How much fuel?


 
K

Kurt

TVWBB Pro
Still new to this... Gonna do an appetizer only cook this weekend... ABTs and mushroom bombs.... One rack of each.... Gonna be 25-35 deg with a lil wind... Don't know how much charcoal to put in smoker and what lighting method would be most efficient t since gonna be a short quick cook (250 deg 2-3 hours I am anticipating )
 
I'd Minion a 1/3 bag or less.........especially if you're going to be around to monitor. You can always add more.

I experiment all the time to see how my WSM is burning fuel.
 
I always fill my charcoal ring to the top, with wood chunks mixed in. Any unburnt fuel can be used in the next cook.
I light it in three places with a high output propane torch.
 
I'd only fill the ring up half way, which should be about one Weber chimney's worth of briquettes for the 18 and one and a half for the 22" wsm. If wanting to cook low-n-slow with a new cooker, you might start off with a dozen or so additional briquettes in a chimney ala the Minion method, or use a few starter cubes (owner's manual method), or a weed burning torch, as Bob suggested. If using briquettes, especially regular Kingsford, I wouldn't start cooking until the top layer was ashed over and all the visible charcoal smoke was gone. As to the weather, if wanting to smoke conventionally, I'd start with hot tap water if you can.
 
Thanks for all the info... Mr cain Mushroom bombs are a take on a recipe I found in a bbq book a while back.
12 stuffing sized mushrooms
3-4 jjalapeño slices per mushroom (jarred kind)
1 garlic clove per mushroom
1/4 cup onion minced
4-5 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled. Reserve grease
1/4 to 1/3 cup unseasoned bread crumbs
-12 additional slices thin bacon
-bbq rub
----cook bacon. Remove. Sauté onion in bacon grease (add a lil butter or evoo if needed) add minced garlic and cook 2-3 minutes. Add chopped jalapeño. Add bacon back too mix. Slowly add bread crumbs til mixture is still moist. Don't add too much bread crumbs....
Wrap stuffed shrooms in bacon and season with bbq rub...

Put on smoker or grill indirectly... Like yinz would cook ABTs n'at

I wanted to enter throwdown but I don't know much about pics and computers...
 
Learning the charcoal usage chart myself and I'd rather not run out near the end of a cook again. As others have said, dump a bunch in and close the vents to snuff it out when you're done. What's left in the ring creates a base of coals for the next go-around. :)
 
I totally agree with all the others who have said use PLENTY of charcoal and shut it down at the end. Nothing more aggravating that having to reload charcoal when you notice your temps starting to dip below where you want it, at which point you lose more heat to opening the smoker up and have to let it build back up and monitor the damn thing so it doesn't overheat with the new hotter coals.

I have been checking how much charcoal is left at the end right before I shut my mini WSM down, and then check it once everything has cooled, and the amount of wasted charcoal that is burned from the shutdown time to when it gets cool is very small. That small loss just isn't worth the hassle of losing heat and having to fight it around for 30 mins after a reload. Only time I'll ever reload again is if I have to go longer than the 7 hours my little mini WSM will go on one basket full of charcoal.

Good luck on the cook though! I'm sure everything will turn out great no matter how much coal you use!
 
I haven't been doing this for 20 years or for a very log time but one thing that I've noticed with my cooks is running with fuel to use. It doesn't hurt to play it safe and run with a full basket but I've had no problems adding more charcoal if need be and getting it back up to temp quickly. I use lump charcoal and briquettes. And when you open the access door about 1/3 of the way and leave it there for a few minutes when adding your extra fuel you create a draft which helps breathe oxygen onto the coals hence bringing it up to speed in no time at all.
The times I have used more coal than needed and closed it off to save it, by the time the fire was snuffed out I waisted more than I wanted to. Not a ton but it was enough to notice. Just try out both methods and see what works best for you, you're not just doing one cook right? :)
 
Alright, folks. I respect everyone's opinion, but think about it. The OP is asking about how much charcoal to use, presumably in a wsm, to cook some bacon wrapped and stuffed peppers and mushroom appetizers. We brag about the wsm running 18 hrs on a single load of charcoal and ya'll want him to fill the ring up to melt some cheese and cook some bacon? :Ya'll cooking on the same cookers I'm cooking on? :confused:
 
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