Cold Weather Questions


 
G

George K

New member
Hello, first post but I have been reading these pages for about a year.

I received an 18.5" new style WSM for Christmas from my in-laws and have done three cooks so far. I read a lot of methods for dealing with cold and wind, but how about extreme cold?
I have been planing my first overnight butt cook tonight but the air temps will be around zero.

I have a few questions about the plastic drum idea. I have seen several variations and I'm not sure which to use. I have seen flat on the ground, up on bricks, and flat with vents in the drum. Also, should I use something to insulate the top at all? Seems like that's where most heat loss would occur.
Thank you much for this great resource you have here. Looking forward to being a part of the community.
 
Welcome aboard George!

I'm also doing an overnight cook tonight but in -9.5f/-23c temps! Think i'm going to run my in the garage though
icon_wink.gif
. These smokers work fine in cold temps. Wind is your worst enemy.

I take it you have the plastic barrel, yes? The times i've used mine i haven't used bricks and temps were easily controlled. I guess have a few bricks standing by if you need better air flow.
 
As Stefan notes, WIND is your worst enemy.

Cooking in the Wind, Rain & Cold

Even a simple wind break will help.

I think the plastic barrel is a great idea.

Heat loss out the top is of little concern. Insulating the WSM's lower and mid sections is primary.

I wouldn't think drilling holes would be needed. If not flat on the ground then up on thin 1" pavers should be sufficient.
 
I feel like I have been struggling to keep the temps up. Hopefully the drum helps. Even on the first cook when I was expecting it to run a bit hot, it still ran cold.
 
George if you solved the wind problem then all you need to do is load up with extra coals. Are you using the minion method? If so start with a full ring of unlit and add about a 1/4 chimney more lit than you would normally start with. If you use water in the pan it would help to go with a foiled empty pan in cold weather since your water eats up fuel. Make sure there is an air space between the foil and the bottom of the pan so you don't have grease smoldering away in the cooker.
 
The blue barrel DEFINATELY helps, and no, there's no need for a gap at the bottom. Personally, since the wsm is single walled thin construction, draping something over the dome certainly can't hurt either, but I haven't tried anything yet. I saw Myron Mixon covering his smoker with wool blankets on BBQ Pitmasters before TLC ruined it, so I might just start there.

Like Bob said, start off with more charcoal, or at least lit charcoal. If your cooker is "fit tight", the coals will slow down once deprived of air. As for long cooks, you can heap up more charcoal under a Brinkman charcoal pan used in place of the current OE weber pan.
 
Butts are on and fingers are crossed. Funny you mention the Brinkman pan. I had ordered one but it was delayed by the storm. Just came in today.

So, I went with an empty, foiled pan with the drum and am pretty stable for the time being at around 250.
Thanks for all the help and suggestions. Maybe I will actually get some sleep tonight!
 
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