HuangFeng
New member
Hello there, I made this "air cup connector" inspired by others aiming to solve my high-temperature problem with WSM18.
Problem:
With Billows directly clamped on one of the bottom vents, the real amount of air that Billows can push into the chamber is much smaller than Billow's designed square shape outlet, even worse, if the clamped position is a little off, the round vent in WSM can be partially blocked, and causing even smaller airflow.
This is not a substantial problem if I do smoke at 225F in the early stage, but it will struggle to maintain at 275F or in the late stage of cooking when charcoals are dying.
Solution:
I repurposed a kid's kitchen toy and cut out that square shape to connect to Billows, this time there are about 2.5 holes to receive the air intake, compared to just one hole before. The result is it takes a much shorter time to reach 225 after pouring in the lit. Also, it holds at 275 with no problem, and after adding charcoal, the unlit catches fire faster. The Signals and Billows are not cheap, I think they should include this connector kit in the box, I really struggled a lot until realized this.
With this mod, I did a 24-hour cook. For the brisket, first 15 hours overnight, then add charcoal and wrap for 3 hours. Then put the chicken breast in for 3 hours, and the last few hours for melting the beef tallow.
Problem:
With Billows directly clamped on one of the bottom vents, the real amount of air that Billows can push into the chamber is much smaller than Billow's designed square shape outlet, even worse, if the clamped position is a little off, the round vent in WSM can be partially blocked, and causing even smaller airflow.
This is not a substantial problem if I do smoke at 225F in the early stage, but it will struggle to maintain at 275F or in the late stage of cooking when charcoals are dying.
Solution:
I repurposed a kid's kitchen toy and cut out that square shape to connect to Billows, this time there are about 2.5 holes to receive the air intake, compared to just one hole before. The result is it takes a much shorter time to reach 225 after pouring in the lit. Also, it holds at 275 with no problem, and after adding charcoal, the unlit catches fire faster. The Signals and Billows are not cheap, I think they should include this connector kit in the box, I really struggled a lot until realized this.
With this mod, I did a 24-hour cook. For the brisket, first 15 hours overnight, then add charcoal and wrap for 3 hours. Then put the chicken breast in for 3 hours, and the last few hours for melting the beef tallow.
