Just picked up my wsm 22.5 last weekend. Did the burn in and some fattys last weekend. Put 10 lb of KBB and did the minion method with it and let it burn till it was gone. This weekend looking to do some spatchcock chicken, corn and abts. But not sure how much charcoal to use and what method to burn it. Figured about about 2 hours at 325 give or take some time for the birds to be done. Any help would be appreciated.
How much charcoal to use on a short cook
- Thread starter ButchW
- Start date
That cook won't require a lot of charcoal - quite a bit less than a full ring - but there is little reason to skimp on it. Just shut all the vents, including the lid vent, when you are done and the fire will extinguish fairly quickly. You can recover whatever isn't burnt. For chicken I usually throw a fully lit chimney of charcoal on top of the unlit coal in the ring to ensure it gets up to temp quickly.
James Lake
TVWBB Emerald Member
Agree....I add more fuel than needed and shut her down and reuse what I can. That is better than underestimating fuel and having your fire go out before the cook is done.
timothy
TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
Dustin Dorsey
TVWBB Hall of Fame
That short of a cook you could probably do a snake method.
James Lake
TVWBB Emerald Member
I've done both methods - I've built my fire put the wood on and then prepared the meat and put it on, and I have built the fire put the meat on and then added the wood. Welcome to the site Butch, the fun thing about BBQing is there are several differents ways of doing things, I like to try different methods until I find what works best for me.
Bob Mann
TVWBB Honor Circle
I always fill the charcoal ring up to the top. I light the fuel in three places with a high output propane torch. After the cook, just shut the vents and reuse what's left for the next cook.
I generally let the cooker temperature come up to near my target cook temperature before I put the food on.
Good luck.
I generally let the cooker temperature come up to near my target cook temperature before I put the food on.
Good luck.
Dwain Pannell
TVWBB Hall of Fame
I agree with the advice above - I use more charcoal than is probably required and close vents to save any unused.
Your idea of cooking at 325+ for poultry is spot on as well. I don't like the skin of slow smoked poultry.
I wait until I have a clean burning fire (no visible smoke) before I start cooking. Then I add smoke wood thru the door. That way I know all the TBS I see is the smoke wood I added. I believe the door is the most usefull feature of a WSM.
Your idea of cooking at 325+ for poultry is spot on as well. I don't like the skin of slow smoked poultry.
I wait until I have a clean burning fire (no visible smoke) before I start cooking. Then I add smoke wood thru the door. That way I know all the TBS I see is the smoke wood I added. I believe the door is the most usefull feature of a WSM.