Vincent Carrocci
TVWBB Super Fan
I've been a long time WSM user and competitor, always on 18" & 22" models. They have served me very well over the years. The days of cooking between 15 to 30 competitions per year are behind me now so I'm spending a lot more time just cooking for fun and trying out new things.
A few months ago, I purchased a used 14" WSM via Craigslist for about $70. The only downside is that the owner hadn't put much effort into keeping it clean so I knew I was going to have a bit of a rehab chore ahead of me prior to cooking on it. Today I decided to clean up the unit and get it prepped for some fun. I spent a fair bit of time scrubbing a boatload of gunk off of the inside and outside of the water pan to get it back down to the porcelain , cleaning the cooking grates and polishing the exterior on the dome, center section and bowl.
I'm planning to run some competition style chicken through it on Sunday so tomorrow I'll be burning some KBB to see how well it holds temperature and responds to temperature changes via my Stoker II WiFi. I've installed a 5cfm blower on the bowl and that should push plenty of air through the charcoal. I'll probably even graph the results with StokerLog just because I enjoy that kind of data!
I'm used to seeing my 18" & 22" units hold temps within about 2°F +/- of my target and I hope the 14" unit will do the same. Regardless, I'm looking forward to using a different cooker and dialing it in!
A few months ago, I purchased a used 14" WSM via Craigslist for about $70. The only downside is that the owner hadn't put much effort into keeping it clean so I knew I was going to have a bit of a rehab chore ahead of me prior to cooking on it. Today I decided to clean up the unit and get it prepped for some fun. I spent a fair bit of time scrubbing a boatload of gunk off of the inside and outside of the water pan to get it back down to the porcelain , cleaning the cooking grates and polishing the exterior on the dome, center section and bowl.
I'm planning to run some competition style chicken through it on Sunday so tomorrow I'll be burning some KBB to see how well it holds temperature and responds to temperature changes via my Stoker II WiFi. I've installed a 5cfm blower on the bowl and that should push plenty of air through the charcoal. I'll probably even graph the results with StokerLog just because I enjoy that kind of data!
I'm used to seeing my 18" & 22" units hold temps within about 2°F +/- of my target and I hope the 14" unit will do the same. Regardless, I'm looking forward to using a different cooker and dialing it in!