Short Mini


 
G

George L

TVWBB All-Star
Here's my version of the mini. I figured if my little Cobb Grill/Smoker can produce decent smokes with its main grate only an inch above the diffuser why can't I do the same with my mini's lower grate.....thus, the shorter smoker body. Upper grate is 4" below the lip. I have not yet installed mounting bolts for the diffuser/drip pan to rest on. The lower grate, if used, will simply sit on the drip pan, slightly elevated.
Making the cut at the lower ridge of the pot was easy and the fit, perfect.

The shorter chamber uses less fuel to operate and I can still fit 2 whole chickens in there so I'm not losing much in usable space.

Shortened tamale pot
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Original full size tamale pot
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well, ya got me confused now. what and why would you need to do that and what would be the purpose other than you like fiddling around.
i see no advantage loosing about 4 inches.
 
George Curtis said:
well, ya got me confused now. what and why would you need to do that and what would be the purpose other than you like fiddling around.
i see no advantage loosing about 4 inches.
Click to expand...

:LOL:...I got the same exact response from a few members of the Brethren site this morning.

Well, I know by reducing the volume of the chamber I'll be saving some fuel. I can still fit a whole chicken in the bottom grate so I don't feel I lost usable space there. The only difference is that instead of squeezing in 3 grates like some do I can comfortably fit 2.

Plus, I like the lower profile look of this mini....:)
 
Interesting. So how much charcoal would you put in there to do a whole chicken?
And I assume you would go mini- minion? ( I just made that up , but I like the sound of it...mini-minion) ;)
 
Frank H said:
Interesting. So how much charcoal would you put in there to do a whole chicken?
And I assume you would go mini- minion? ( I just made that up , but I like the sound of it...mini-minion) ;)
Click to expand...

I'm using a charcoal basket in the Smokey Joe which can hold exactly one Weber chimney full. Regardless of what I'm cooking I always load up the basket, one chimney worth, light the chimney partially, and dump that load into the basket.
A whole chicken cook at 350F for an hour and fifteen minutes, for instance, will burn just a few coals in the basket, with even more unspent coals left over which will be obviously saved for the next cook.
 
well, i also go to the brethren site and saw your post. are you using a diffuser such as the cobb ? cuz 2 chickens that close should be burning up. unless i'm missing something.
 
I'm using a solid pizza pan diffuser, about 12" in diameter so the chickens are not exposed to direct heat. I will do 2 whole chickens on it this weekend and report back.
 
I think you can now say you have created the "micro-mini"! I like the looks of it, you've taken downsizing to a whole new (and lower) level.
 
Here's another shot of the short mini while doing some short ribs the other day...
The pizza pan at the bottom is perched on the bolts. I can place another grate elevated, sitting on the lip on the pan itself.
And as for the thermometer, I prefer to insert a long stemmed thermometer through the lid vent.

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George Curtis said:
soooo, did it meet expectations ? cook better/worse ? less/more coals ? any real differance at all ?
those ribs look great !
Click to expand...
Well, all I can say at this point, having used the mini at least twice a week for several weeks now with either the tamale pot insert or the 16 gallon drum insert, is that I'm very happy with the set up. The mini can handle all the cooks that my 55 gal UDS was able to do. Now my UDS sits idle except when doing larger cooks.

And as far as the shorter tamale pot, having using 2 grates, I don't feel I'm crammed for space at all. I can't say about fuel consumption as I couldn't really do comparisons but I'm certain the smaller chamber is burning less fuel.
 
:D Well, look at it this way. If the only perfect fitting tamale pot available was only 10 inches tall every mini-wsm's out there will be using that pot and that would be the standard... :D
 
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