Can you pinpoint my charcoal longevity issues?


 
Troy... in one word... Yes !
With these words added... Unless something really upsets the process.

You're off to a great start.

ADDED : Are you running water in the pan or a foiled dry pan ?
 
Foiled dry pan today. Meant to add that in the other post!

Only got 1 intake barely cracked and this thing is definitely running super hot!

What exactly seals up (with the carbonized grease?) over time? The lid/upper section of the middle and the bottom part of the middle?

Regardless, in a few days I'm gonna hot'n'fast smoke some wings. I hope that will help dirty my WSM up too.
 
If it's running hot with all bottom vents closed, don't hesitate to adjust the top vent accordingly !

You might have some other spots where it is ingesting fresh air to fuel the fire. After the cook is over and everything is cooled down, in the 'darkness of night use a flashlight from the inside to find areas where the leaks are occurring. Common points are the middle to bottom joint and the vents.
 
If it's totally out of control... Use any method available.
One can throttle the top vent, rather than just closing it.
Just another tool for the pitmaster to use.
 
Three cooks in the books with my WSM now. All three successful in that I've made delicious food, but today was easily the most successful and least frustrating. I had two vents open and the other one in the back almost closed, before I finally said "screw it" and closed it as well. I still maintained solid temps. Foiled the top of the water pan. Little lady loved the pork loin more than anything. The beef back ribs came out great. It was the first time I'd ever smoked them. I smoked them for two hours and foiled them for nearly three; I didn't follow any rule with them... they came out pretty tender, juicy and flavorful. All I hit 'em with was some kosher salt, black pepper and some cayenne. Still hoping to do the wings this upcoming week to dirty it up even more.

For the first time, I'm gonna have to leave my smoker outside tonight since it's too hot to transport it back into the garage.
 
Rusty James said:
No bottom vents open, and you still maintained smoking temps?
Click to expand...
For the last two hours, yessir. Top vent wide open.

I'm hoping it's just because there's only been three smokes, running hot due to the carbonized grease needing to build up in the smoker.
 
Troy,

This statement,
Troy S said:
...For the first time, I'm gonna have to leave my smoker outside tonight since it's too hot to transport it back into the garage.
Click to expand...
confirms that excess combustion air is getting to the coals. This situation should improve as the WSM 'seasons'. Would still check for a leak.

You should be able to close all vents and have the WSM choke off the coals. When shutting down my 22" WSM, it would be cool to the touch in 30 minutes. Mine was a little extreme due to having gasket material between each section as well as on the Stoker's fan.

But... 45 minutes to an hour is not unheard of !!!
 
I notice in the picture what appear to be partially burned coal, there's another thing which can lessen burn time. I always do full fresh in the smoker, tif there is anything left it goes to the kettle. Just my method.
2 boneless butts smoked on Friday with maybe 15-16 pounds of KBB, everything dialed in pretty quickly, ran about 230 from 9:45 am to 11:00 pm. I shut it down and next morning, I had four unturned coals left! Everyone was very pleased with the feast!
 
The 22.5" WSM is a pig compared to the 18.5" as far as fuel . I don't know why or how but I guess we just have to deal with it.
My 08 18 is a miser on fuel and that's with an empty foiled pan. Lower vents are trashed bent to heck and the mid section and lid don't seat right.
But I still can shut it down in less then an hour. The 22.5" fits like a glove, all vents need some coaxing to turn and it takes twice as long to cool down.
Tim
 
Timothy F. Lewis said:
I notice in the picture what appear to be partially burned coal, there's another thing which can lessen burn time. I always do full fresh in the smoker, tif there is anything left it goes to the kettle. Just my method.
2 boneless butts smoked on Friday with maybe 15-16 pounds of KBB, everything dialed in pretty quickly, ran about 230 from 9:45 am to 11:00 pm. I shut it down and next morning, I had four unturned coals left! Everyone was very pleased with the feast!
Click to expand...
In the first pic (from the opening thread), I used brand new coals.

But in my second cook that I posted yesterday, I used a few partially burned coals, but the thing is, it was my most 'successful' cook in that temperatures remained steady longer. Also, when I cleaned my WSM of its ash this morning, I had some coals that weren't fully burned, so I'm happy about that.
 
For what it's worth, I save my leftover coals for the chimney starter when starting a new smoke. I like Tim L's advice of filling the smoker with fresh coals.
 
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