I feel like a big dork


 
S

Stacy Hudson

TVWBB Member
I have been smoking with my 18.5" WSM for some time now, but I committed a major brain fart today. I am making a whole smoked turkey for a potluck, and went through my usual routine of refoiling my water pan and starting my chimney. I was interrupted many times by the neighbors and the kiddos, and apparently lost my rhythm. Long story short, I forgot to put the charcoal ring on the charcoal grate before filling with hot coals. I managed to clear out the area in front of the bottom vents, and am now hoping for the best for the bird that is on the rack. I will find a use for the poultry even if it is less than perfect, but is this going to completely kill the cook? Or my cooker?

In the words of Homer Simpson, "D'oh!"
 
Well it could be worse, you could have omitted both and put the coals in the bowl. It should be fine. If possible try to reach in through the fuel door and pull the coals towards the middle. Just do a few at a time and that way they won't get too much air.
The heat can only go in one direction.
 
The good news, my turkey turned out great! Took pix, and will post as soon as I upload them. The bad news is that a major storm arrived while cooling out the cooker, so I will not know the overall damage till tomorrow....put a priority on covering the WSM over inspection...weather went from 78 to around 40 and rainy in a few hours. Gotta love fall!
 
Stacy Hudson said:
The good news, my turkey turned out great! Took pix, and will post as soon as I upload them. The bad news is that a major storm arrived while cooling out the cooker, so I will not know the overall damage till tomorrow....put a priority on covering the WSM over inspection...weather went from 78 to around 40 and rainy in a few hours. Gotta love fall!
Click to expand...

Congratulations on your turkey!!! We are suppose to get that weather starting tonight into tomorrow. High today 67 tomorrow 45.
 
Thanks, all! Got things checked out, and other than a bit of a mess all seems good with the cooker. And the turkey was a hit at work, so alls well that ends well. And have another story for my learning my smoker file, lol!
 
Stacy Hudson said:
Long story short, I forgot to put the charcoal ring on the charcoal grate before filling with hot coals.
Click to expand...

I've done that a couple of times, but luckily noticed it after filling with unlit but before dumping in the lit. The mod of wiring the charcoal ring and grate together now makes a lot more sense to me.
 
I'm prone to forgetfulness, too, and that mod of wiring the ring and grate together helps me a lot. It also makes it much easier to sift out the ash from the leftover coals, allowing me to re-use them later in the kettle.

Glad your cook came out okay.
 
I'm prone to forgetfulness, too, and that mod of wiring the ring and grate together helps me a lot. It also makes it much easier to sift out the ash from the leftover coals, allowing me to re-use them later in the kettle.

Glad your cook came out okay.
 
Interesting. Mine's not wired but there's never any reason it should be off the grate in the first place. After a cook I seal everything up, so it's still where it was. Before a cook I stir what's there to knock out any ash, lift the grate and the ring and whatever charcoal is left as one unit and set it on a bench. Then I dump the ash, put the grate/ring/charcoal back in place, dump new charcoal on top, and we're ready to roll.

Where are you guys moving the ring... and why?
 
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