First use difficulties (still great chicken)...


 
J

John_B

New member
Hey there,
Got my 18.5 WSM last friday and did the basic chicken recipe (from the site) sunday as a test run before doing something on the 4th. I put the 4 chicken halves on the grill and needed to adjust one, and the top grate somehow slipped off one of the 4 posts and dumped the chickens, pinning them down the side of the luckily very clean smoker. I went to grab it and burned the crap out of my ring finger as i touched the grate...

Luckily was able to get/salvage the chickens as the sides of the WSM was clean, and did a fine recovery cook / smoke. None of my friends could believe how good they tasted, and it was so easy it feels like its cheating sometimes.

Has anyone else ran into problems with the top grate slipping off a post? Seems like the grate is a fraction of an inch short (or the posts are). Any suggestions are appreciated

Thanks!
 
Hi John,

Measure across the top of the middle section both ways and make sure your cooker is "round" and not "slightly oblong." I had a similar issue with a used 18.5 WSM I purchased from a co-worker this past weekend.
 
Brian has a good suggestion regarding it possibly being out of round. If that is not the case then take a few pics with the grate on and post them so we can see what's going on.

Congrats on the first cook and the compliments. :wsm:
 
Hi John, and welcome to TVWBB!

Yes, the issue you describe is documented in this article I wrote. See the second paragraph: Parts Troubleshooting - Cooking Grate Doesn't Fit Properly. Not super-common, but it does happen. This is caused either by an irregularity in the diameter of the middle section or the grate itself.

The solution is to insert washers over the top screw, between the body and the grill strap(s), to push them out and close that gap.
 
Good save, I was going to refer you to the section Chris mentioned. Maybe buy some high heat bbq gloves? I have washable ones, they work like a charm!
 
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