A table for the WSM


 
J

Jeremy S.

New member
I finally got around to building the WSM table I've been thinking about since I got the smoker two years ago.

I made it mostly from material I had lying around the garage. All I needed to buy were the wheels, two 36" lengths of quarter-inch aluminum round bar, the paper towel holder, and one 2x4. Total cost approx. $15. I found the stainless steel sheet for the top from a friend-of-a-friend for $45.

I can't believe how much easier grilling and smoking are when you have a place to set your plate. I wish I would have done this last summer!

Here it is in smoker mode:
grill1.jpg


Here it is in grilling mode:
grill2.jpg

grill3.jpg
 
I didn't use any plans, per se. I had a 2' x 8' piece of plywood available and that pretty much determined the dimensions of everything else.

Tell you more? Well, I used the aluminum rod to make the lid holder. It was much easier than I thought it'd be. I simply held both ends and bent it freehand to get the right curve, cut it to length, then pounded the ends flat for a screw to go through. I wrapped the rods in electrical tape to spare the lid any scratches.

There are nails on the back that I use to hang the second cooking grate and the charcoal ring (don't need it when grilling). There are bricks on the bottom shelf to set the hot chimney on. There are holes in the left-front 2x4 for the probes to rest in when not in use.

I was a bit worried about the heat, but when grilling all the heat goes straight up. Even when smoking at high temps (350-400) the nearby legs and horizontal supports don't get hot enough to be a problem.

It's just nice to have everything I could possibly need in one place. Now I just pull up the stool from my workbench in the garage and I don't have to get up to go to the house once when I'm grilling dinner.
 
Jeremy, nice job!!!! I'm in the process of making my WSM cart. Got the top and bottoms done. Making out of treated lumber. The top will have granite tile surface for a cutting area. Like some of the bells and whistles on yours. Think I'll see about incorporating those in my unit.
 
Very nice! I'm saving a copy of the photos - this would make a good project for some cold, rainy weekend this winter.
 
Question - is there room on the lower shelf for a small cooler to keep the <STRIKE>beer</STRIKE> uncooked meat cold?

Seriously, it looks GREAT - if I weren't a complete klutz I would build one
 
When it is in "grill mode" what holds the the grill section in place? Is it just the legs situated precisely on top of the middle section of the cooker, or is there more to it? I really like that dual mode aspect!
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Bob Hruska:
When it is in "grill mode" what holds the the grill section in place? Is it just the legs situated precisely on top of the middle section of the cooker? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
That's pretty much it. The legs fit perfectly inside the lip of the middle cooking section. It's quite stable on it's own as long as it's on a flat, hard surface. I might not want to use it freestanding, but with the table around it to protect from casual bumps, it's no problem at all.
 
Couple more questions....

How do you start the fire in it when in "smoker mode" without burning up the top part of the table? I know when I pour in coals from a chimney there's still a good bit of heat/sparks etc... that go up.

Do you have trouble putting the smoker together / taking it apart when it's in the table? And how about access to food on the bottom rack?

I want to build something like this badly....just trying to cross all my T's and dot all my I's first
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I like this idea myself. I would love to have something like that. My question was about accessing the lower rack and assembling the unit after the fire is going. I am impressed though.

I am working on a mounting brkt for my ET-73 now. Using the little wire hook that comes with it, I want to make a bracket that will hang off the top lip of the middle section to hang the ET-73 on. Will post when I get it done like I want it.

Randy
 
When I start the fire for smoking, I leave the charcoal section on the table right where it is. I lift the middle section off and set it aside, then light the coals on the charcoal grate like normal. The heat and any flames from even a full chimney of coal are much too small to effect the table. Once the coals are arranged the way I like, I just put the middle section back on. The whole procedure is really no different than without the table.

I suppose it would be a pain to remove the middle section during a cook if it was full of food, but I've never had any reason to do that.

The tabletop is a standard countertop height of 36", so reaching the bottom food rack is actually easier than when the WSM is on the ground. Plus, I have a nice clean place to set the top rack of food while I fool around with the bottom one.
 
Sweet!!!

I'm envisioning adding some removable sides to act as a wind break on those cold, blustery days.

Good Job,

JimT
 
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