i have used my 22 for 3 cooks now havent done a brisket yet as they are not available in my area yet. stupid wisconsin grocery stores dont sell em till may!??@##@@#@$@#$@%^^^!! have done baby backs chicken and turkey. fuel use appears to be only VERY slightly more than the 18" i tried the 18" ring and burn rate was same as the big ring so i went back to the big ring for the third go.
i used around half a bag of the large bag sized kingsford for 5-6hour cooks. the 18 was a little less than half a bag for same time.
when i first got the 22" i used 3/4 of a large bag in the wsm and it went for 12 hours at 350 then tapered off over the next 4 hours till it extinguished no water in the pan no food.
smaller ring didnt mean that much but starting with more lit seemed to reduce fuel use and hit the cook temp faster. i start it with a half full weber starter of coals. starting with less seemed to go through the fuel faster. not sure as i am not much into measuring things but it seemed to be that way.
i did spend a LOT of time adjust the door and my lid fits REALLY tight as there is a slight shipping dent in one sid of the lip of the middle section. my lid has no leak and the door very little so im not complaining.
the bottom vents are bigger and seem to let in more air so i have to keep them nearly fully shut to maintain 250 lid. i may still have door air leak as there hasnt really been enough grease build up yet. my 18 functioned the same way for the first dozen or so cooks.
over all i am really pleased with the new 22. i am glad i got it as the extra space is really nice and the door is big enough to just dump hot coals or unlit directly into the charcoal chamber using the door as a chute. so i am actually using less coals now as it is easier to load while cooking than the 18. i am not afraid of using less and having to reload for chicken/rib type cooks.
i have done two cooks without water and one with. water seems to have a larger effect on the 22 but i think that is just because it is new and has not developed the same grease buffer than my 18 has.
thats my experiences and impressions so far. mileage may vary. i like it better than 18
