Buying Advice


 
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Darren C.

TVWBB Pro
I am considering buying a WSM. But, I have a couple of concerns that I'd like to get feedback on. I feel like these questions have surely been asked. But, I have been reading the forums and cannot find them. So, my apologies if I am duplicating a thread.

First, I have about 16-18 years experience cooking with weber kettles, most weeks 2-3 times. I LOVE cooking on them. To me, cooking is the fun of it. I say this to give you a frame of refernce for my first question. My first concern is the amount of work required to smoke with charcoal. I don't mean throughout the initial learning process. I mean once you have gotten used to your smoker and have gotten the hang of it. Grilling is fun. I want to keep it that way. Most of my cooks run from 1-2 hrs. That's fine with me and I don't consider the amount of effort to be excessive, it's enjoyable. But, I have a friend who bought an electric smoker and tells me how easy it is. Easy is okay. But, I am partial to charcoal and weber. So, I lean towards the wsm. I'm just worried about being too hard headed and not listen to his advice. Btw, he's a charcoal weber kettle griller too.

My second concern comes from an experience I had once when grilling. My fire was getting cool and I needed to add charcoal, which I did. The problem was that the unlit charcoal started smoking and imparted an unpleasant flavor into the food. The food was nearly inedible. So, with a charcoal smoker, I have been reading a lot about the minion method for maintaining temps for a long period of time. Does this not create a strong unpleasant flavor?

I hope these questions make sense and I hope I disn't go too far around the world asking.
 
Hi Darren, I purchased a WSM 22.5" a few weeks ago. Filled the charcoal ring with Kingsford Blue and lit about a 1/4 weber chimney poured on top of unlit coals with 3 hickory chunks put a pork butt on (filled water pan with hot water) and it ran steady around 250 for 11 hours. Shut down vents and had charcoal left. Just add fresh before each cook. Very ez smoker to operate.
 
Darren C. said:
My second concern comes from an experience I had once when grilling. My fire was getting cool and I needed to add charcoal, which I did. The problem was that the unlit charcoal started smoking and imparted an unpleasant flavor into the food. The food was nearly inedible. So, with a charcoal smoker, I have been reading a lot about the minion method for maintaining temps for a long period of time. Does this not create a strong unpleasant flavor?

I hope these questions make sense and I hope I disn't go too far around the world asking.
Click to expand...

Ohhh I'm gonna get in trouble but that comes from burning KBB. Use real lump charcoal and you will not have that problem. KBB is chemicals and coal. There is no comparison to real wood charcoal.
 
Go for the WSM. They are built to last, and a breeze to operate. Starting with a chimney full of lit dumped on to the unlit a 20 lbs bag of kingsford blue will last 12 hours or more...I've gone up to 15 hrs with out adding fuel. I also use water in the pan. You'll find a few dozen defferent opinions on the water pan just pick a method you like.

The real question is not weather or not to get a WSM. The question is which one do you want. Who am I kissing? Go bigger or go home. Get the 22.5 and have some fun.
 
Gary S said:
Ohhh I'm gonna get in trouble but that comes from burning KBB. Use real lump charcoal and you will not have that problem. KBB is chemicals and coal. There is no comparison to real wood charcoal.
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Yeah this is one of the great debates. I'm no KBB loyalist, but the other side needs to be mentioned as well. There are downsides to lump. It can be hard to find in some areas, it will usually cost more, it doesn't burn as evenly due to the lack of a uniform shape offered by briquettes.

I've never had an off taste with KBB and one great thing is I can get 40 lbs for $15.

The biggest no nos, that I'm sure most will agree with is stay away from the Match Lite and the lighter fluid
 
No 1. The WSM makes cooking almost too easy - even without a auto temp controller. With an ATC it's set it and forget it and is more accurate than your oven. Over time, I've learned where to set my lower and upper vents for temps I am looking for. Sometimes, I can make one adjustment for the entire cook. I REALLY love those cooks. Others I may have to make three or four adjustments over the entire cook. External weather plays a part in this. Windy days make it a bit tougher but a wind block takes care of the problem.

No 2. I believe the reason you got nasty smoke from adding charcoal in the kettle was because you added cold charcoal to hot charcoal. When I get a minion method going, I use a whole ring full which is about a whole bag for a LONG cook. I pour the lit on the unlit and let the nasty smoke clear to get a clean burning fire before I start cooking. As the coal heats up the nasty smoke clears. Only then do I add smoke wood therefore all the thin blue smoke is from wood I added. If I didn't add smoke wood I would see very little if any smoke at all. Later in the cook after the smoke wood is used up I don't see any smoke.

I do prefer lump for everything but the longest smokes. For me, lump burns cleaner.

I hope this helps.
 
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Thanks for all of the comments. I guess KBB is the Kingsford in the blue, white and black bag.

I know Weber recommends aginst using lighter fluid. But, I've never had a problem with it. I typically apply it to charcoal outside of the grill so that the excess doesn't land in the grill. Then, the charcoal comes to a white ash before the food goes on. So, I figure all of the fluid is long gone. I tried just using paper in the chimeny starter. But, it's a mess to use, makes a lot of smoke and just all around unpleasant. Sometimes I'll use lighter fluid in it or set it on top of my propane cooker to get it going. It's my fall back method.

I'm surprised that a single cooking can take a whole 20 lb. bag. I wasn't expecting that. I guess I shouldn't be too worried about blowing through my charcoal too quickly. I have a stock pile of charcoal. Lowes had it on sale for $10 for 40lb (2 - 20 lb). So, I probably have close to 500 lbs in my storage shed. I try to buy enough to last until the next sale. And, I do grill frequently.

@B D Adams
My two kettle grills are 22.5 and 26.75. I prefer to use the smaller one because it gets hotter. For that reason, if I get the WSM, I was leaning toward the smaller one. But, I don't want to run out of room on it. So, I'm not ruling out the larger one.

@Dwain
I get what you are saying about allowing the smoke to dissapate. Everyone seems to be happy with the minion or snake method. So, I guess I am probably worried about nothing. It's just that that one experience left a lasting impression on me. I've been hesitant to add charcoal to my fire ever since. The other day, I heated up new coals in the chimney first, then added lit charcoal to keep my fire hot and to avoid the smoke issue.

So, if you do run low on charcoal during the cook, do you add unlit charcoal? If so, you don't have any issues with that?
 
I always use the minion for my long cooks and never had a problem with any off tastes, and I use KBB. That said though I do let the lit engage the unlit for about 10min or so. I've found this helps to get the charcoal going so its nice and hot before I put the lid on and restrict the air flow. That help me to get to temp faster too. As to adding more charcoal during a cook, I always add lit. I have the 18.5" and I get about 10-12hrs with out having to add fuel, that's with water in the pan (I add boiling water to the pan right off the bat. Why waste fuel bringing the water up to a boil?) As to the 18.5"er, I love it! At first I thought I should have gotten the 22.5", more space to fit big briskets or long slabs of ribs. But I can get 16lbs+ briskets on, and it doesn't need as much fuel to get up to temp. I have a friend with the 22.5" and he kind of wishes he had gotten the 18.5". You'll love ether one though, the wsm is awesome.
 
Hi Darren,

Just a fyi on the WSM vs your friend's electric...

If you ever decide to go the competition route, you can use your WSM. Your friend will need to find another smoker (maybe a WSM ??? ;). As a famous tuna once said, "Sorry Charlie". Electric smokers are not allowed, at least at KCBS comps. ;)
 
You won't regret a WSM especially if if you a kette user. Don't add unlit to lit. A minion burn which is the opposite will not give that bad taste. KBB is fine to use dispite the haters. I keep some lump on hand for the few times I do need to add unlit because I needed some extra time
 
My advice would be to buy the 22(mainly for room for ribs), wrap the water pan in foil and not use water in it, light the chimney with Weber wax cubes, use the coffee can minion method and put chunks on top around the lit coals in the center after smoke clears. It usually takes about an hour. If you don't have an hour to wait then use Stubbs or Cowboy. I haven't had to add charcoal yet even on a brisket.

As far as time goes I have gotten to where I enjoy more the slow cooking process of the WSM than fast grilling with the kettles. I still grill steaks once a week but seem to look forward more to firing up the WSM.
 
Jeff R said:
You won't regret a WSM especially if if you a kette user. Don't add unlit to lit. A minion burn which is the opposite will not give that bad taste. KBB is fine to use dispite the haters. I keep some lump on hand for the few times I do need to add unlit because I needed some extra time
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Jeff, so you did add unlit lump and thats ok?
I've only done one overnight smoke, and towards the end I needed to add more charcoal, I just tossed in unlit, did not notice any bad taste. I'll make sure it's lit from now on. But if it's ok to throw on unlit lump I'll get some.
I also had just the kettle since 1998, did some long cooks. Decided to dive into the WSM pool. I first ordered the 18, and decided it was to small, returned it and got the 22. I did not want to run out of room for ribs.
Yes my 16 hour cook took 30 pounds of KBB, but when you come right down to it what is the price of 5 or 10 pounds of charcoal vs not haveing room anf drying out or burning your cook? Thats where the money is at.......
I'd say for a newbe I had a great time with that overnight, I was nervous yes but it was kewl!
 
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Of the two kettles that I own, I always use the smaller one if I have room. I'm not really expecting to cook large meat very often, maybe a couple of times a year. I hope to do a turkey this year. And, I like pulled pork. But, primarily, I figured I'd try things that I would normally use my grill for, such as steelhead trout filets, chicken leg quarters and pork loins. That mostly what I cook. And, I don't really plan to change that. Maybe I should think more about what I hope to gain with a smoker.
 
Jeff R said:
You won't regret a WSM especially if if you a kette user. Don't add unlit to lit. A minion burn which is the opposite will not give that bad taste. KBB is fine to use dispite the haters. I keep some lump on hand for the few times I do need to add unlit because I needed some extra time
Click to expand...

I never thought about the "lit to unlit" vs. "unlit to lit" pov. That explains why so many people have no problem with the minion method.
 
For question #1, now that my WSM is properly gunked up and I'm experienced at using it, it's a "set it and forget it" type thing. There are two things that will make your life much simpler:

1. Whenever possible, smoke on non-windy days. If there's a breeze, only open your down-wind bottom vent and turn the lid so the top vent is down wind. Wind = stoking the fire, which makes your temps fluctuate. On a calm day, a WSM might as well be an oven. My last cook, I set the vents once and the smoker held around 240F for nearly 20 hours. It was a calm day and I had maybe a bag and a half of KC loaded in a 22".

2. Get a Maverick remote probe with alarm. You can goof off with confidence knowing that you'll get beeped at when it's time to check the meat or if your pit temps go weird.

To answer your second question, I've never gotten a weird taste and I always use minion method. I also only use Kingsford Competition briquettes. Those might be what makes the difference.
 
Dave Alvarado said:
For question #1, now that my WSM is properly gunked up and I'm experienced at using it, it's a "set it and forget it" type thing. There are two things that will make your life much simpler:

1. Whenever possible, smoke on non-windy days. If there's a breeze, only open your down-wind bottom vent and turn the lid so the top vent is down wind. Wind = stoking the fire, which makes your temps fluctuate. On a calm day, a WSM might as well be an oven. My last cook, I set the vents once and the smoker held around 240F for nearly 20 hours. It was a calm day and I had maybe a bag and a half of KC loaded in a 22".

2. Get a Maverick remote probe with alarm. You can goof off with confidence knowing that you'll get beeped at when it's time to check the meat or if your pit temps go weird.

To answer your second question, I've never gotten a weird taste and I always use minion method. I also only use Kingsford Competition briquettes. Those might be what makes the difference.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your insight.
 
To light your chimney use 2 sheets of paper towel, dampen them with cooking oil, I use my old fryer oil, place in bottom of chimney and light. Works great and very little ash.
 
i add unlit charcoal all the time and have never noticed a bad taste. i would ditch the lighter fluid though.
 
I won't add to the charcoal comments other than I've never experienced a bad taste using minion method. But your other concern seems to be that the wsm takes the fun out of cooking. In a way it does, but it is a different cook. You mentioned that most of your cooks are 1-2 hours but with a smoker most of your cooks will usually far exceed that time. My shortest cooks are 5-6 hours for ribs, which I could do on my OTP but don't. Very short cooks on the gas grill, usually. Longer on the charcoal, and smokes and long cooks on the wsm, go off and watch a football game cooks. As for the choice of smokers, I bought a 22 and thought it was way too big, almost took it back, but kept it. Though it is more than I need most of the time, it makes cooking ribs so that they lay flat without cutting, along with other stuff on the top grate, which I prefer, dont have to take off top grate to get to the bottom grate, a pain as far as I'm concerned.

If you are like most of us, there is no place to see both sizes side by side, and I doubt Brandon, home of a former Ms. America, is any different. As you said, charcoal cost isn't all that great, and though I fill mine up, I shut it down when done cooking and there is always a lot left over, unless it is a 12 hour cook......................d
 
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