Finally!! 18.5" WSM


 
Bill French

Bill French

TVWBB Fan
After months and months of hesitating, I finally bought my first WSM today. It wasn't without a little hassle though. I ordered it online via Lowe's for pickup this morning. I got an email an hour or so later saying it was ready for pickup, they even called me to say that it was ready. I show up at the store and it's not up front with the other online pick-up stuff. So, the girl at the desk desperately tries to find someone that isn't on break to go find it. After 20 minutes of waiting, a guy shows up with a cart and an already assembled WSM on it, complete with barcode stickers and covered in dust/dirt. The door was badly bent as was the heat shield. I told the guy that if he expected me to take it, then I expected a discount. He declined so I told me to keep it and got my refund. Drove across the street to HD and bought their last one (new in box).

So, a rough beginning turned out okay after all. I noticed that when putting it together, it had an odd smell to it. So, I have it running wide open with smoke at the moment to burn off that odd smell. I'll be smoking two butts tomorrow. I really like the rubber thing that allows you to stick temp probes through, nice addition.

It's awesome to finally have my first WSM!!

:wsm:
 
What kind of odd smell? Could it be from the "rubber" gasket?

I agonized over the 18 but decided on the 22, now have a mini and a 14 as well
 
Bill I'm glad it worked out. Let us know how the first cook goes(or any others for that matter).
 
I also have the 18 with the grommet, and I love it. Now I'm going to make a little shelf to put my Maverick on.
Let's see some cooking pictures.
 
Congrats! Just in time for Smoke Day! Pin your location on the map, fire that baby up, have a cigar and a cool drank, and cook something good!
 
Congrats. The old 18.5" is a classic, and I regularly use mine, especially for pork butts and rolled ribs.

I HIGHLY ADVISE getting a Brinkman el cheapo water smoker's CHARCOAL PAN to replace the stock water pan, for three reasons: flat bottom, more space for charcoal and wood chunks, and less chance of water boiling.
 
Dave Russell said:
Congrats. The old 18.5" is a classic, and I regularly use mine, especially for pork butts and rolled ribs.

I HIGHLY ADVISE getting a Brinkman el cheapo water smoker's CHARCOAL PAN to replace the stock water pan, for three reasons: flat bottom, more space for charcoal and wood chunks, and less chance of water boiling.
Click to expand...

Funny, my first impression after unboxing the WSM was the water pan, it's huge!! Can I get that Brinkmann charcoal pan on Amazon? Just search for Brinkmann charcoal pan?
 
As requested, here are some pics from my first cook on the WSM this weekend...

Picked up my 18.5" WSM on Friday and headed over to Sams for a couple butts. BTW, has the cost of pork gone up lately? I don't remember them being so pricey last year...

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Friday night I cut off the fat cap and false cap (never had done this before) and other large pieces of fat, then seasoned with Bad Byron's Butt Rub and set in the fridge.

Saturday---

Woke up at 4am and fired up the chimney...

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Added some more rub to the butts (using the WSM box upside down for a table)...

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Waited for the coals to ash over and then proceeded with the minion method using apple wood chunks, filled the water pan halfway with water and added the butts at 4:45am. Played with the bottom vents to get a temp of 250 at the top grate...

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Three hours later (7:45am), looking good...

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Fast forward eight hours (3:45pm) internal temp is 203 in some places, 201 in other places...

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Let the butts rest for 45 minutes. Served one butt in a pan by itself and served the other butt in a pan with some North Carolina vinegar sauce. I really could not have been more pleased with the end results. Best pulled pork I've ever cooked (my guests agreed). A couple observations and questions for you experienced WSM guys...

-As I stated at the beginning, the price I paid ($2.28/lb) seemed really high. Are you guys seeing an increase in price compared with last year too?

-I initially wasn't going to use water in the pan but with so many folks warning about new WSMs running hot, I decided to do so. I like the results so much that I think I'll use water every time.

-Using the minion method (my first time) was awesome. I did have to play with the vents a little but not that much. On about three occasions, I found my temp starting to drop. I opened all vents 100% but the temp continued to fall. I decided to stir the coals around a little to break up the loose ash and that did the trick. The minion method I used was to spread the lit coals around over top of the unlit coals. Do you think I would have the same trouble with the ashes if I were to use the method where you place the lit coals in the center of the ring?

-When trying to remove the finished butts from the top grate, the bottom was sticking to the grate and the butts were starting to fall apart. The top grate fell off one of the tabs (there are three of them) and tilted downward (one of the butts almost fell into the water/grease pan). It seems to me that those support tabs do not stick out far enough to provide proper support. Do you guys have that issue?

Well, thanks for reading and all of the tips I have received so far. I just wish I would've bought the WSM years ago and saved myself a lot of aggravation. :)
 
Bill, congrats on your cook. The BBQ looks really good from here, and yes, pork butts are really expensive right now due to a disease outbreak. I'm smoking ribs tommorrow, and full spares were on sale at our local grocer for the same price as butts, $1.88 lb. That's a first.

Regarding the Brinkman pan, I bought mine at Academy Sports. I've heard of folks getting them online, but the prices folks have posted were kind of high. Whatever you do though, be sure to get the CHARCOAL pan, not the water pan, which is too small. Speaking of charcoal, you might try Stubbs or another hardwood briquette that's less prone to ash suffocation on long cooks.

Regarding the grate tabs, I don't know what to tell ya. I've never had an issue, but have seen a couple of other posts where others did.

Anyhow, congrats again on your new cooker. Have fun trying different meats and different ways to smoke em.
 
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Congrats on your new wsm! I have the 18.5"wsm and the 22.5"wsm. My main go to is the 18.5"wsm. Love it. Just my 2 cents worth: try your butts with the fat cap on. The fat renders really well and is quite tasty. Also I love bad Byron's Butt Rub too! Try a 3:1 ratio butt rub to brown sugar. Works great with butts! Happy smoking!
 
I also had a problem that the tabs were on the short side (on my 18, but not on my 22). I followed somebody elses advise here and inserted a washer between the tab and the side then reattached the screw. Did this for all the tabs and it fits much better.
 
I have the same price with my 18.5 WSM on the tabs...I had to bear hug the middle section some to get into back into round and then the tabs fit a lot better...I'm gonna try the washer trick though because it could fit better than it does...

I would try to bear hug the middle section as a temporary fix...the way I knew mine was out of round because one set of opposing tabs were farther apart than the other...almost lost a few chicken thighs to the greasy water pan the first time I cooked on it...surprised the hell out of me
 
Grant said:
I also had a problem that the tabs were on the short side (on my 18, but not on my 22). I followed somebody elses advise here and inserted a washer between the tab and the side then reattached the screw. Did this for all the tabs and it fits much better.
Click to expand...

Good tip, I will try this.
 
Jeff Padell said:
What kind of odd smell? Could it be from the "rubber" gasket?

I agonized over the 18 but decided on the 22, now have a mini and a 14 as well
Click to expand...

Not sure how to describe the smell, it wasn't overpowering but enough to notice. No matter, I fired up the smoker with only charcoal and a little hickory which took care of the odd smell.
 
Bill, Hope you enjoy your WSM18 as much as we do. If it will lay still on the grate, it's gonna get smoked!

Also; tough luck with your Lowe's order. I'm not sure what the problem is with them and their shipper but we ordered a granite composite kitchen sink from them and after rejecting five of them we went elsewhere too. Every one of the sinks was broken and a couple of them were broken totally in half! It's either their warehouse shipping 'team' or the trucking company that has no regard for the items they're handling... A composite granite sink that is broken in half is trash - so they add to the price of their remaining goods to compensate for their senseless losses? I'm leery of Lowe's...

Bill Clemens
 
I have a new WSM and my old ECB. I guess I'm just confused on your comment. I understand using the ECB charcoal pan as a water pan for the WSM but I didn't notice the WSM water pan didn't allow enough charcoal and chunks. Maybe I'll check it out next smoke.
 
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