Fuel consumption increased today....


 
Jason Smart

Jason Smart

TVWBB Member
Did three - 9lb pork butts today on an 18.5" WSM for my brother's 40th birthday next Friday night. It was 32 degrees and a tad windy with a frost on the ground at 6 am when I started. I filled the ring completely with charcoal, a decent amount of hickory chunks and did my normal thing at 250 thinking it would last the whole 14 or so hour smoke like it does during the spring and summer months.

I was surprised to see that at the 7 hour mark, my temp started dropping. I open the vents a little, it rose temporarily and dropped again. Did that two more times and then said something is not right. I opened the side door and it all was almost gone! I had to restart with a new pile of charcoal and hickory. Luckily I was at my stall so I wrapped with foil to not have it exposed to the thick white smoke.

I am assuming this is normal for a WSM? Was it the cold temps and wind that almost doubled my fuel consumption? I don't really notice a big change in my offset stick burner in the cooler temps. Needless to say after 15+ cooks on this thing, I was surprised when I opened the door.
 
Yes, weather can make a huge difference in fuel consumption. Even though vertical smokers are efficient, the wsm is still just made out of sheet metal. Use a combo of unlit lump under lit briqs and there's no problem with bad smoke. Also, theres no need to add wood that late in a cook, either.
 
I've noticed the more and more I use my wsm that its using less fuel to cook. The more its gunking up the less fuel it seems to be using.
 
Dave Russell said:
Yes, weather can make a huge difference in fuel consumption. Even though vertical smokers are efficient, the wsm is still just made out of sheet metal. Use a combo of unlit lump under lit briqs and there's no problem with bad smoke. Also, theres no need to add wood that late in a cook, either.
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Thanks Dave... I was surely surprised to see it gone.

All I had were KBB and hickory....in a panic I reloaded and saw the white smoke. I then decided to wrap since I was at the stall anyway. The cook all turned out good but since I have not had to reload this WSM before, it was a monkey bleeping a football for awhile there. :D We learn from experience and I can chalk this one up to that. Thanks again....
 
Jason, have you cooked that much on it in the previous 15 cooks ? A lot of cold meat can use up more heat in getting the smoker to temp. Once at temp it shouldn't be much different.

With the combination of 27 lbs of cold meat, cold temps, and wind I can see more than usual consumption... but 7 hours seems very low for a full ring even with all of that considered. Wind seems to affect consumption more than temps and cold meat for me.
 
A lot of folks say smoking is art not science. I believe it's both. This situation is purely science.

Let's say whatever you're smoking, you want to maintain 250 WSM temp. If it's hot out, it will take less fuel to maintain 250, more if it's cold. The amount of food you're cooking (food is a heat sink), more food = more fuel to maintain 250. You can do yourself a favor by letting the pork butts sit out a while before going into the smoker. Water is another heat sink, more water = more fuel to maintain 250. Overcoming wind will also affect it.

You could save on fuel (and minimize the weather conditions) by using an insulator, homemade or professionally made. If you're looking for something to buy for the WSM, check out the BBQ guru, $100 for 18.5 insulator. It will save you in cost of charcoal. If you use your WSM frequently, it will eventually pay for itself.
 
Jason, I did a rib smoke yesterday and encountered a similar issue, but learned something about the ole WSM: it was a bit cold (50 ish), but the bigger problem was the winds, which were swirling. The smoke was literally getting sucked out of the lower vents. I tried to barricade the WSM, which worked better than no barricade. I agree that cold causes the WSM to use more fuel, but the wind may have been your bigger culprit.
 
JSMcdowell said:
Jason, have you cooked that much on it in the previous 15 cooks ? A lot of cold meat can use up more heat in getting the smoker to temp. Once at temp it shouldn't be much different.

.
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Yes....this is my third time to do three Boston butts of this size at a time. The two previous cooks, a full ring of charcoal and wood lasted the entire process with leftover..
 
B Stone said:
Jason, I did a rib smoke yesterday and encountered a similar issue, but learned something about the ole WSM: it was a bit cold (50 ish), but the bigger problem was the winds, which were swirling. The smoke was literally getting sucked out of the lower vents. I tried to barricade the WSM, which worked better than no barricade. I agree that cold causes the WSM to use more fuel, but the wind may have been your bigger culprit.
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I think you are right.....the combination of it all was probably a perfect storm...no pun intended.:cool:

I'll certainly be better prepared next time. May get one of the insulators as well..
 
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