I have no wsm


 

Grover

New member
Maybe 8 months ago I looked into buying a wsm--wife said no you won't use it -- so her I am 10 months later and the wsm has skyrocketed in price to 300$ on amazon- after reading a few/bunch of articles I buy a cheaper gourmet brinkmann smoker and make some diy adjustments to it -- I bought a new thermostat and am working on sealing the lid - I have new vents built built into it and think I'm ready to go -- I'm gave cooked some amazing chicken with the full temp going which is easy but what gets complicated is when ya wanna get slower- I have my first pork butt on her and can't get the temp below 250--- yes I don't have the wsm - but I do have a smoker that withove and care I hope to get functional- once I cook a few good things my wife will say oh yes we need a wsm- until then how do I get the temp below 250--- seems I can only get the temp down when my coal runs out and I have to add new since that happen 2.5 hours into the cook I have kept at 210 -- I have tried (I believe succeskfully) to close off all air penetrations I need more ideas-- I have all my lifes goal with me - my iPhone which I am on now - my soda and vodka and my cigar but I need a lower temp
 
I'm a new WSM owner but a longtime kettle grill smoker. Try experimenting with the quantity of coals. You should be able to estimate how many coals will give you 250 degrees. Seems to me you are simply using too many. With a non-WSM I would skip the typical minion method and, for example, start with X amount of coals, then an hour or so later, toss in 30 or 40 unlit coals to maintain. Of course you'll need to figure out the exact amount, but overall you can use less than what you're using now.

You could also try using ice cold water in your water pan to help balance things out if you spike into the 300s?

Just some thoughts. And if you are trying to convince the wife - check out aimtofind.com. They have WSM sales as low as $239 w/ free shipping. Keep your eye out.

John
 
Think fire triangle: oxygen, fuel, heat (source of ignition).

The route to temperature control is airflow. All of the fuel is already in the smoker. It is already lit in there. The only way to throttle the burning process is to limit the amount of oxygen. So you need to figure out where the air is getting in and seal it down.
 
If I could keep under 300, I wouldn't worry about it. You'll just get done a little quicker. Especially with a butt. It doesn't have to be all that low and slow to be very good BBQ.
 
Grover -

Can you post a picture of the Brinkmann you have? Depending on which model you got, I may have a couple of suggestions that could help you out.

Pat
 
I used a Gourmet for about 4 years, and modified it to make it possible to control the temperature. Here is a link to someone else's mods, with better photos than I have. Basically I think you need to do 3 things: 1. Put a grate in the charcoal pan so ashes can fall through and not smother the fire; 2. Put in some kind of adjustable air vent (instead of the "stock" vent which is just an open hole) so you have a way to control air flow (and temperature); 3. Install a real thermometer so you can tell what temperature you're cooking at. Once you do this, you can probably get 6 hours of trouble-free cooking on one fill of charcoal, at least that was my experience. That did require a refueling when cooking pork butts, but it was a lot better and easier than trying to cook with the Gourmet as it comes out of the box.
 
thanks guys those mods look pretty good i have already started a few of them- the biggest one i need to do is the fiberglass rope around the lid-- and i think i have been using to much charcoal so next run im going to not use as much and just add a little as i go every couple of hours maybe
 
Two suggestions:

1. Set up an RSS feed on Craigslist for a WSM, that's where I found mine for $125.

2. At $239 for a new one, and considering it will last you for at least ten years, or more, the amortized cost is less than $25/year, less than one trip to the movies a year, or one lunch out with the MRS. per year.

You will also save more than that on charcoal per year.
Chuck
 
Also look into building yourself a UDS. There is so much info out there you could literally spend days reading all the info about them. I have a UDS and a WSM and I can't pick which one I like better.
 
holy-moley...
"wife said no you won't use it"
prove her wrong and cook up a storm and feed her food she never thought was humanly possible...
wsmsmile8gm.gif
 
Quote:
You will also save more than that on charcoal per year.

Go without shoes for a year, it is WELL WORTH IT!$!$

Been there done that and won't look back, WSM is tha shiznit!
 
My wife said "no" once...once. I threw such a tantrum in the store she will never go back there ever again! LOL
Seriously though, I struggled with the Brinkman for 4 years and tried every mod. It got ok but never GREAT! When I stopped making attempts at BBQ was when my wife realized I lacked the proper equipment.
 
Go to www.smokering.com and check the sticky Brinkmann gourmet smoker modification by day-tripper.
I had a old Brinkmann electric smoker that I had for years,used only a couple of times and stored it.I got it out and made those mods and it is a great little smoker.
minion method
wrap water pan no water
half briqs and half lump
 
Which brinkman? There's two brinkmans that both get labeld as the ECB. The real cheap on has a giant air ring around the charcoal pan, the other is the gourmet model that has a hole in the bottom of the charcoal pan. I think its going to be a lot harder to try to do any temp control on the first one because the intake is going to be essentially unlimiited unless you mod it very heavily. The only advice I could offer for that one is to use the minion method and be sure to not start off with too many lit coals. Hopefully that will help you stay low as long as possible.
 
The Brinkmann gourmet is the only way to go,the cheaper one will be to hard to control.You can get the brinkmann can at lowes for about $50.The mod on the smoke ring uses the gourmet.
I can smoke almost as much on it as the 18 inch WSM.Don't get me wrong,you will never have the quailty of the WSM,but if you are like me and don't have the$$$then this works very well.
 

 

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