many round holes or one big whole for the bottom of the pot?


 

Jeff Padell

TVWBB Pro
First I may have asked this before, would a SJ Gold be better than a Silver if I am buying one or the other for the project? (Son #2 wants to use my silver for camping).

I see alot of builds that say to drill a whole bunch of holes in the bottom of the pot, similar to the insert that came with it, many 1 inch diameter holes. Chris drilled one big hole, leaving a 1 inch lip around the edge for strength.

What is the general consensus here of how to go?

I also figured to have just one shelf in the mini, the bottom shelf would be for a water try or diffuser, if I wanted to do more meat I would use the 22.5
 
Hi Jeff,

I will be the first to respond...

I researched and read up about Mini WSM builds A LOT before I decided to build my Mini WSM. I started with my SJ Gold, and switched over to SJ Silver just because of all the better airflow experience that folks had (and I did as well). My conclusion is this, in South San Diego with a Bottom damper anti-ash clogger cover (Tuna can), and one large hole cut out plus a Terra Cotta suacer as a diffuser, I am always at 225-250 F when I am smoking in the Mini.
 
SJS makes sense, and I can use the one I have since it isn't changed at all, my son can still borrow it, just not when I would smoke.

How much of a rim did you leave? what I saw is that the SFS rack fits perfectly on the indented portion of the pot and would be good to hold the terra cotta saucer, is that what most people do, or do you (they) put a grate on the very bottom of the pot to hold the saucer?

I plan to put the top rack about 4 inches down in the pot.
 
Jeff,

The bottom rim on mine is less then 1" all the way around. I do have the Steamer rack(with holes) where the Manufacturer has it sitting, with my Saucer wrapped in Aluminum foil sitting on top of it. I have 2 cooking racks and my top one is approx. 4" down from the top lip of the Steamer. Hope this helps.
 
First I may have asked this before, would a SJ Gold be better than a Silver if I am buying one or the other for the project? (Son #2 wants to use my silver for camping). can't really help you with that , bro. To me , either one would work , but I haven't made one sooooo....

I see alot of builds that say to drill a whole bunch of holes in the bottom of the pot, similar to the insert that came with it, many 1 inch diameter holes. Chris drilled one big hole, leaving a 1 inch lip around the edge for strength.
What is the general consensus here of how to go? I think a lot of this depends on what kind of tools you have or are comfortable using. Most people own an electric drill , so if you buy a big bit and drill a buncha holes , that's going to be easiest for most average people. If you own a good jigsaw or scrolling saw and you feel like you can cut all the way around neatly , that would be a way to go too , but might be beyond the capacity of a not too handy person...in the end I think either method will end up filling the need.......dealers choice.
mind you , this is just my 2 cents......:cool:

I also figured to have just one shelf in the mini, the bottom shelf would be for a water try or diffuser, if I wanted to do more meat I would use the 22.5

................:wsm:
 
I went the other route with a SJG and drilling holes in the bottom. Here is a link that describes my build. My son also did one just like mine. I used a SJG because I already had one on hand when I started. The SJG doesn't require anything special in terms of keeping the air flow open and you can see and control the vents without having to build a handle or anything else link tuna cans. I elected to drill holes in the bottom of the pot instead of cutting out the bottom. One thing that I like about that is that I can bring the pot into the kitchen and do all my prep inside including placing the thermometer probe into the meat. That way all I have to do is go outside and set the entire pot on top of the fire. My mini runs rock solid stable between 225-275 for hours at a time without adjustment once I get it dialed in. To refuel during a cook, I just lift the pot, stir the ashes and dump more charcoal on top. I have found I can do one refill without any issues related to airflow.

All this said, the downside is that I don't have as much room for charcoal for an extended cook as folks do after cutting out the bottom of the pot. How much of a difference that really is I don't know, but the bottom of the pot does limit capacity. That is not a big problem to me because I don't do super long cooks with the mini. If I want to do butts or something, I will do them in my regular WSM. Second downside is that 275 is really my practical upper limit using KBB. I can get it to over 300 if I allow it to ash over well and build up heat before putting on the pot, but it will only stay at that temp for an hour at most before it starts working its way down and settles below 275. To be honest I am not sure if that is a function of drilling holes vs. cutting out the bottom or SJG vs. SJS.

Bottom line - it works great for me based on what I cook in my mini but it may not work for you depending upon what all you plan to cook in yours.
 
Don
I was thinking of the mini for chicken, or sausage,and the occasional rack of ribs, or maybe some smoked baked beans. pretty much anything else I would do in the 22

my thoughts at this point anyway.
 
The good thing is most any design configuration within reason will work. You only need to adjust your methods to your cooker and you're all set.
 
I was thinking of the mini for chicken, or sausage,and the occasional rack of ribs, or maybe some smoked baked beans. pretty much anything else I would do in the 22.

I am not a big fan of chicken on the smoker. Just not my taste. I much prefer grilling chicken or making it on the rotisserie. That said, I am not sure temps in the 225-275 range as my configuration likes to settle will get you crispy skin without throwing it on a grill to finish. As I said earlier, the SJG with holes drilled will reach 300-325 if I work at it, but it just won't hold there for a long period of time. Of course you always have the option of drilling holes first and trying it. If you don't like the results, then get out the tin snips. All the other items are right in its wheelhouse.
 
I just came in from outside, I put the grill rack from the SJS into the pot and it sits on the indents perfectly.

what I think I will do is to drill one big hole in the bottom of the pot, and then try both the steamer rack that has holes already drilled and another time the grill rack and see what happens. I will begin watching Craig's list and yard sales for a cheap beat up SJS or SJG to get the rack cheap.

Chicken wings, an hour at 300-325 would do them well, drumsticks possibly as well. You may be right about the skin, finishing off on the Silver B see my youtube video on ribs, how I finished them off there.

I have also done them on the ribulator as well.

 
I went with the silver & one big hole (using a pie pan as a diffuser) and LOVE the way it cooks. Fire it up wide-open and chicken skin doesn't stand a chance. :)
 
I also went with one big hole, a pie pan, and a clay saucer. My steamer pot came with an insert full of holes. If yours does cut one big hole in the pot and if you want the diffuser you have one.
 
I just cut the one big hole, I wonder if I did it right or whether it matters.

I used a dinner plate for a template, wife wasn't home so she didn't see me with the sharpie and the plate!

anyhow my hole is 10.5 inches in diameter, leaving 1.5 inches all around the pot. I cut out the steaming tray to make an X so that my terra cotta saucer will rest on that or I can put an old 18.5 charcoal grate on it, the grate just sort of balances on the indent in the pot but cutting the steamer tray makes it sturdier.

is the big hole too small, should I cut another 1/2 inch out? It looks like it is bigger than the charcoal tray on the SJS as it is.
 
Hi Jeff,

I dont know this as a fact (since I just cut one big hole with abpprox. 1" lap), if I consider the laws of physics and the small amount of mass difference between what you have already vs. cutting another 1/2" off, I would just let it be. You will be fine my man....Now Cheers :).
 
Jeff, I think you are fine with your 1" cut out edge.

For my SJG grill, I have a IMUSA tamale pot with a 2" cut-out edge (dinner plate template) with an Academy Sports 12+" grate over it held in place with two opposing, slightly offset, 1/4", snip-cut tabs. On top of the Academy grate, I put a 9" aluminum WalMart cake pan wrapped in aluminum foil as a combo grease catcher/diffuser. So far, I have installed two cooking grates, one on the indented ring and one 4" down from the top tamale pot rim. I may add a third grate at the pot's to edge. I can hold one full load of briquets at 240 - 265 degrees for 8+ hours.
 

 

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