Charcoal Management


 
Rusty James

Rusty James

TVWBB Emerald Member
Hi all,

Today, I smoked a 7.5 pound turkey breast (about a three-hour cook), and then I smoked some sausages, hot dogs, and sausage patties (another hour or so cook). I filled the ring of my 18" WSM with a new 15 pound bag of Kingsford charcoal and poured the remainder in the bag (which wasn't that much) into a five gallon bucket.

Frankly, I was a bit shocked at the amount of coals it took to fill the ring. Out of 15 pounds, there must have been three or four pounds left? - maybe more. After I extinguished the flame, I dumped the used coals onto a large sieve I made, and I probably salvaged a couple of pounds of usable coals.

I hate to sound petty, but is charcoal usage an issue here with some people? Granted, charcoal can be found on sale quite cheap at times, but with winter approaching, the sales may dry up until next spring. I really enjoy my Weber smoker, but I may be forced to smoke everything at once at 10 pounds a smoke. :( I can't imagine the amount of coals it would take to power a 22" smoker!

I used to own a 22" kettle grill, but returned it to Lowe's near the end of 90 days because it took too much charcoal in my opinion to get any appreciable amount of grilling heat. I found an 18" Weber kettle at Home Depot for $31.00, and it has worked nicely for my purposes without the need for large sums of charcoal. However, I do think the 22" grill was great for smoking, and I miss it in that regard.

I've been entertaining thoughts of returning my 18" smoker for the 14" model, or either finding a cheap Smoky Joe and making it into a mini-smoker.

Do any of you have ways of using less charcoal per smoke? Would a smaller ring be a good idea for the food items I described above?

Thanks for reading.
 
Given the relatively short total time of your smoke, you should have had loads of unused charcoal left. Since this was apparently not the case, time to look at why you're using so much charcoal.

Do you have the water pan empty or filled with water ? Also, how are you firing the WSM... Minion method or something else ?

Bob
 
13 pounds for 4 hours cook + heating period (maybe 1 more hour) ???
There is something strange in my opinion.
I usually fill up my 22 WSM charcoal ring with carcoal and 1-2 splits in the bottom.
I let it cook at 250 F for 4 hours + heating time 1,5 hours.
Next day Imwill find 60%-70% usable charcoal left.
Thisi is my common exoerince here in Rome, Italy with our sunny weather and with BBQGURU
 
Hey Rusty. Maybe if you could post pictures of your start-up process from go we might have a better idea what's going on, and perhaps someone could offer some insight because that does seem like quite a bit of charcoal use.

Re: water, I use it, but for a four hour cook @225 I would normally add only about a quart of hot water. I find that lasts the entire cook. For longer cooks I tend to double that. I never fill or refill the pan. However, I don't believe water is causing your high charcoal consumption.
 
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Yeah, sales probably won't be until next spring. When they happen, stock up for the year. That is what I do and then I don't have to worry about it at all.
 
The local Lowe's was having a sale on a 2-pack of the 18.6lb 'value' bag of Kingsford for 19.99 (both bags)

Is that considered a good value?

And a couple of related questions to charcoal management for a newbie here:
For a WSM 18.5"
1. How much charcoal should I use for a 6 lb bone in pork picnic cut
2. How long should I expect to have it on the smoker to get to about 190-195F

Thanks in advance!
 
Erik Tracy said:
The local Lowe's was having a sale on a 2-pack of the 18.6lb 'value' bag of Kingsford for 19.99 (both bags) Is that considered a good value?
Click to expand...
That's the typical price. The sales of $9.99 for that two bag deal are:

Memorial Day Weekend
July 4th Weekend
Labor Day Weekend

There maybe other dates that the charcoal goes on sale, but those 3 holiday weekends are pretty much set in stone
 
ChuckO said:
That's the typical price. The sales of $9.99 for that two bag deal are:

Memorial Day Weekend
July 4th Weekend
Labor Day Weekend

There maybe other dates that the charcoal goes on sale, but those 3 holiday weekends are pretty much set in stone
Click to expand...

Thanks.

I was comparing that to the 'regular' single 14lb bag that goes for 13.99 at the local grocery store. So 2 18lb bags for 20 seemed like a 'sale' :)
 
Erik Tracy said:
The local Lowe's was having a sale on a 2-pack of the 18.6lb 'value' bag of Kingsford for 19.99 (both bags)

Is that considered a good value?
Click to expand...


No. You can get 2 bags for under $10 on the big sales butttt there prob will not be any sales until next spring.
 
Erik Tracy said:
The local Lowe's was having a sale on a 2-pack of the 18.6lb 'value' bag of Kingsford for 19.99 (both bags)

Is that considered a good value?

And a couple of related questions to charcoal management for a newbie here:
For a WSM 18.5"
1. How much charcoal should I use for a 6 lb bone in pork picnic cut
2. How long should I expect to have it on the smoker to get to about 190-195F

Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

Hi Eric. I bring my picnics to 200-203. Personally I find that under 195 they tend to be greasy & stringy and taste kind of off.
 
Steven Paul said:
Hi Eric. I bring my picnics to 200-203. Personally I find that under 195 they tend to be greasy & stringy and taste kind of off.
Click to expand...

I'll give that a try then.

Anyone have times from their logs or memory for smoke time for 6lb picnic cut?

I will, of course, be using a Maverick for real time temp monitoring to hit the right temp, but, in keeping with the thread's original topic of charcoal management, was wanting to get an idea of how much to load up in my 18.5 for approximate fuel time.

My gut tells me from prior picnic cuts using my grill for smoking and initial cooking, then finishing in the oven, that actual cook time to be about 1hr per pound at 260-270F (I've been using these higher temps per some info off of amazingribs.com with vg results).

But if I go down to 225F, should I budget fuel and time for maybe 8hrs for a 6lb picnic?

And would that be about 1/2 full load of charcoal? 3/4 full? Assuming warm ambient temp, no wind, using water in the pan, good door seal.

Thanks!

(Sorry for the thread hi-jack....maybe I should start a new thread?)
 
I recently did a L & S Pot roast on my 18.5 and went 3 1/2 to 4 hours running about 190 -200 and using the Minion start and I didn't even fill the ring half way and after shutdown the next morning 50-60% was unburned. Something odd going one with your charcoal consumption.
I do have a mini I built and it is super efficient uses about half what the 18.5 uses.
Labor day I stocked up for winter and still have 26 18 pound bags left which will easily get me through the winter as I tend to use my big gasser as it's easy to fire up and it's the closest to the door to the warm house.
 
OP, I have the same concerns for sourcing charcoal over the winter when there are no sales. I'm in the midwest, and we can have some harsh winters, but can also have mild days, and I'm hoping to still be able to smoke when it's not brutal outside, but at the same time, getting charcoal over the winter could be a problem.
 
Erik Tracy said:
The local Lowe's was having a sale on a 2-pack of the 18.6lb 'value' bag of Kingsford for 19.99 (both bags)

Is that considered a good value?
Click to expand...


The best non-sale Kingsford price I have ever seen is at Sam's Club.

18.6 lb bags, 2 ct. $17.98

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I'll try and get back to the rest of you later, and see if I can answer your questions. Thanks for posting them!
 
Erik Tracy said:
My gut tells me from prior picnic cuts using my grill for smoking and initial cooking, then finishing in the oven, that actual cook time to be about 1hr per pound at 260-270F (I've been using these higher temps per some info off of amazingribs.com with vg results).

But if I go down to 225F, should I budget fuel and time for maybe 8hrs for a 6lb picnic?

And would that be about 1/2 full load of charcoal? 3/4 full? Assuming warm ambient temp, no wind, using water in the pan, good door seal.

Thanks!
Click to expand...


I would go a full ring of coals and use the Minion method for a long cook since cuts like pork shoulders need a long cook to break down the connective tissues. I personally would shoot for 225 to 250 with water in the pan. Pork shoulders need about one, to one and a half hours, per pound to cook.



Erik Tracy said:
(Sorry for the thread hi-jack....maybe I should start a new thread?)
Click to expand...


Not at all!

Kind of goes along with what we are discussing anyway.
 
Bob Bass said:
Given the relatively short total time of your smoke, you should have had loads of unused charcoal left. Since this was apparently not the case, time to look at why you're using so much charcoal.

Do you have the water pan empty or filled with water ? Also, how are you firing the WSM... Minion method or something else ?

Bob
Click to expand...


Minion method, Bob.

I did not use the heavy bowl this time, but instead, I inserted an empty rectangular lasagna pan (actually had two of them nestled together) on the lower grate to catch drippings form the turkey.

In order to boost the heat above 275, I reversed the door and propped the bottom open about an inch. After removing the bird, I added a quart of water to the pan and closed the door before smoking the sausages and dogs.
 
Steven Paul said:
Hey Rusty. Maybe if you could post pictures of your start-up process from go we might have a better idea what's going on, and perhaps someone could offer some insight because that does seem like quite a bit of charcoal use.

Re: water, I use it, but for a four hour cook @225 I would normally add only about a quart of hot water. I find that lasts the entire cook. For longer cooks I tend to double that. I never fill or refill the pan. However, I don't believe water is causing your high charcoal consumption.
Click to expand...


All I currently have now is a cheap web camera. I used to own three, point & shoot, Canon's but returned them in hopes of finding a more expensive camera with a larger image sensor.

My smoker fits together well, although it does leak smoke at the top & bottom joints, but I assume that is because of newness. What's the coal count supposed to be for long cooks? 200?
 
Rusty. I always fill up the charcoal ring to the max on every cook. If you can mitigate having to add more coals during the cook, then that's a good thing. I can actually put two more layers on top, coz I don't use the water pan. Just a terracotta pizza serving dish. This also gives easy access to the charcoal ring if you have to add any more fuel. [I'll find the pic and put it up].

Edit: http://tvwbb.com/showthread.php?60383-Help!-I-need-more-charcoal-clearance-on-my-14-WSM/page2
 
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I find the snake/fuse method pretty efficient. It helps keep temps steady, and you can salvage the unlit coals easily. I used the 3x3x2 snake below for a 6 hour rib smoke at ~250 degrees. You can manipulate how tall, how deep and how long you stack the snake according to your target temperature and cook time.
IMG_0535_zpsbhzvcyea.jpg

As you can see, the charcoal ring is not nearly filled. I could have probably gotten away with an even shorter snake, as there were a lot of partially spent coals at the end:
IMG_0562_zpsqylj1etz.jpg

To save unlit coals at the end of a partially burnt snake, you can use tongs to isolate them before shutting down the cooker. I've used this method a lot with the 22.5'' kettle, and I was pleasantly surprised at how well it translated to the 22.5'' WSM.
 
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