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


 
I've done eight chickens on my 18" a couple of times, had to use the lower rack there :). Usually if I do butts I do four, two on top rack and two on bottom. I've not smoked a lot over the past couple of years but when I do I generally go large and vacuum seal, so probably half the time I use the smoker I use the lower rack.

Rick
 
Usually once or twice a year. Always on SD and whenever my WSM goes on vacation with me. I like to put a pan of beans under the last hour or two of butt cooking!
 
I used my father-in-law's WSM today to smoke 3 racks of ribs. I needed the bottom rack. He had to look for it in the shed. It was shiny as new.
 
Sadly not very often. I can smoke a lot of meat on top rack so unless I'm cooking for a big party I do not even keep it in my smoker.
 
Robert-R said:
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.
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I almost always use both racks. in my house, we live off the left overs so I always load mine up with a couple large briskets or 4 butts. We love our seal a meal to portion up the left overs. It's nice to come home from work, warm of some quality smoked brisket or pulled pork and have it with a salad or other entree. In my house, we have not gone out to dinner or ordered take out since I purchased by WSM back in 2011. We're so spoiled, nothing we can buy taste as good as the food we cook at home. We also think it is a lot healthier cooking at home versus having some minimum wage cook who does not care about quality or hygiene prepare a meal.

Our typical cook is briskets on at 4:00 pm, sausages for dinner that night, something like armadillo eggs for breakfast next day and then the finally, brisket for dinner. If we just want something on the spur of the moment that's only going to use one grill, I have my kettle set up with a heat deflector. It does a good smoke on its own.



CraigW
 
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I use the bottom rack with the water pan, especially for ribs that I dont want to foil.
 
Is there a huge difference in temperature when using the bottom grate? I've always worried that it would be hotter down there so I've never used it.
 
maybe 1 in 10 cooks I use the bottom rack. I cooked two racks of st. louis style pork ribs and cut them both in half and did one rack per grate.
 
KJarosz said:
Is there a huge difference in temperature when using the bottom grate? I've always worried that it would be hotter down there so I've never used it.
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not really (surprisingly) a big temp difference. I use mine when im cooking a lot of meat at once (obviously) but not that often. once I did a pork shoulder on the bottom rack and ribs up top...worked out well.
 
KJarosz said:
Is there a huge difference in temperature when using the bottom grate? I've always worried that it would be hotter down there so I've never used it.
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I've found it to be about 10 degrees cooler. that's why I put the smaller stuff on the bottom. btw I use water, so that might be a factor.
 
About 95% of the time. I like to fill the freezer and or send food home with guests. 100% of the time when I do pulled pork. If I'm going to cook for 12+ hours I'm vacuum sealing a bunch of meat.
 
I use my bottom rack all the time. I have a third rack that fits between the upper &lower racks I use fairly often when I do chicken halves or a bunch of wings.I like to load her up when I do a cook.I also tell my neighbor if I'm cooking over the weekend.He's always happy to drop off a chicken or a roast the night before, for his family. So bottom rack is used all the time. I never use a water pan. My foiled clay saucer sits about 3-3 1/2" below the bottom rack so temps are never really an issue.
 
I agree with Matt H. I think the top shelf cooks a little hotter than the bottom. I usually put the larger pieces on the top.
 
I rarely use the bottom rack, and when I do it's for beer can chicken, or turkey breast cooked on a vertical stand, so I'm using only the bottom rack. I can't remember the last time I used both racks at once. I normally cook only two butts or three racks of ribs at one time, so the top rack is all I need.
 
I'm with Joe, if I'm going to smoke meat for 12 hours or more, I'm going to make as much as I can, I usually smoke 40lbs of pork butt at a time, and am thinking I can figure out a way to load 60lbs in my 18.5 WSM. I just need some kind of a rack to stand the butts on end and keep them from leaning on each other and get that smoky goodness all over them. Then it's shred them, vacuum seal them, and freeze them time. Then pull packages out of the freezer as needed for pork sandwiches, tacos, nachos, pizza, soups, the list goes on.
 
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