18.5" WSM rehab or replace


 
J

Justin P

New member
I've been cooking on my 18.5" WSM for about 15 years. My charcoal grate is sagging badly in the middle and burned through around the edges in spots. My cooking grates have no chrome left on them, and are starting to sag too. I couldn't even begin to guess how many hundreds of pounds of meat I've cooked on it. I'm trying to decide if I should purchase new charcoal and cooking grates, or break down and purchase a new 18.5" WSM. You may have seen my post on making the jump to the 22.5". This is a separate topic, I believe still want the 18.5" too. The shell of my 18.5" still looks good. No rusting or other damage that would lean me toward replacing it. If I keep it, and just get the new grates, should I power wash the inside to clean it up for a fresh start? I've never done any cleaning on the shell itself, I only ever cleaned the grates. It looks like the newer version might have better legs, and Weber added a heat shield on the bottom, and a temperature gauge on the lid since I bought mine. Are there other improvements that might push me to a new one? Let me know what you think. Thanks.
 
There's really no reason to buy a new WSM if your lid, middle section, and bowl are in good condition.

Yes, get the new cooking grates and charcoal grate. You might as well order all of them from Weber because only they sell the bottom cooking grate you need.

Yes, the newer legs are sturdier but if yours aren't bent there's no reason to change; the heat shield is not necessary.

Your current WSM has a better water pan than the new version, so that's a point in favor of your current cooker.

You've probably got a better fitting door on your current WSM than you'll have on a new cooker. Another point in favor of your current cooker.

If you want a thermometer in the lid, I would drill the lid and add an industrial-grade unit from Tel-Tru that's accurate. Since you don't have a lid therm now, I assume you're lifting the lid to check temp with an instant-read thermometer or you're sticking something through the top vent hole or feeding a probe therm under the lid; if that's working for you, no reason to change what you're doing. If it's not working well for you and you don't want to drill the lid, you can cut a slot to run probes into the cooker that way.

You can clean the black porcelain coated surfaces with anything that's non-abrasive. If the outside isn't too bad, you can steam clean it when the cooker is hot. If it's gunked up, use Simple Green and a razor blade scraper followed by more Simple Green and Grade #0000 Super Fine steel wool. Inside, you can take it back to original finish using oven cleaner, razor blades, cleaning sprays, and the same steel wool. That's gonna be a lot of work...either don't do it at all, or do it all the way!

You can also clean the access door, just don't bend it out of shape.

I say keep your current WSM out of the landfill and refurbish it!

Hope this helps.
 
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Keep. 42 dollars is a bargain. Chris is right on. Add a few upgrades. Do the slot if you have not already. Even with the 22.5 this will be your main everyday or the 14.5. Clean the outside if you care to but the inside is a bit more work, and the inside muck seals leaks.
Oh wait i mean sell it to me....
 
Thanks for the replies. I'll get the new grates (thank you for the link) and keep on cooking. I'll leave the "seasoning" on the inside alone. The outside of my WSM still looks really nice. I keep it covered when not in use, I assume that helps. I have already added a thermometer in the lid, but I think I'll add the slot for probe wires. Thanks again!
 
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