How thirsty are the 22s?


 

Andy Harrington

TVWBB Member
Purchased a 22.5 wsm over labor day and glad I did. So far I've done a pork butt, packer brisket and a couple of racks of ribs. My question is, is there a secret to fuel consumption with these things? I used a full bag the first run with butt and brisket and about 80 percent of an 18 lb. Bag for the ribs. I'm loving the space and how quickly it returns to temp after adding meat but just wondering if this level of consumption is normal or if I should be thinking about a gasket kit?
 
That is about what my 22 uses. Not sure the gasket kit will help much with fuel consumption. Leaks maybe but I can’t see where fuel consumption would go down much

Are you using water in the pan or running dry? This will effect charcoal use.
 
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You used 14-15 lbs. for ribs? How long was that smoke? How many lit coals did you start with and what was your average pit temp? Assuming you had some remaining fuel once the two smokes completed did the coals burn out reasonably quickly after pulling your meat and closing your intake and exhaust vents?
 
I bought a 22 and an 18 in a package deal from someone on CL. My intention was to keep the 22 and sell the 18. I did one cook on the 22 and decided to keep the 18 instead. The 22 was just too big for my needs and it was a charcoal hog. Don't get me wrong, the 22 is a badass smoker, it was just too big for my needs. Still have the 18 and also a 14 with the 18 seeing most of the action these days.
 
Your consumption sounds about normal with the big WSM. It's the price we pay for all that cooking capacity.
 
I'm loving the space and how quickly it returns to temp after adding meat

If using water your burning up BTU's while bringing it up to temp. I always MM my start and add the meat immediately ( but I rarely use water).
Bringing an empty WSM, (esp the big guy) up to temp, then adding a cold mass is a waste of charcoal IMO.

Tim
 
I agree with Mike but, I have allowed my 22.5” to find a new home with another appreciative owner. The 18 suits me perfectly, I am not interested in mass competition and I’ve decided I don’t want thirty people around every time I do a smoke! As time goes by, fewer people to irritate me at once is better.
 
I love my 18.5" WSM and it doesn't use much fuel. The only time I prefer 22.5" (which I have with my Performer and Smoke EZ extender) is when I'm cooking a large brisket. The 22.5" setup uses a little over 1 lb/hr. Not sure if that's considered "thirsty", but I always have several hundred pounds of charcoal from the sales so I really don't notice. My bil has a 22.5" WSM and doesn't seem concerned with fuel consumption.
 
The 22.5" setup uses a little over 1 lb/hr.

To your point, this is why I'm puzzled that the OP burned-through 14-15 lbs for 2 racks of ribs. But I don't have sufficient data in my logs to quantify an answer (I bought an 18 within a couple months of getting the 22, so I stopped using the 22 for 5-hour smokes). But I do have data to support a claim of having done shoulders in the 22" with less than an 18.6 lb bag of KBB.
 
I did a hot and fast brisket a few weeks ago in my 22WSM and I was pleasantly surprised how efficient it was. Plenty of charcoal left after shutting it down.
 
I start my 22 full of charcoal. Next cook I move all the unused charcoal to the outside and dump a chimney of lit coal in the middle. Repeat for every cook thereafter. I never have to add more than the chimney of coal always have coal to push to the outside of the ring. I mainly smoke chicken, butts, loins, tri-tip roast and ribs. I rarely do brisket as it's priced crazy in NE Kansas. So, I guess you can tell I use a Weber chimney of charcoal for each cook on the 22. I don't use the water pan at all, and switch between using the hanging rack or the grill grates depending on what is being smoked. Smoke between 275 and 300.

I sure don't understand how you can be using just under 15 pounds of charcoal for ribs, unless you're not using Kingsford blue bag :)
 
When the butt hits the stall wrap it. The cooker doesn’t use as much fuel to get the meat done faster. I’ve never used a whole bag for one cook. I also don’t wait thru the stall.

I do Packers high heat. Never replenish the charcoal and done in ~5hrs.

Ribs are 4-5 hours depending on if I wrap or not.
 
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