Curious here... how many of you use the lower level on your WSMs?


 
Robert-R

Robert-R

TVWBB Diamond Member
Myself.... I'd say next to never. I can't remember doing that.
Have an 18.5 & a 14.5.
Even before we became empty nesters, I can't remember using it.
 
???? maybe 20% of the time --- I've had my 18.5" fully loaded more times than I can count. Besides just extra capacity, you can leave out the water pan & grill on it instead of the top, or if you didn't have a kettle you could set the fire ring on it and dump the coals on the lower grate & cook on the top.

The only bad thing, & I learned it early: don't cook chicken on the lower grate while cooking fish on the top!
 
I'm about to in the next couple of hours. Have a 14lb packer brisket and two pork butts going on for a party tomorrow.
 
Having the 14.5 I feel like I'm wasting charcoal if I don't put something else on there... I end up getting mad having to over open it up since it cooks at a different rate.
 
Only when I'm cooking a lot of food. Although, I did put wings on the lower grate ,w/o the water pan, in order to cook them faster. worked great. I'm cooking 4 butts tonight so I'll have 2 on each level.
 
Every time I do pulled pork I do one on each grate. After I foil them, I switch grates. It seems to perfectly even them out. I do the same thing for ribs (always do six half racks - three on each grate with rib racks) and after I foil them, again switch racks. We vacuum pack anything left over in two person packs. I don't ever want to run out of pulled pork or ribs. When I get the urge I want them NOW!:rolleyes:

When I do hot and fast chicken (pretty often) I only use the top grate.

The above applies to both my 14.5 and my 18.5.

Keep on smokin',
Dale53:wsm:
 
I've owned my pre-owned 18.5 for 6 years, used the bottom rack once for butts.
It hasn't even been in the smoker for a long time, makes it easier to get to the water pan for foiling.
 
All the time! Always doing spare ribs without a rib rack holder, so both levels are full with the ribs

When meat was cheaper and cryovac packs at Sams Club were three racks, my two levels on the 18 " WSM were slammed; two trimmed spares on top and one trimmed spare on bottom with all the cut ends arranged around it. Finally added a middle rack to handle them a little easier. With the Sams Club reducing the cryos to two racks of ribs I have a trimmed spare rib rack on two levels, with trimmings arranged around it.
 
Every time. I always find something to smoke on the lower level (sausage, ribs, meatloaf) even if the main cook is a single butt or brisket. It's the frugal thing to do.
 
Never have,in fact it is still hanging on the wall which is where I put it the day I bought my smoker.
 
I'm mostly cooking for 2, so I've never had enough meat to warrant using the bottom rack.

However, if I ever do ribs for a party, I can see it coming in handy.
 
I use both levels almost every time. My theory is that you might as well get twice the pop out of a load of Kingsford. The second layer is not that much extra work. And I have a lot of freezer space.

I currently have 6 racks of BB ribs on my 22 inches right now. 3 on the top, 3 on the bottom. I could have easily put them in a rack on the top shelf, but I like to cook them horizontally when possible. I have a close friend whose wife's mother is in hospice now. I told him I was bringing over ribs, potato salad, blueberry cobbler and homemade ice cream this afternoon.
 
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