Why tabs? and Why no lump?

I just got in my 22" WSM, and it seems to be in great shape. Not out of round, door fits tight, etc. I did have the tabs-bumping-into-the-grate problem and removed the lower tabs on the vents. My first question is why are there tabs at all? The tabs, even when they don't hit the grate, make it impossible to close the vents completely because there is a very tiny opening where the tab hits the edge of the hole. Admittedly, the gap is very, very tiny, but still.... I don't think we need no steeking tabs.

Second, the directions that came with the cooker said that Weber does not recommend using lump charcoal. I know many of you on this forum do, so I will feel free to ignore that recommendation. Nonetheless, I'm curious as to why Weber wants you to stick with briquettes and doesn't want you to use lump. Any ideas?

--frank

1. Re the tabs - we speak of "closing" the bottom vents to reduce temp, but if completely closed, the fire would slowly smother and go out. So including the tabs allows for a very small amount of air to continue to flow, which will keep the fire going at a very low rate.

2. The "No Lump" thing has been kicked around a bit, and the general concensus is that Weber is trying to encourage successful results among beginning users.

Consider: if you buy a new WSM, and have no prior experience with long smokes, the easiest way to guarantee long burn times is to use a full load of charcoal briquets. In this situation all the new user really has to do is adjust vents to maintain a temp range, and will probably not need to reload/add charcoal to extend a cook time.

Conspiracy possibility: at the Weber Grill Restaurants, they use Kingsford, and have Kingsford logos on take home bags and elsewhere around the restaurant. And in Weber cookbooks, they also clearly use Kingsford in the pictures. So, there may be some marketing forces ($$?) at work to recommend briquets also. Just saying maybe....I have no direct knowledge of this.

As for me, I use lump nearly exclusively.

The tabs are there as more of a stop to keep your vent from doin a 360. Sorta like a blind stop as you can feel when it's open-close.
As far as the gap, that will seal itself with some gunk after a couple of burns.
As far as the manual after instal......
Toss it!
Tim

Here's the real truth on the tabs. They are for those folks that have many adult tasty beverages while waiting for the temps to stabilize, so the vents don't spin like a fan when the intoxicated user adjust them.

(Not that this has ever happened to me)

You too Brad?

as for lump vs briquettes in the manual it is most liekly they just go with what is the most common avalable fuel source for all users in the US and and where ever they export their wsm's. lump is not available everywhere with out a lot of hunting and searching and not all lump is quality assured. briquettes are widely available and pretty much the same from bag to bag.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Frank Tutzauer:
I'm curious as to why Weber wants you to stick with briquettes and doesn't want you to use lump. Any ideas?

--frank </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

FWIW, my WSM hasn't had a briquette inside it for the last 3 years, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who uses lump exclusively.

I agree w/ Doug ep. esp. about the conspiracy, haha. seems obvious to me. I've been suspicious of the Kingsford/Weber thing for a while too. I've always wandered whenever a perfectly understandable gripe surfaces there always some "defense" that never makes sense to me around here and other places.. there out there!!! (UFO sound effect) I prefer lump and use it almost always, but like K too. As for the tabs that will always be funny to me. I even asked the Q and A guest about them. You guessed it, nobody knows nothing about the screw up around here.. and shhhh don't talk about it to much!