Best way to add charcoal?

Any suggestions on the best method to add briquets to the WSM during a cook? I use the Minion method all the time now, but even with the longevity of that technique, sooner or later I know I will have to add briquets. Maybe a large pork butt will just take a long time, or maybe I might do a 'back to back' cook.

Not knowing any better, I guess I would start a chimney of briquets and when they are all lit, remove the barrel/lid assembly and add the lit briquets to the fire ring. Obviously, a lot of heat will escape doing this. In the past, I tried opening the side door and just tossing in the briquets one at a time. This was time consuming, painful, and put ash into the air. This was not fun. If lifting the barrel/lid assembly off the bottom section is the best way to do this, then how do I lift up that (hot) assembly with meat and a full water pan? I feel like David Carridine in the opening sequence to "Kung Fu". Maybe I'll get a nice little reverse "Weber" scar on each forearm...

Hi David.....

One good reason to put handles on! It makes the job much easier. When I have to add coals, I never light them, but you have to have some lead time to do it this way. I will lift the entire middle section and lid off and then knock the ash off the still lit briqs then add my fresh unlit briqs.

The WSM will retain the heat pretty good as long as you keep the lid on and place the middle section on a flat smooth surface.

The only time I pre-light my briqs is if the temps are dropping too quickly or I let the coals get too low in the firepan. You must remember that a FULLY LIT load of charcoal will last only a couple of hours, so you run the risk of having to fill it up every couple hours, so I always add some unlit ones as well.

So, you are corect on how to add the stuff....much easier to be able to lift the whole cooker off the base and re-load. As far as lighting a load, cooker's preference!

So if handles are installed (I guess that mod must be somewhere on this site), can the middle section and lid be lifted off cleanly? I would be worried that it would be difficult to control and keep level - I'm particularly worried that I will slop some water from the water pan onto the hot coals. And with a couple of big pork butts in there, it would start getting heavy. I suppose I could draft someone to lift one side while I lift the other...

David,

I posted a reply to your message in the WSM Modifications forum.

See Adding Handles To The Cooking Section for details.

Regards,
Chris

David...

I too posted a reply in the Mods section.

My handles are pretty large and allow me to firmly grasp them so no tipping is possible. That was the one drawback of using knobs...not much leverage to prevent tipping.

The sections do indeed lift cleanly and no help is needed. It WILL get heavy, but with the handles it is a very easy chore.

I think the real key to successfully lifting the cooking chamber off lies in having a pair of good bar-b-que mits. As long as you don't have to worry about burning yourself, you can man-handle it without a problem.

The cooking chamber on my kettle conversion is signficantly larger, heavier, and more unweildy than a WSM. It is not that hard to lift off during a cook -- although I wouldn't want to carry it very far! I have a large flat pizza pan that I put down under it wherever I plan to set it down. That way, all that good pork fat that continues dripping has something to drip onto!

David,
Personally, the few times I have added charcoal I just removed the door and added some using a pair of tongs reserved for that purpose. Usually it's near the end of the cook and I just need a few briquets to maintain the temperature for another hour or so. I just start a few in the chimney using the turkey fryer and let them get partially lit, then place them using the tongs. I don't like the idea of removing the top section to add charcoal.
Don