Delays - Part II


 
R

Robert McGee

TVWBB Gold Member
FINALLY!!! All parts are in and the build is finished.

I picked up my $4.99 grill from Ace Hardware, today, to complete the major assemblies. The grill pan became the heat/smoke deflector for the bottom on my Mini-WSM. Here are the major parts:



Here is the finished cooker:



I must confess that I am a bit excited. I LOVE this concept! Tomorrow, I'll do the "first burn" to check it out as far as temperature maintenance, et al, and then, during the next few days, I'll do my first "lo & slo" on the new piece of equipment. I had the neighbor over during the construction phase and it wouldn't surprise me at all to learn that he has started down the path to having his own mini. He is an experienced griller but hasn't yet bitten on the "smoke branch" - it IS going to happen, I am sure...;)

I would like to thank all of you who have contributed to this most interesting project. I want to particularly thank Barry McCorkle for suggesting the use of the Ace Hardware grill pan for the heat/smoke deflector. I believe that is a REALLY good way to go (I put my money where my mouth is:rolleyes:).

I installed two food grates (one on the bottom ledge where it was intended to put the steamer insert, and one 4" down from the top). It is quite possible that I might add a third grate just under the top edge. We'll see how "necessary" that might be. Right now, I will be happy with a capacity of doing Two Boston Butts, or four splatch-cocked chickens, or 36 wings. That'll feed a LOT of people and frankly, mine will mostly be serving for my wife and I and the occasional couple or three that visit. After all, I will certainly keep my 18.5 WSM.

We live in interesting times, my friends, and this little project has certainly put a smile on my face.

Keep on smokin':wsm:
Dale53
 
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Well, today I did a trial run with Kingsford Original (3/4 Weber Chimney full) with the vents wide open:
11:30 A.M. - dumped chimney
11:40 - Temperature at 240 degrees
11:55 - Temp at 425 degrees
12:05 - Temp at 440 degrees (I then stuck a digital thermocouple in the top vent - temp there at 398 degrees)
12:15 - Temp at 375 degrees (digital also at 375 degrees) Wind picked up to around 15 mph
12:25 - Temp at 350 degrees (digital at 362 degrees)
12:40 - Temp at 320 (digital 340 degrees)
1:00 P.M. - Temp at 300 (digital at 335 degrees)
1:20 - Temp at 290 (digital at 310 degrees)
1:30 - Temp at 290 (digital at 315 degrees)
2:00 - Temp at 260 (digital at 290 degrees)
2:30 - Temp at 260 (digital at 264 degrees) Shut all vents down. Smoker was only warm to the touch after 30 minutes.

For those that might be interested, here was my test set up:


The temperature is on the way down:



My wife suggested wings and poppers tonight for supper.



Here is the smoker for the first cook;


Here is YOUR plate: Wings, Poppers, Beans and beans, and cole slaw (not pictured):



The poppers were near perfectly done, the chicken wings had bite through skin but it was not quite as crisp as I would have liked. The flavor was terrific (Slap Yo' Mama Cajun Seasoning - chicken brined before the cook). The wings were juicy as could be, tender to a fault, and the flavor was spot on. I will make one change the next time - I will remove the "barrel", put the food grate direct on the Smokey Joe Gold and do a final sear to crisp the skin. That will make them as good as can be.

I decided to run the temperature tests for my own edification. I then decided I would share that information. My smoker has a deflector from an Ace Hardware $4.99 portable grill. It works perfectly. It used NO heat sink and no water. I used a small square throw-a-way aluminum pan to catch the dripping's from the chicken.

I am VERY happy with my new little Mini. It does far better than I could have hoped. I can see me using this a LOT in the near future. Great cooker in every way.

Thanks to all who encouraged me with your great posts on this conversion.

Dale53:wsm:
 
I love my mini. Maybe it's because I got the Joe for free and/or the elaborate paint job. Either way, it brings a big ol smile every time I fire it up. :) Your idea with grilling the wings direct for the final few minutes is exactly what I do. Gotta watch them though, they burn pretty quick. I'm talking you're standing there constantly moving/flipping wings around. But it's so worth the effort. Congrats on the new toy.
 
Thank you, Chad!

I just got an email from my oldest son and he has ordered the parts for his build! These things are growing exponentially (REALLY fast:D). Once one sees them in operation, one just almost MUST have one. It's a fun build, plus you have something really useful when you are finished. It's hard to beat that combination...

Keep on smokin':wsm:

Dale53
 
I decided to add the charcoal basket to my mini. It was, by far, the hardest, or rather the most tedious part of the conversion. Expanded metal has a thousand sharp points after you cut it out. Then wiring the three side sections together and fastening the sides to the bottom and grate are a bit of a trial. I am happy that I decided to do this, tho' as I believe it will be more efficient in burning charcoal and help me to get a good, long, burn.


I also added a couple of the Brinkman Rib Racks (reported elsewhere) - these look like they were made for the mini:



Dale53:wsm:
 
Robert McGee said:
Then wiring the three side sections together and fastening the sides to the bottom and grate are a bit of a trial. I am happy that I decided to do this, tho' as I believe it will be more efficient in burning charcoal and help me to get a good, long, burn
Click to expand...

Not that there's anything wrong with the way you did yours or that my way was right, but I'm really happy with the way I assembled my side pieces together. Pics of the process can be found in My WEBER mini-build thread. I also like the basket, but I needed a longer burn (IE: more charcoal) for my 12 hours butt cooks. With the basket, there's a fair amount of space between the basket and bowl that can't be used. Luckily, I just scored another Joe so I used the charcoal grate and filled it with charcoal. It allowed me to sleep through the night (last night) while my 9lb butt was getting happy.

More than you asked for, but my $.02 :D
 
Chad;
I never saw your method before I did mine or I suspect mine would look more like yours:rolleyes:. Mine will do fine, but yours is definitely a more elegant way to do it, that's for sure. By the way, your paint job is just simply STUPENDOUS! I'm running out of adjectives regarding all of these VERY nice builds. I LOVE the Weber decal...

I used stainless wire (the same wire I used to hold the charcoal basket to the charcoal grate in my 18.5" WSM and it is holding up quite well.

If I find that I need more charcoal capacity, I'll just use my basket for the shorter cooks and get another charcoal grate and utilize the whole base capacity.

My neighbor got a look at mine and will order the parts for his in the next couple of days. These things are going VIRAL!:D

FWIW,
Dale53:wsm:
 
As I post this I have a 5lb butt on the mini started it at 9am, its very still today no breeze at all and its been sitting dead on at 250 since the start and it's 1:45 now. They are amazing little smokers.
 
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