Fuel Choices


 
Jas

Jas

TVWBB Fan
I did my first cook on a 22 this past weekend, man there is a ton of space. I have seen Kingsford as the most referenced fuel choice. I did 2 8lb shoulders and had trouble keeping my fire hot enough with all vents wide open, I used 1 1/2 bags of Royal Oak lump and could not keep fire at 250. I started my fire at 4 am with full bag and some chunks in the fire ring and had to add another half bag throughout the day. I began adding fuel at 11 am because fire was sitting just below 200. I did get the fire up near 300 to finish the shoulders because of a time constraint and they turned out great. I pulled when I probed into the shoulders and it was like warm butter. They were foiled and placed in a cooler to rest before being pulled and served.

How long do you let your shoulders rest before you pull? I wrapped in foil and gave them just at an hour and a half before pulling. I like to do 2 hours but food needed to be ready at 6 pm. I will give myself more time in the future it looks like.

I prefer to use natural lump but If I need to switch to briquettes for long cooks I guess I will. I have a 13lb brisket I am itching to put on but I do not want to be watching the fire all night.

Thanks for the help!
 
Howdy Jas and welcome.
How are you measuring your cooker temps? If going by the built in lid thermo that can read 50-75 deg less than grate temps.\Reads to me like you had plenty of fuel but the big boy WSM does go thru more fuel than the 18" ( I have both )
For smaller cooks you should try a smaller charcoal ring made out of expanded metal or similar.

Tim
 
timothy said:
Howdy Jas and welcome.
How are you measuring your cooker temps? If going by the built in lid thermo that can read 50-75 deg less than grate temps.\Reads to me like you had plenty of fuel but the big boy WSM does go thru more fuel than the 18" ( I have both )
For smaller cooks you should try a smaller charcoal ring made out of expanded metal or similar.

Tim
Click to expand...

I was using the lid thermometer and the 733, one in the meat and one on the grill next to the shoulders.
 
Jas said:
I was using the lid thermometer and the 733, one in the meat and one on the grill next to the shoulders.
Click to expand...

So were they both mirroring each other or pretty close? It reads like you had a 12hr cook?, if so that's about right for a 275 smoker temp IME with an 8# butt or butts.

Tim
 
I did use water to begin and did not add any water. Yes it took about 11 hours to finish, the temps did run fairly close from the lid and the probe. It's just a lot of lump used. Guess it just has to do with the smoker. What is your choices for charcoal? Briquettes or lump? I see blue bag kingsford as the main charcoal people speak of, anyone use others? Maybe it wasn't a lot of lump I used considering it was a bag of royal oak from Walmart.
 
I do not run Water, as it take FUEL to heat that water... AND if you are trying to run at a higher temperature, the water will fight you, using FUEL in the process.

Personally, we run Royal Oak for the WSM and the kettles. Royal Oak lump in the kettle and Royal Oak Chef's Select briquettes in the WSM.
The black packaged Walmart briquettes labeled "Backyard Grill" are actually Royal Oak briquettes
 
Best way to think of it is that water in the water dish acts as a governor. Is will help to keep temperatures down as it takes energy to heat and boil the water. Ditching the water for sand, or some other thermal mass, will require more time to heat the smoker up, but it will recover heat faster - say from an open lid or such.
Lump charcoal tends to be too random in size and shape for a long slow cook. You might end up with ice cube size chunks up to softball sized logs. That is why a lot smoke with briquettes, they are all the same size. Kingsford blue bag is often referenced as it is very consistent, and usually pretty cheap. If you want to use a "all natural" you can find that in briquette. I tend to go with "on sale" brand, as long as it is a name brand. Off brands I have found to be "old" and moist and or crushed to dust, and often having "other things" mixed in, like rocks.

You will use most of a bag for a long cook like a butt.
 
I guess I should have also stated the bag was only 8.## lbs. So it really was not a lot of lump it may have been close to using a 12# of Kingsford. Sometimes my brain and logic do not always flow together. Thank you all for the input, I will try my next one with no water at all. I have a pizza stone I might throw in next time. I can only change one thing per cook or Ill never learn what had the effect. Thanks again.
 
Bob Bass said:
I do not run Water, as it take FUEL to heat that water... AND if you are trying to run at a higher temperature, the water will fight you, using FUEL in the process.

Personally, we run Royal Oak for the WSM and the kettles. Royal Oak lump in the kettle and Royal Oak Chef's Select briquettes in the WSM.
The black packaged Walmart briquettes labeled "Backyard Grill" are actually Royal Oak briquettes
Click to expand...



I use water. Boil the water in a pot ahead of time and carefully add to the bowl IN the WSM. That way, you are not wasting the heat potential of the fuel on heating the water. The heat content of the lump goes into the meat.
 
Agreed, boil your water ahead of time. It makes a huge difference in startup time, not to mention even if the air in the smoker reaches the desired temp, if the water isn't boiling then it's still taking on heat.

I typically dump the water in shortly before I put the meat on --- just pour through the top grate down into the bowl.
 
Darrel Williams said:
I use water. Boil the water in a pot ahead of time and carefully add to the bowl IN the WSM. That way, you are not wasting the heat potential of the fuel on heating the water. The heat content of the lump goes into the meat.
Click to expand...

As long as the water is in the bowl and there's lit coals below, the water in that bowl is using energy. That energy usage does not magically stop.
 
IMO, you can get the best ot the two worlds (water / no water) using this set up for you 22 WSM
1) remove water pan
2) replace it with foiled pizza stone from www.californiapizzastones.com wich goes perfectly in
3) put a drip pan over the pizza stone
4) put some water (just enough for the first 1-2 hours smoking action @250F, maybe 1/4 to 1/2 litre) in the drip pan.
Stop

Link to some set up pics https://flickr.com/photos/112540417@N03/sets/72157650068556759
 
Last edited:
I bought 2 clay plates, the kind you put under potted plants, and put those inside my water pan. Works great, and no water or mess to worry about later.
 
Enrico Brandizzi said:
IMO, you can get the best ot the two worlds (water / no water) using this set up for you 22 WSM
1) remove water pan
2) replace it with foiled pizza stone from www.californiapizzastones.com wich goes perfectly in
3) put a drip pan over the pizza stone
4) put some water (just enough for the first 1-2 hours smoking action @250F, maybe 1/4 to 1/2 litre) in the drip pan.
Stop

Link to some set up pics https://flickr.com/photos/112540417@N03/sets/72157650068556759
Click to expand...

Which stone size did you get?
 
I put the meat on as soon as the smoker is assembled, and the pan is filled with luke warm water. That way I get a good hr or so of cold smoke while it's coming up to temp.
 
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