Chunks or charcoal


 
F

FrankL

New member
I have a WSM22.5 I been using charcoal and cannot get anymore than six hours give or take. I been using the blue bag and now I bought lump charcoal.
Is there any thing I should know about lump?
Water or no water? Minion method? I'm looking for a long burn like 10-12
I bought a Boston butt 12 lb .
:wsm:
 
I would suggest you try using Stubb's briquettes, foil the water pan(don't use water) or buy an 18" clay saucer to put in the water pan and foil both and use the coffee can version of the minion method and you should be good to go for 10+ hours maybe longer. It should work fine with Kingsford blue too if you already have some. As far as lump goes I bought some Cowboy lump yesterday but haven't tried it yet. I have read some positive things about Cowboy recently on this forum.
 
More info might be helpful. Do you know the temperature at the top grate area? How full did you fill the charcoal grate? Was all the charcoal lit from the beginning? what did the temperature gauge on the front of the WSM read thru most of the cook?

I just finished my first major cook since getting my 22.5 WSM a number of weeks ago and I went about 12 hours and still could have cooked longer. Don't know how much longer I had since by the end of the cook there was a lot more to do before all the mothers arrived for the celebration. In my case, the charcoal ring was full of unlit charcoal (Kingsford Blue Bag) with about a third of a chimny of lit briquettes scattered on top with five soaked chunks of apple wood, water bowl was full of water. The temperature at the grate from an et732 was pretty consistent at about 235*.

Supply more details and it might be easier to figure out.

Good luck.
 
Here in Rhode Island it's hard to get stubs and cowboy comes in really small bags.
I bought a big bag of frontier lump charcoal did you ever hear of this one?
 
To get longer burns, you're going to have to use a denser charcoal. Kingsford is fairly dense. The same volume of Kingsford weighs more than many brands of lump. I think the most dense products are Wicked Good and the extruded charcoal products. You should be able to find the Wicked Good products in your area. Warning though. It sparks alot. It's ok for low temp cooks, but let it get grilling hot and it pop, sparks and litters your food. That's my experience anyway.
 
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Couldn't get it to go the distance had to refuel . I was using blue 20 lb bag and got nine hours then had to refuel. I used the minion method. Coffee can in the middle and 20 lb around it.
Boston butt came out lousy. I rapped it after 4 hours cooked tilled it reached 198 it stayed at 225 the whole time.
It cooked a total of 13 hours. I wrapped the water pan. No water.
 
What kind of outside temps are you contending with? My cook over the weekend was two small bone in butts, probably 5#s each after trimming. I used roughly 15#'s of blue bag with smoke wood buried in the charcoal and scattered 20 lit briquettes over the ring. Temp maintained nicely between 225-250 (foiled pan, no water) and was completed in about 11.5 hours. I shut the vents down after removing the food and let the fire die... I was surprised to see how much fuel remained in the ring. I didn't weigh it but just a rough estimate, I would say there was probably 4 pounds left. The outside temp on this overnighter was in the low 60's with very little wind.

I'm having a hard time understanding why fuel consumption would be that much different given the same style cook and maintaining the same temps unless the weather conditions were drastically different.
 
I only have an 18" WSM, but it does seem like you should be able to get way more than 10 hours. The first thing I would do is make sure your temp reading is correct. Doesn't have to be perfect, but if you're running a lot hotter than you think, you would burn out faster. Second, I would make sure I get out of the wind. Then I will repeat some of the advice here, no water, minion method . . . but the main thing I would do is make sure you fill the ring full and pack it. Packing it ensures there are no big air pockets and that you get all you can in the ring. Full means FULL - as in heaping over the top of the ring (not level with it). Get as much charcoal in there as you can. Good luck.
 
You. Got a good point the temp gage might be screwed up. This could be why the meat came out like S,,?t.
I going to try my maverick temp gage to see what the temp is at the grate. And I'll see at the same time if the temp gage on the WSM is correct. They should have the same temp reading.
 
FrankL said:
You. Got a good point the temp gage might be screwed up. This could be why the meat came out like S,,?t.
I going to try my maverick temp gage to see what the temp is at the grate. And I'll see at the same time if the temp gage on the WSM is correct. They should have the same temp reading.[/
Click to expand...
 
I put in the maverick temp at the grill. Temp on the WSM 250 temp at the grate 375 you hit it right on the nose.
is there a way to fix the WSM TEMP? If not what is a good temp gage to buy for it?
I also put a temp gage on the top grate and one on the bottom , why is there such a difference in temp?
To me the bottom should be hotter and the top cooler??? Confused!
 
I will bet you are going to find your method of temperature measurement is the main culprit. That said, I think lump charcoal is harder to use. It may well create a better finished product but at least IMHO it is harder to control than your basic Kingsford style briquets.. Get good at controlling briquets and than try your hand at lump if you so desire.
 
FrankL said:
I put in the maverick temp at the grill. Temp on the WSM 250 temp at the grate 375 you hit it right on the nose.
is there a way to fix the WSM TEMP? If not what is a good temp gage to buy for it?
I also put a temp gage on the top grate and one on the bottom , why is there such a difference in temp?
To me the bottom should be hotter and the top cooler??? Confused!
Click to expand...

hood temp gauges are about as useful as tits on a bull regardless of what smoker you use. I don't even know why they bother to install them. I use a maverick dual probe wireless therm. I'm sure others may know of something even better.
 
Thomas, reach out to Weber. Mine is off, but not by 125 degrees (10-15 deg maybe). Let them know you've run it side by side with a well calibrated thermometer, and it is WAY off. My guess is they'll be sending you a new one, free of charge.
 
Tony A said:
Thomas, reach out to Weber. Mine is off, but not by 125 degrees (10-15 deg maybe). Let them know you've run it side by side with a well calibrated thermometer, and it is WAY off. My guess is they'll be sending you a new one, free of charge.
Click to expand...

Thanks very much for the advice. I have owned several smokers and no hood gauge has ever been very accurate. With the options available for $30-$40 to have both accuracy and a wireless transmitter I'm okay continuing to use the hood therm as a hood ornament :)
 
Got in touch with weber and there sending a new one. Wow one heck of a time trying.
New temp gage or no I'm staying my maverick . Did another for the cook for the 4th works gr8 maverick is the way to go
 
To the OP and the rest of you fine folks. Coffee can method. I wish my 18.5 WSM had longer burn times as well. Nice tip that someone posted about the density of Kingsford giving a longer burn.


 
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If you want longer cook times on a load of charcoal, it really doesn't matter the method you use to light or the charcoal. It takes a lot of fuel to heat up the smoker with water in the pan. Go get yourself a clay saucer. I've run my 18.5 for 15hrs on lump after i got rid of the water in the pan.
 
In the worst weather with no blanket, 20 lbs of Kingsford will last me at least 10 hrs. I'm talking 20 degrees or colder, breezy, and wet. If it's a weather issue, water heater blankets work wonders!! I was amazed how much more efficient it was when I did pork butts and brisket in early February. It burned fuel like a hot still day in August.

As for lighting...there may be a few wrong ways but there is certainly no one right way. I fill my charcoal chimney and dump the rest of the 20 lbs bag in the ring. I bury a few pieces of wood chunk. Once the chimney is fully lit I just dump it as evenly as possible across the top. I do use water in the pan and very rarely have to add any water in the first 12 hrs of a smoke.

My dome temp is off buy about 15 degrees. Like many I use the Maverick to get grate temp. Just ignore the dome.
 
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