Doing my first overnight smoke, how do i refuel?


 
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Dennis Lundin

TVWBB Fan
So tomorrow i will do my first overnight smoke. I will start the wsm at midnight an hoping for it to run 10-12 hours on the first run.

But i might need to refuel later. How do i make the refuel go as smooth as possible?

The scheduel looks like this.
Midnight: start wsm and add 10kg of meat. Let it run over night.

At around 8-9 in the morning i will add 6kg of ribs.

At 1600 (4 in the afternoon) party starts.

But to get one 16 hour run from the wsm might be hard?

Help me out here.
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I'm sure somebody else has a better way but here it goes.

If the smoker is still up to temp I just add unlit charcoal on top of what is burning. I usually use my chimney of charcoal in one hand and hold the door at about a 45 degree angle with the other. Then I just pour it in slow. I usually add the charcoal an hour before I think I will need it.

If the temp is low I just add lit charcoal with the same procedure. Seems to work for me.
 
Dennis, use a clay saucer or sand and depending on your fuel you should be able to easily get a 16 hour cook out of one load of fuel.

If you do need to add fuel the 45 degree angle door is a good method, or pick-up a fireplace shovel and load unlit using the shovel. I like the shovel method as it allows one to place the unlit exactly where you want. The door method, the fuel drops/bounces where it may.
 
I use a clay saucer. If you just fill her upp to max with briqs and dont use water 16h @ 225-250 will be NP. If at the end of the rib cook still looks like she is low on fuel. Open the door and throw in some briqs ontop of the lit ones. I use my hands for this. Gloves wont hurt
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Last time I did two 10lb pork butts I filled the bottom of my 22.5 WSM with a 20lb. bag of Kingsford Blue, started Minion method, water bowl full, held 225-250F. all night for fourteen hours, only then did I have open vents to finish in sixteen hours. If I'd needed would have had to add charcoal after that.

Will be interesting if the charcoal lasts the next time with the Nano temp. controller.

22.5 WSM
Nano
 
Last time I had to refuel I did as Daniel suggested and added unlit coals through the access door with my hands. I then used a long pair of tongs to sort of spread them out. And yes gloves are nice - not so messy that way.
 
I'm doing almost the exact same cook as you starting tonight. Overniter then doing ribs starting in the morning for a 4PM party. I like doing a 1/3 to half chimney lit refuel because I like cooking my ribs a little hotter than what my overnite temp will be.
 
I'm finding that a 58 oz Aluminum Scoop (commonly used as an ice scoop or for similar purposes in restaurants) works great as a charcoal scoop/shovel. I've started storing my charcoal in a 20 gallon steel garbage can (holds a good 50 pounds or so) combined with the scoop make initial fueling and refueling a cinch.

The scoops can be found on Amazon, or in restaurant supply stores, for about $10 or so.

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I just pull the whole barrel off and add unlit to the existing. Not the safest method but you get away from releasing ash onto the meat.

Use good gloves if you go this route.
 
I'm with James. I have a pair of very heavy rubber gloves I bought from Bill at Texas BBQ Rub for $10 bucks, free shipping. I love them. If I know I'm low on fuel, You can don those gloves, pull the entire middle section off the fuel bowl and put new fuel, lit or unlit AND some new hardwood if you wish. You can see better and place it better if the middle section has been set aside. Yes, your temp will go crazy for a few minutes, but it will get back to where you want it. After setting the middle of the pit back on, you need to check you probes (assuming you are using a temp controller) and make sure they are in order, and your alligator clip didn't come loose. Even as hot as the pit is, you can put the alligator clip back on the grate and not get burned.

BUT, I'm in agreement, my WMS 18 /12 will go for 15 hour +/- using Stubbs BBQ Bricquettes. I leave ALL my vents closed except my top one, and I only open it 1/4 to 1/2 on most smokes.

Good luck.
 
I just did two shoulders, 8 and 10 pounds, over the 4th. I get about 14 hours out of the initial load with the brinkman water pan in (I sometimes use the clay saucer also, but I seem to like the pan for shoulers).

I use a power draft (Digi-Q II) so my temps are very consistent from initial load to reload at 225. Once the temp starts to fall off to 210, I light about 1/2 chimney of fresh brickettes. I start them on the grate of my gasser which sits next to the WSM. When they are ready, I lift the whole center section and top off as a unit, use welders gloves to shake the charcoal grate/ring (mine are wired together) to dump the ashes into the bottom section. I might have about a cup of lit left after the ashes are shaken loose (that's how good a power draft is - they are well worth the money). Then I add some unlit and dump the freshly lit on top of those. I've been putting lit on top of unlit for some time now and with brickettes the smoke seems to be "cleaner" and not have that initial brickette acrid smell as it lights (may not be an issue with natural lump). I reload the water pan to at least 1/2 full and sit the top portions back on the bottom. I need the water to help absorb that inital spike from those freshly lit and full heat coals. I then close the power draft damper to choke down the coals and reduce the initial heat spike. Total time the meat is off the heat is about 1 to 2 minutes. I like to add more water to moderate the short spike I get from the fresh coals. Temp usually pops back up to the 235-240 range and then will start to fall back to 225. That's when I crack the fresh air damper on the power draft and let the computer do it's job.

I do end up with good coals left after the shoulder is done. I usually pull the water pan and have a straight shot over the coals which is perfect to do some chicken or fatties to put back in the fridge for later in the week (I love the smoked chicked pulled and put over ceaser salads).
 
Dennis.......I don't know how much you pay for "Weber Bricquettes", but try Stubb's Charocaol which can be bough at most Lowes stores, if you have one handy. They just ran a special for $5.0 a 15 lb. bag. I love it, and has worked well for me.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by George David:
Dennis.......I don't know how much you pay for "Weber Bricquettes", but try Stubb's Charocaol which can be bough at most Lowes stores, if you have one handy. They just ran a special for $5.0 a 15 lb. bag. I love it, and has worked well for me. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Well we dont have stubbs here in sweden, asuming stubbs a brand right?

I usally buy cheaper brikettes. But for that overnighter i wanted the best.
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Put handles on the middle section. Most times you will not have to add charcoal, but once in a while it is necessary.
I live in Michigan and if it is cold at night (winter) you will likely have to lift the middle off and stir the charcoal and throw some more on.
 
I light some briquettes in my chimney and then slide them into the chamber via the door. I have a 22.5 WSM and the door turns into a very adequate charcoal "slide."

Of course, I only had to do that after 16 hours...
 
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