Breaking in the new toy

[CaseT]

Great looking roast! Did you like the 14.5 WSM better than one of your many mini's? I dont think anybody on this forum has used a mini more than you have. I'd be very interested in your opinion on the comparison of the two.

Thank you. So far the 14 is working out good. Can't say yet that I like it better than the mini. I do think that one might be able to get a longer cook, but I won't be able to confirm that yet. I probably wouldn't go out and get rid of all my mini-wsms yet. Nor would I rush out and buy this smoker if it wasn't on sale.

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A quick blurb on performance. I ran the smoker like I do all my smokers with no water in the water pan. I used KBB and cherry. I used the side light method.
It took 10 minutes for me to get the pit up to temp. It took about 20 minutes for the smoke to clear up. Some of this may have been due to the unit being new and not seasoned yet. It will be nice when the lid gets gooped up enough to seal. The
It was easy for me to maintain an average temp of 225°-230° with minimal adjustment.

Summary of temps.

As we all know, stock therms are never very accurate. It would be very hard to test this therm as the it goes from 100°-150° in 5° increments. So I didn't test it. What I did do was use my tested iGrill2 therms. If I'd been thinking I would have monitored the lower grate during the entire cook, but I didn't think to do that until after I pulled the meat. The Weber therm read 20° higher than the upper grate, during the initial warm up until the smoker hit about 180°. After 180° the Weber therm was 30° below the upper grate temp. The lower and upper grates were within ten degrees of each other. Max temperature was 425°+ when I last looked at it and unplugged it. That was about hour 5. I went to bed and have no idea how long it went. So there's the temp scoop.

Here is what the basket looked like after 4 hours. 3 hours at 230°, 1 hour @ 380°-425°

 

[Pat G]

I'm seeing about a 30 degree difference between lid therm and grate therm as well. I wonder if that will change once "the lid gets gooped up enough to seal."

Great info Case.

 

[Bob Ivey]

I have learned one thing about my lid therm, ignore it. Occasionally I do look at it just for the fun of it. I know that it only measures the temp at the top of the lid and that info does not help me at all.

I'm seeing about a 30 degree difference between lid therm and grate therm as well. I wonder if that will change once "the lid gets gooped up enough to seal."

Great info Case.

 

[CaseT]

I'm seeing about a 30 degree difference between lid therm and grate therm as well. I wonder if that will change once "the lid gets gooped up enough to seal."

Great info Case.

Pat on my next smoke I will drop a probe in the top vent to see how close the that area is to grate temp. I can't believe there'd be a 30 degree difference between grate and lid, I'd buy a 10-15 degree difference.

 

[CaseT]

I have learned one thing about my lid therm, ignore it. Occasionally I do look at it just for the fun of it. I know that it only measures the temp at the top of the lid and that info does not help me at all.

I've never trusted any of the stock therms on my smokers.

That is why I don't put a fixed therm on any othe smokers I build. I want to be able to test the probes occasionally. I also want to measure the temp where I'm cooking!

 

[Bob Ivey]

When you do that, try to place the probe so it only protrudes the same distance in as the lid therm. That difference in distance can equate to a difference in temp also. As was previously said, that cook was great.

Pat on my next smoke I will drop a probe in the top vent to see how close the that area is to grate temp. I can't believe there'd be a 30 degree difference between grate and lid, I'd buy a 10-15 degree difference.

 

[Pat G]

Pat on my next smoke I will drop a probe in the top vent to see how close the that area is to grate temp. I can't believe there'd be a 30 degree difference between grate and lid, I'd buy a 10-15 degree difference.

I was actually checking by the middle grate with my Weber instant read. I'm hoping the wife gets me a fancy Maverick for my birthday.

 

[CaseT]

When you do that, try to place the probe so it only protrudes the same distance in as the lid therm. That difference in distance can equate to a difference in temp also. As was previously said, that cook was great.

Actually I will be fixing it right next to the Weber probe, so it will be a side by side comparison.

Binder clips are a smokers best friend!

 

[John Zell]

Nice post CaseT.

What I want to know is, how was the sea bass? And those look like commercial crap pots along side that big load of crab. What's the story there?

jz

 

[CaseT]

Nice post CaseT.

What I want to know is, how was the sea bass? And those look like commercial crap pots along side that big load of crab. What's the story there?

jz

Thank you John!

Fresh Sea bass is always good. I like Lingcod better though, and we struck out this trip.

The crab pots are very similar to the commercial pots used, however these are lighter and smaller in diameter.

Typical commercial pot off the Oregon coast is 4'-5' in diameter and can weigh 100+ pounds.

These are 3' diameter and weigh in around 30 pounds.

On the way out to the fishing grounds the pots are dropped and soak while fishing. Hand pulled using a davit with a roller block at the top.

The pots are dropped in 30-60 feet of water.

When I had my charter boat in Depoe Bay I pioneered the fish/crab combo trip. No one did it and I thought hey we have free bait why not. We tried rings at first. Drop 10'or so run back to the start and pull. That was a pain. So then I had a local welder make me some light weight pots. They worked great. Drop, fish, pick up.

 

[TonyUK]

Congrats on you new toy Case. And that first cook looks bang-on!
I bet that no-one would ever guess you did that cook without underwear on.

 

[Matt Rector]

Great score Case! Wish I could find one for that price around here.

 

[Ken Chapman]

Thank you for such a great write up. Very informative. I'm looking forward to all the great cooks you'll hopefully post.

 

[CaseT]

Great score Case! Wish I could find one for that price around here.

Get thee to Walmart! This one I picked up at the Walmart in Albany. I've never been in a Walmart Superstore before.

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Thank you for such a great write up. Very informative. I'm looking forward to all the great cooks you'll hopefully post.

Thank you Ken! I'll be posting more for sure. Just bought a pack of wings that will be smoking Friday.

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Congrats on you new toy Case. And that first cook looks bang-on!
I bet that no-one would ever guess you did that cook without underwear on.

Thank you! Commando cooking is the only way to cook!

 

[ChuckO]

Some serious good eats Case! I almost feel bad for the WSM, you know it'll be modded like nobody's business any minute now

 

[CaseT]

Some serious good eats Case! I almost feel bad for the WSM, you know it'll be modded like nobody's business any minute now

Thanks Chuck! Not sure this guy needs any mods.

I'll test it out today on some wings!