How many chimneys of unlit coals for a pair of chuck roasts on the 22" WSM?


 

Troy S

TVWBB Fan
I know I could just fill the 22" WSM charcoal ring up full, set my Minion method up and be done with it, but I'm trying to be a little frugal and less wasteful of charcoal.

I have a pair of chuck roasts, about 3 lbs. -- give or take -- each that I'm going to smoke. I thought about smoking them on my kettle, but I think I'll just do 'em on my WSM.

I'm thinking maybe a 4 1/2 to 6 or possibly even 7 (depending on the temps I wanna go use) hour smoke, but how many chimneys (standard Weber chimney) of unlit coals should I start with? This will be my 13th cook on the WSM since I bought it in June! I'm just still having fun, learning and experimenting.
 
My 22 eats more fuel than my 18 so I would at least go 2/3 full in your ring. I never use a chimney for adding coals just dump the bag and eyeball it, so I have no idea how many chimneys that takes.:)
Target temp, outside temp and the use of water goes toward charcoal usage, so I always go big and save any remaining for the next cook.
Good luck!

Tim
 
Thanks, Tim! I just figured I'd mention the charcoal chimney as kind of a guide for how many coals rather than number count for discussion.

This is for my mother's birthday dinner but LOL she just informed me that she 'sure would love some pulled pork too', so I might just do both and fill up the ol' charcoal ring and get the 13th cook going.
 
Last edited:
Fill it! Use the time to do a couple of butts as well as the chucks, don’t worry about charcoal frugality too much, shut the vents all down to nothing and let it go out. Shake the grate, use the leftovers in the kettle.
 
I use the same process as Timothy to reuse any unburnt charcoal. For me the worst thing is having to add more fuel because I was too frugal to start with. I believe that one of the keys to a successful smoke is having enough fuel to maintain the proper temperature throughout the smoke. Of course after saying that I need to add that on some LONG smokes I do have to add fuel. Even then I try to add the fuel before the heat starts to drop.
Enjoy the WSM and remember that we all learn something every smoke.
 

 

Back
Top