14” operation

I got a 14” WSM for Father’s Day 2015. I used it a bunch - mostly for ribs and sausages but then in 2016 got an egg and have been mostly egging since. However I’d like to start using the bullet more because I love the bark and flavor it contributes to the meats. The only challenge for me with this cooker was getting maximum times out of the coal loads. How do you folks with this size maximize your cooks? Full basket of briquettes with a few chimney lit ones on top? I used to find myself feeding WSM’s coal chamber with fully lit coals directly from my chimney and just adding smoke woods on top. But for ribs I’d have to almost do this twice and for brisket at least 5 times.

I usually start out with about a third of a chimney of lit coals along with enough unlit coals to fill the ring, allowing for a couple of chunks of wood. After about 5-6 hours, I add a few lit coals and top off with unlit coals. This keeps it going for a total of about 10 hours, which is just enough for a brisket or pork butts. Sometimes, I'll need to finish brisket in the oven.

The limiting factor in the 14" seems to be ash buildup. Once it fills up, there's not much you can do. I think the only way to get more cooking time would be to forego the water pan and try to regulate the temperature with the vents. While I've done this for short-term high-temperature cooking (meat loaf, for example), I've not done this for any kind of extended cook, because it's just too much of a pain.

I served a 2 year tour at NAS Brunswick but I'm retired in Florida. I say that because your number of lit coals varies by the outside air temp and the cook temp (HI or Low). For a low heat cook - 200 to 275 - I use 6 to 10 lit coals and let the temp come up smoothly. If it's chilly I use 10 to 12 but where you are you may want to use a few more. I hope someone up north can give you a number based on their experience.

I fill up the charcoal ring with KBB and my wood chunks but leave enough space for the lit coals. I get about 8 hours cook time with that but in winter you'll get less time. To avoid having to fire up coals outside the WSM you can just add more unlit at "maybe" 5 hours. Hope that helps.

Dealing with ash buildup. I've done this with a partially full water pan and I know it's not the best solution but it works and the cook stays on schedule.. I do a hot squat and, using welding gloves, remove the middle body and up, set it on the concrete, I remove the charcoal ring which is wired to the charcoal grate and set it on the concrete. I pour the ashes in a galvanized bucket and VERY CAREFULLY reassemble everything. I'm not saying you should do this but you can. If you decide to do it I highly recommend a dry run with a full water pan and no coals but if yu have anything hooked up to your WSM like a maverick or an ATC this will show you where you might have a problem.

I know there are a lot of loyal 14 owners. But my advice is to get an 18. You can find barely used ones on craigslist fairly cheap if you are patient.
You can cook a brisket without ever adding any charcoal. And for short cooks,just close the vents when you are done. The fire goes out fairly fast,and the leftover charcoal burns just fine. I was pretty surprised after using my 18 a few times about how little charcoal it actually uses. And you can turn around and probably sell your 14 to someone like me for the same price you paid for the 18.

Meanwhile, back at the 14" WSM cooking endurance question. If you increase your charcoal capacity by adding on an expanded metal extension to your charcoal ring you'll need a pizza pan or something to act as a heat deflector. Additionally, you'll need a way to dump the ashes in the middle of a cook. You have options to make the 14 more flexible and I know others can add to my thoughts. I'm curious, how many people do you cook for most of the time. For me that's 2.

Also, I have side handles on my 22"WSM and my 18, but not my 14. I'm thinking about adding them in case I want to use it for any more long cooks.

I fuel my 14" exclusively with lump. That helps on the ash issue (heck, I don't even clean the ash tray every time), and it goes 10+ hours happily with a single load. After that, I simply slide in some more unlit lump on the door and it goes for another 3-4 hours without a problem.

I think you're starting with too many coals.
It should last long enough using minion method. If it doesn't have a lot of air leakage.

Lump charcoal here as well.
The little thing cooks forever on a load. Just fill up the ring and add a handfull of lit charcoal and she goes.
Hardly any fiddling with the vents (not even without using the waterpan)
I don't use a lot of wood as I normally find some pieces of charcoal that are still quite woody, so I got enough smoke flavour from the charcoal.
Like Kristof says, hardly any ash