RichPB (richlife)
TVWBB Wizard
After again being away from TVWB for quite a while, was delighted that the first thing I saw in the forum w;as the old survey about the 14.5". I'll tell you why it's good and why I'm not surprised at the results.
About two years ago I sold my 10 yr old 18" bullet to a good friend. He constantly tells me how much is loves it and makes use of the mods I added. For me, selling was basically a space and general lack of use issue since I really only cook for myself because of my wife's alpha-gal (red meat) allergy. I retained my Weber 2nd generation Genesis with sear burner and hoped that despite all the contrary statements, I could find a way to get a decent smoke. Lots of tries but no successes.
Last week I saw a recent review/comparison of the WSM and the Big Green Egg. I've been contemplating replacing my Genesis with a BGE to get the smoking ability -- but I love my Genesis and could not bring myself to part with it or spend those bucks mostly on a wish and a prayer. I sent the review to my friend and added that if they made a WSM-mini I thought I would have to buy one. Then came the latent memory -- oh yeah, there is a WSM-mini. A quick look to Craigslist and I found a new post for a mini about an hour away for $120. I immediately sent and offer for $100 and then accepted the counter of $110. After asking for an address and time, the seller said that he would be making a long trip out my way the next day and maybe we could meet. Well, yeah! I'm so close to his route that he actually delivered the 14.5" to my house! (Yes, I did pay him the full $120 -- saved me about 2 1/2 hour drive and more than $10 in gas.)
When I looked at the delivered mini, it didn't look in great shape. (The seller was helping his brother out.) Pretty dirty/dusty and incredibly sooty inside. But a closer look showed that it was just fine and appeared hardly used. First I took a hose to all the parts. Under the dirt and dust was a nice shiny, near new finish. The inside sprayed almost clean right away. It appeared that the guy didn't know what he was doing and didn't bother to learn anything about smoking. Probably on his first cook he managed to get an intense black smoke and maintained it. I hate to think what his "bbq" was like and assume that it totally put him off "smoking". A good hour of scrubbing the next day and I have a fresh, new-looking 14.5" WSM and can hardly wait to use it. The biggest problem is getting the thermometer gasket back in.
This first pic is the parts laid out after hosing off. The one next to the charcoal is re-assembled (sans gasket) after cleaning. I'll have to do a small break-in to start with as it's almost like new. But before that a couple of mods -- wheels and a two small bolts to hold open the inverted door. Some time I will likely add handles to the sides for easy moving.
About two years ago I sold my 10 yr old 18" bullet to a good friend. He constantly tells me how much is loves it and makes use of the mods I added. For me, selling was basically a space and general lack of use issue since I really only cook for myself because of my wife's alpha-gal (red meat) allergy. I retained my Weber 2nd generation Genesis with sear burner and hoped that despite all the contrary statements, I could find a way to get a decent smoke. Lots of tries but no successes.
Last week I saw a recent review/comparison of the WSM and the Big Green Egg. I've been contemplating replacing my Genesis with a BGE to get the smoking ability -- but I love my Genesis and could not bring myself to part with it or spend those bucks mostly on a wish and a prayer. I sent the review to my friend and added that if they made a WSM-mini I thought I would have to buy one. Then came the latent memory -- oh yeah, there is a WSM-mini. A quick look to Craigslist and I found a new post for a mini about an hour away for $120. I immediately sent and offer for $100 and then accepted the counter of $110. After asking for an address and time, the seller said that he would be making a long trip out my way the next day and maybe we could meet. Well, yeah! I'm so close to his route that he actually delivered the 14.5" to my house! (Yes, I did pay him the full $120 -- saved me about 2 1/2 hour drive and more than $10 in gas.)
When I looked at the delivered mini, it didn't look in great shape. (The seller was helping his brother out.) Pretty dirty/dusty and incredibly sooty inside. But a closer look showed that it was just fine and appeared hardly used. First I took a hose to all the parts. Under the dirt and dust was a nice shiny, near new finish. The inside sprayed almost clean right away. It appeared that the guy didn't know what he was doing and didn't bother to learn anything about smoking. Probably on his first cook he managed to get an intense black smoke and maintained it. I hate to think what his "bbq" was like and assume that it totally put him off "smoking". A good hour of scrubbing the next day and I have a fresh, new-looking 14.5" WSM and can hardly wait to use it. The biggest problem is getting the thermometer gasket back in.
This first pic is the parts laid out after hosing off. The one next to the charcoal is re-assembled (sans gasket) after cleaning. I'll have to do a small break-in to start with as it's almost like new. But before that a couple of mods -- wheels and a two small bolts to hold open the inverted door. Some time I will likely add handles to the sides for easy moving.
