First, with a Guru they say in the manual, no water. Second chips produce lots of smoke really fast....half a bag is a lot of smoke. A little goes a long way in the WSM. I use my guru dry with the top vent closed 50% per the instructions. Other than the chips and the waterpan I think you did...
Ill tell you this, the real answer here is the kettle can do everything the gasser can, and more.... There is only one trick that the gasser can do that the kettle cant and that is turn on with a knob. Using a charcoal chimney you can have coals ready in 10-15 min.... The gasser is inferior...
I use a water heater blanket from the hardware store in the cold. In the rain an EZ up screwed down to the deck works well. The Guru jacket is nice and I love the company so I wouldn't hesitate with any of their products. Quality stuff and great customer service.
For what its worth Ill add my 2 cents. I usually bury a couple chunks and recently have been adding a couple small chunks to the charcoal chimney. Using the Minion method and having wood chunks fully burning and producing good clean smoke right from the go has been great for me. Give it a...
I usually use only one Chimney and get plenty of heat.... I pile it all at the back of the kettle. For all day cooks when I have a party I will dump half a bag on one side and top with one lit chimney. Close 2 of the 3 bottom vents and I can cook all day....brats, burgers, chicken etc. For...
Its best to have others help with the can emptying process or to just save them from another time. It is crude but a really effective means to get one more cooking grate in the WSM. Have fun
I got the last 12 that my Home Depot had. If I could find it I would buy another 20 bags. Charcoal doesnt go bad if stored properly. I stock it in my dry cool basement on top of a sheet of plastic to prevent moisture from getting at it. Just to demonstrate how well it stores I can tell you I...
I frequestly do 9 and could fit more fairly easily. Here is how
*Buy cheapie rib racks from HD
*Buy a 2nd lower cooking grate
*find 8 empty beer cans (you may have to empty them yourself
*load all 3 rib racks with 1/2 slabs of ribs
*position the lowest grate as normal
*put 4 beer cans on the...
I too had a chance to do my first Rancher charcoal overnight. I used 3 big chunks of Natures Own Pecan wood and a completely full ring of briquets (about 14-15 lbs I would guess) The meat was four bone in pork shoulders totaling 37 pounds of meat. I use a pitminder for temp control. 21 hours...