've seen these high heat mods in the past and have considered it myself for the same reasons. Looks like you did a good job on the install.
 
ChuckO said:
Bravo Robert! So how many vents on top? (looks like two) and on bottom? (looks like you added one)
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I added one to the top & one to the bottom.

fwiw - I have no idea of what was the cooking temp. I suspect it would have killed the 731 probe wires. Got some great white smoke from all the grease hitting the coals. ;)
 
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Dwain Pannell said:
I've seen these high heat mods in the past and have considered it myself for the same reasons. Looks like you did a good job on the install.
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Thanks. A step drill makes it pretty ez. Wear eye protection, that porcelain on metal is nasty stuff.
 
Nice job on the vents. Been going to do that also but just one on the top. Living at 5600 ft. up makes for some thin air and sometimes I have a hard time getting my temps up on the 18.5. for normal L&S cooks. If I put a long screw driver to lift the lid a little it works fine so one vent ought to do it. For HH Chicken I just take the water pan out and the door off works great.
 
Rich Dahl said:
Nice job on the vents. Been going to do that also but just one on the top. Living at 5600 ft. up makes for some thin air and sometimes I have a hard time getting my temps up on the 18.5. for normal L&S cooks. If I put a long screw driver to lift the lid a little it works fine so one vent ought to do it. For HH Chicken I just take the water pan out and the door off works great.
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This works much better for me than using a long screw driver. I never use a water pan or other diffuser for this much HH. No need to remove the door with the extra vents.
 
I did almost the exact same thing, except that I put 2 vents in the bottom bowl and one in the lid. Last thanksgiving i smoked 2 14lb birds at a time and was able to run 345-365F the whole time, with an empty Piedmont pan. Before i put the birds on the smoker was almost 500F with all vents open.
 
Paul Pearson said:
I did almost the exact same thing, except that I put 2 vents in the bottom bowl and one in the lid. Last thanksgiving i smoked 2 14lb birds at a time and was able to run 345-365F the whole time, with an empty Piedmont pan. Before i put the birds on the smoker was almost 500F with all vents open.
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Ha! Thanks for your comment. I have an extra daisy-wheel (came in a 3-pack). I'll add another to the bottom.
 
I put a second lid vent right where the thermometer is. You can use the thermometers center hole for bolting the vent. Just open the hole in the vent so you can use a larger bolt. Then when you drill the 3 vent holes position one hole so it takes out the anti rotation slot for the Weber thermometer bezel.

I then used a 2" RIVER BBQ temp gage on the side of the lid at about the same location, just spaced 1/2 way between the two vents. I didn't see any need to keep the factory temp gauge since it doesn't go high enough for high temp cooking. You might be able to swap a gennis grill temp gauge in place for the wsm one. That way you would have more range.
 
Added another vent to the bottom of the 18.5 (per Paul Pearson's comment).

Added 3 vents to the 14.5: one on the lid & two on the bottom.

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Would like to say that the Weber customer service person was very helpful, but I got the feeling that he or Weber was not going to sell the daisy wheels without a registered product with serial number.
Cost was $5 per daisy wheel vent & $7 shipping. Weber part number: 85043. Description: Damper Kit, 14.5" SMC, '14.

Let's hear it for High Heat!
 
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I need to do this to my 14.5 as well, or something similar to improve airflow. It just doesn't want to run as hot as my 18.5 will with the stock vents. Might be the grate level relative to the air vents like i read in another post.
 
I understand the need for high heat for crispy skin, but wonder is there an advantage of high heat in the WSM over a Weber Kettle? It seems to me that if high heat is needed I just need to use my kettle, if low and slow is needed than that calls for my WSM. Or is there an advantage to high heat in the WSM that can't be attained with the kettle?
 
It's a direct cook - no water pan or diffuser.
You get great flavor from the smoke when the chicken grease hits the coals.

Am thinking that the next bird may be done at 400* or higher.
 
Steve Porter said:
I understand the need for high heat for crispy skin, but wonder is there an advantage of high heat in the WSM over a Weber Kettle? It seems to me that if high heat is needed I just need to use my kettle, if low and slow is needed than that calls for my WSM. Or is there an advantage to high heat in the WSM that can't be attained with the kettle?
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You just get a little more distance between the hot coals and the meat.
 
Steve Porter said:
I understand the need for high heat for crispy skin, but wonder is there an advantage of high heat in the WSM over a Weber Kettle? It seems to me that if high heat is needed I just need to use my kettle, if low and slow is needed than that calls for my WSM. Or is there an advantage to high heat in the WSM that can't be attained with the kettle?
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for the record I do not cook high heat without water pan on the WSM but I feel it is similar to the "Hill Country BBQ Style" made so famous in the Texas hill country. At a true hill county BBQ joint they have huge burn barrels out back and burn hardwood down to coals. They have long pits and shovel the hot coals directly under the meat. Not real sure on exact specifics but I would say there is at least 3-4 feet between the meat on the grate to the hardwood coals. The whole cooks the brisket juice drips onto those coals and creates a steam that everyone says does wonders to the meat. Keeps it moist and flavorful. You don't see too many BBQ joints that cook that way these days... The big offset aaron franklin stlye cookers is the "Central Texas Style"


So to answer your question a kettle could be used but I think those fat drippings could help out...
 
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