New Owner, Old Smoker


 

Steve Haack

TVWBB Member
Hi folks, I've been dabbling in smoking food on my gas grill, but if everything goes as advertised tonight I will be the proud new owner of a basically pristine but old WSM 18.5", my first ever real smoker. The ad says used twice and the grates are still shiny in the pictures so I'm inclined to believe them. Based on the round door handle and the skinny legs I'm guessing it's at least 10 years old. Outside the obvious of missing the new bells and whistles of the updated models like the heat shield and the probe grommet, is there anything I should know about the old models that's different from info I'd find about new ones?

If I wanted to use it as-is no tools required or mods made, where do folks run the temperature probes on the old versions?

I already started looking at grommet kits for the brackets (I'm about to pay cash for a smoker, you know I'm ready to throw money at this) that wouldn't require me to drill into the side of this thing, but it doesn't look like any of them are large enough for the Thermoworks probes. Does anyone make them bigger than the 3/8"?
 
Hi folks, I've been dabbling in smoking food on my gas grill, but if everything goes as advertised tonight I will be the proud new owner of a basically pristine but old WSM 18.5", my first ever real smoker. The ad says used twice and the grates are still shiny in the pictures so I'm inclined to believe them. Based on the round door handle and the skinny legs I'm guessing it's at least 10 years old. Outside the obvious of missing the new bells and whistles of the updated models like the heat shield and the probe grommet, is there anything I should know about the old models that's different from info I'd find about new ones?

If I wanted to use it as-is no tools required or mods made, where do folks run the temperature probes on the old versions?

I already started looking at grommet kits for the brackets (I'm about to pay cash for a smoker, you know I'm ready to throw money at this) that wouldn't require me to drill into the side of this thing, but it doesn't look like any of them are large enough for the Thermoworks probes. Does anyone make them bigger than the 3/8"?

My WSM has two grommets that replaced the bolts holding one of the grate support straps (thus no drilling required) and I used them for awhile, but now I just carefully route the probe wires under the lid at an angle. There is enough clearance to do this without damaging the wires. I keep meaning to cut a slot for the wires, but haven't got around to doing it yet. The only problem I found with the grommets is that those I have are small, so some probes are difficult to put through them. Also, by not running the probe wires through a grommet I can lift the top grate off and set it aside to get to the meat on the bottom grate, without having to pull the temperature probe out first.

http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/cutting-a-probe-thermometer-slot.html
 
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Notch it and never look back. :)

DSCF0865.JPG
 
I got it! Sounds like I didn't undercut their asking price as drastically as whoever made a bid within 2 hours of the listing. It's got DT stamped on it, which means it's a 2003? This thing is in shockingly good shape. I might want to get a new handle for the door, something about the water pan isn't sitting QUITE right, and it needs a new charcoal grate but man for a 15 year old piece of metal the only thing that absolutely needs a fix is a $15 grate that's pretty amazing. If they hadn't changed the design, you could have told me it was sitting since last year not for 15.

I'm convinced about notching it. How do most people do that, like a dremel?
 
I used my angle grinder with a 1/4" thick grinding wheel. Took 30 seconds at most. Cook with it and the soot coats the exposed bare metal.
 
Did my first smokes on the old/new this weekend. The ribs, unfortunately there's no evidence left because we immediately went to a cookout. Sunday night I tested hubris itself by firing up the smoker after 3pm and throwing on about a 4lb chuck roast.

https://imgur.com/TXeNN7i
https://imgur.com/Of1RKic

TXeNN7i

Of1RKic


Good flavor, good texture, I overdid it a little bit (hit 205 before I pulled it off and wrapped it). I am already tired of peeking out the window to check the grill temp, so last breath before sleep I ordered a Thermoworks Smoke. Took a little over 8 hours including rest, so I somehow managed to get a decent night's sleep.


However! I closed the smoker up, went to bed, woke up and it rained. I was able to move it to a covered area so it wouldn't continue to get rained on, but I could see there was a nice puddle in the bowl. I'm not worried about it, except the mess of cleaning ashy water sludge out of the bottom of it. I'm not sure what the solution to something like this is? Too hot to move or put the cover on, but then rain's a problem before I get a chance to clean it.
 

 

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