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Matt, I have the same problem and I've calibrated my thermos to make sure. I have to run all vents full open and use at least a full chimney of coals for the minion method to get to 235. For me to get to 250 (at the dome) I have to use some lump. This is with sand or water in the pan. I've come...

Another old backpacker trick uses cotton balls, petroleum jelly, and 35mm film canisters. Liberally coat a cotton ball in petroleum jelly (i.e. Vaseline) and stuff it into the film canister. Repeat until canister is full. When you want to start a fire, use one or two of these little balls and...

That's true. I never thought about the cubes being petrolleum either. At least it only takes one little one to get it going and like Chris says, they are hot and burn fast. But, I don't smell it like lighter fluid and only the flames hit the coals. But, that's a weak argument I know. Maybe I'll...

Well, it's not that hard to believe for me. Petroleum distillates and food don't make a great combination in my book :-) The smell alone of burning lighter fluid nearly makes me ill. Everytime I smell it my neighborhood (which is rare due to all the gassers people use) I feel like running down...

No. I just dump the coals in, assemble everything, throw on the meat and let everything come up to temp on it's own. It's just that easy. A common refrain in the brewing circles is "it's not rocket science unless you want it to be" :-)

Just remember to put aluminum foil over the sand so that you can reuse it. I use plain old play sand in a bag from Home Depot. Ed

By all means, put down your metal pan, then use cinder blocks or something like it to lift the WSM off the deck. The first time I cooked in my yard I burned a ring into the grass. That sucked. Now I lay three cinder blocks down flat and have no problems.

I don't use my WSM on a wood deck, but I do place an aluminum pan under mine when I cook. This pan is a water catch pan designed to be used under a hot water heater. It's about 4 feet in diameter. It still gets VERY hot directly under the WSM. I guess if I were going to use my WSM on a wood...

Bob, I was in exactly your situation last August. I was originally enamoured with those..emmm...inexpensive offset cookers. After a lot of research on the web, I realized that the cheap offsets sucked for temperature control and that you'd need to spend quite a bit more money to get a decent one...

That's good advice Doug. I'll try it. When I got the WSM, I removed the extra bend so the door would 'seal' tight against the side of the WSM. Maybe that wasn't such a good idea afterall.

I pretty much always have to use all three vents 100% open to maintain dome temps at 240. My WSM has always run far cooler than most on this board seem to achieve. In the winter or on windy days it's a struggle to keep up above 225. I have recently started using a 50/50 mix of kingsford and lump...

My favorite method of reheating BBQ is to place all the leftovers into vacuum bags. Fill a pan with tepid tap water, place the bag in the water, then slowly heat. When the water starts to boil, the meat should be heated through. Ed

I agree that adding fuel for chicken seems a little odd to me, but I have had to add fuel on occasion, usually when doing butts or brisket. I'll light half a chimney of coals and when they are ready, I'll use a pair of tongs and move them one-by-one into the charcoal chamber. It takes a little...

Ed, I've reheated both with no troubles. I store my extra 'Q in vacuum bags, about a pound per bag. To reheat, place the bags in tepid tap water and slowly bring to a boil. Once the water starts boiling, your 'Q should be heated through. This method of reheating won't dry out the meat.

I won't speculate on how drippings get through, but it happens. It's not much, but I agree that you should use something to catch the small embers and funk that drop out the bottom. I use a large aluminum tray that is used under a water heater when it's placed near living space. I bought it for...

Well, I've only smoked spares twice in my WSM, but at about 5.5 hours I have to be careful removing the slabs from the rib racks w/o them falling apart. It's earily quiet at the dinner table when I serve these. All you hear is falling bones and slight moaning

Well, after today I am a sand-in-the-pan convert. I have always had trouble maintaining dome temps on my WSM above 220 degrees. Today I tried filling the water pan 2/3 full with sand and then foil on top of the sand. My smoker stayed rock solid at 240 measured at the dome all day. It's too early...

I usually put the bags into a pan of cool water and slowly bring it to a boil. By the time the water starts to boil, the pork is hot through the center. If it's a large bag of pork, I hold the water at a simmer for 15 minutes to heat through. Be careful boiling for extended periods. The bags...

Honestly, I haven't tried the single probe models, but I've heard so many bad things about them from my brewer friends that I've stayed away from them too. I've thought about buying a temperature display (not PID) from Omega engineering with a thermocouple and thermowell, but I'm just not going...

I threw my polder dual probe away in discust the other day. It was reading 100 degrees off it turned out. I just don't feel like having to worry about the status of the probe anymore. So, I mounted a large thermometer to my WSM to read dome temperatures and I use dial meat thermometers close to...