How much charcoal?


 
S

Steve_N

TVWBB Member
Just got my WSM 22.5 for Fathers day and had my first smoke. I smoked three slabs of baby backs and they came out fantastic.

I think I'm going to enjoy this sport(is it a sport?)

Anyway, even though the outcome was successful, the process of getting there was a little frustating. The WSM held the temp pretty good but my problem was the amount of charcoal I needed to get through the five or so hours of the cook.

The Weber owner's manjual said about 75 briquetts (I used Kingsford original). So I was curious and counted 75 briquettes into my Weber chimney. 75 was a little more than 3/4 of the chimney. So I used one full chimney. Now, I may be new to moking but I'm not new to charcoal and I knew one chimney wasn't goig to cut it and I was right. So after about two hours, I added another chimney of lit coals and finished the job.

Now for my question; Are there any guidelines at this site for newbies like me to use to get a general idea of how many briquettes to use for all the different lengths smokes?

My wife's brother from the military will be visiting next week and I'd lie to a long brisket smoke.

Thanks,
Steve
 
Hi Steve,

My experience has been that the briquettes, especially Kingsford burn up pretty fast in the 22". It also produces a lot of ash so on longer cooks you have to stir the coals every so often to keep the fire from choking itself out. On the long cooks I use a mixture of briquettes and lump. The lump burns a little hotter and lasts a little longer. I would fill the ring about full of lump and then use a chimney full of lit briquettes to get the process started. Then add charcoal of whatever type as needed.


For what it's worth the wicked good briquettes are good but expensive. I have heard good things about royal oak briquettes but have not tried it yet.
Good luck
 
Hey Grump,

Good advice. I've never heard of wicked good briquettes but I know where I can find royal oak.

Thanks,
Steve
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Steve_N:
Hey Grump,

Good advice. I've never heard of wicked good briquettes but I know where I can find royal oak.

Thanks,
Steve </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Don't go out of your way to get Royal Oak briquettes. They work just fine, but no noticeable ash/flavor difference that I can see from Kingsford. In fact, I would say it put out MORE ash than plain blue K.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Steve_N:
Just got my WSM 22.5 for Fathers day and had my first smoke. I smoked three slabs of baby backs and they came out fantastic.

I think I'm going to enjoy this sport(is it a sport?)

Anyway, even though the outcome was successful, the process of getting there was a little frustating. The WSM held the temp pretty good but my problem was the amount of charcoal I needed to get through the five or so hours of the cook.

The Weber owner's manjual said about 75 briquetts (I used Kingsford original). So I was curious and counted 75 briquettes into my Weber chimney. 75 was a little more than 3/4 of the chimney. So I used one full chimney. Now, I may be new to moking but I'm not new to charcoal and I knew one chimney wasn't goig to cut it and I was right. So after about two hours, I added another chimney of lit coals and finished the job.

Now for my question; Are there any guidelines at this site for newbies like me to use to get a general idea of how many briquettes to use for all the different lengths smokes?

My wife's brother from the military will be visiting next week and I'd lie to a long brisket smoke.

Thanks,
Steve </div></BLOCKQUOTE>You will use less charcoal using the Minion Method. I have an 18.5" WSM and a full ring of charcoal using the MM gives me about 14-16 hrs at 225-250. Some 22.5" owners will be jumping in, but I would guess the 22.5" would be the same since the ring and smoker are both bigger. So, a full ring for butts and briskets, less for ribs, even less for loins.

As for burning a lot of charcoal your first time, new WSMs tend to be drafty, especially 22.5s. They seal up better after a few cooks, so you should get better fuel efficiency as you use it.
 
If I fill up my charcoal ring (it takes about 20#) and dump a half a chimney of lit on top it will go about 12-14 hours without touching it. This is with a clay saucer instead of water. It does produce a lot of ash, but I have never had it affect the fire.
 
Another ditto for the Minion method. Fill up the charcoal ring, put some lit briquettes on top and you're set. When you're done cooking, close all the vents and the fire will extinguish. You can then reuse the unused charcoal.
 
I got the 22.5 for father's day too! The first thing that I did was chicken, and I simply filled up my Weber chimney, dumped a bunch of unlit Kingsford in the ring, and dumped the lit chimney on top of that. Then I waited for it all to get lit and went from there. My opinion was that it was pretty hot, and I ended up turning the three vents to nearly closed to control it. I smoked these for about 2 hours, and the WSM was hot for another 6, way too much charcoal.

Two days later, I did beef ribs @ 210ish. I used the minion method and I really liked it. Half hour after I put everything together, it had settled down to 210ish at the dome and stayed there for 5 1/2 hours. I would highly recommend trying it out.

If you have to, you can always fire up more charcoal and add it, if things aren't hot enough for you.

Good Luck,
Brett
 
Thank you all for the great advice. Guess I'm going to learn by trial and error and not rely on the owners manual so much.

I've got a pretty good idea for what I need to do from my many hours viewing YouTube videos and the input from you guys and browsing this site.

Next smoke will be some chicken. I think I'll try a full ring unlit and add some lit. That should be way too much but I need a good trial run. I'll shut down the dampers after the cook and see how fast the coals extinguish, then see how much I can salvage for the next cook.

Having fun

Thanks again,
Stve
 
The more you use the WSM, the better they get. I've had mine since 2005 and it really took a good dozen sessions before the inside had built up enough of a creosote layer that temperatures became reliable and predictable. After six years I fire mine up and maybe have to adjust the vents once during a 4-6 hour cook. I use one full chimney of unlit in the ring with another full of lit (top coals in chimney showing at least 20% ash coverage) on top of those, throw in 2-5 pieces of smoke wood depending on size, and then just check it out every hour.
 
I have the 18.5, but I usually smoke a couple butts on top grate, brisket on bottom. I use the Minion method w/o fail, and I fill the charcoal ring full of Kingsford with several hickory chunks. I start about 7pm (about 20 briquettes lit in chimney)and I can run at 225 and 235 until around 6am and add 1/2 chimney, and I can keep the WSM going until about 2 to 3pm. Now, if it is below 50 degrees outside, over night, I place the aluminum water heater insulation blanket around the WSM (Not against it) and it really provides a consistent temp for long smokes. After about 5 years now, me lid likes to stick together, but a small price to pay for a fantastic piece of equipment. These folks on this site provide awesome advise, and I follow all of it closely and have always had success! Good luck!
 
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