Just picked up my first WSM - CL deal on 18.5


 
Sam Anthony

Sam Anthony

New member
Do you remember how you felt when you first got your WSM? Sharing some late night cell phone pics. I can not contain my excitement especially since I finally found one on Craigslist for $150! :cool:

Smokey Mountain 18.5 is in good shape and has the cover.
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Grills need some TLC. Any suggestions on cleanup? Rust removal?
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Looks like a 1999 model. Wooden handle, shallow water bowl and no thermometer.
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I guess first order of business is drilling some grommet holes for a Maverick ET-732. I also got a Weber chimney and some Stubbs charcoal. Now what to cook? I don't think I can wait til the weekend so I might try some chicken wings to get the ball rolling. :wsm:
 
Congratulations. That looks like a very nice older WSM. Not sure why you're asking about cleaning rust off the grates, the pictures make it look like those grates are in great shape - hardly used. Assuming something is there, it's probably just smoke/gunk from cooking. I would soak the grate in hot soapy water for a little while and go at it with a scotch brite pad (I use the green ones attached to a sponge). If that doesn't work, you might want to just buy a new grate. If it really is rust, it would be easier and less time consuming to just by new. They're not that expensive. My guess is that those grates will clean right up.
 
Congratulations Sam, your gonna love the 18 they're a great little smoker. Before you started drilling holes for grommets take a look at this post http://tvwbb.com/showthread.php?37348-The-typical-mods-plus-a-few-I-haven-t-seen-done and check out the notch. More people are doing it. I have the grommet mod but think this is an easier way to manage the wires.
That smoker looks like it's in really good shape. I agree with Jerry about the rack.
Good luck with it.
 
Congrats on new smoker !!! Looks great. A little rust on your racks is no problem at all. Rust is iron which our bodies need........ It will not kill you =) Just clean
it off a little and you are good to go.
Lets see some first smoke pictures . I can totaly understand your excitement =).

Peter
 
Nice smoker. Congrats !!!
When I got my WSM I did a dry run just see how to get the fire started and to manage the temp.
 
Congrats Sam, nice score!

I love wings on the WSM. For your first "big" cook, try a Boston butt or pork picnic. Good luck!
 
Congrats!! I came really close to buying this, but decided to post/share the link instead. The wood handle nearly made me pull the trigger. I have a 22.5 that sees minimum use, so couldn't logically justify this one.
 
Thank you all for the kind comments and sharing the enthusiasm. Here are some more detailed pics of the rust on the grills and the door looks like it might need to be bent for a better fit.

Scrubbed these down with a wire brush and they are better. Gonna try the scotch brite pads next and see if I can get them a bit cleaner. I also read a baking soda trick I might try as well.
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This door looks like it might need to be bent a wee bit?
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I wonder if I can restore the handle? This was one of the coolest features of this smoker for me. :cool:
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Didn't get much time to work on it today but wanted to take some better pictures. The new mistress is not camera shy! ;)
Hoping my ET-732 gets here before the weekend and then will look into either grommets or the notch you guys suggested. Thanks again for the tips!
 
Hey Sam one good cook will end that rust situation. Pork butt or brisket or chicken, it won't matter. As long as you have nailed the bacteria, there is nothing to worry about but...if you must just buy a new grill! Get it smoked up, the more GUNK the better( that's moisture, animal/poultry fat, and smoke by the way. In other words Get Cookin!

Some vegatable oil will help out with the handle.
 
Sam Anthony said:
I wonder if I can restore the handle? This was one of the coolest features of this smoker for me. :cool:
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Click to expand...

I have an ancient 18-1/2 kettle grill with the wooden handle, and I've lightly sanded it and rubbed in mineral oil in the past. If you want to get fancy you could sand, stain, and put a hand-rubbed finish using Tru-Oil gun stock finish.
 
I took your suggestions (thanks Gary S and Larry D!) on the sanding and veggie oil to restore the handle. I also added some paint touch-ups. Here is the restored handle. :cool:
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Before for comparison.
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Congrats on the new toy! Handle restoration came out really nice. Ball up a paper towel, wet it with cooking oil, and rub it on your grates. Done...
If you wanna get crazy fancy, order a new Stainless Steel door from http://cajunbandit.com/wsm-parts-mods/
I'm kinda partial to the probe wire notch, but if you paid attention to this thread - you'd know why. :cool:
 
The notch is looking like the way to go for probes. What's the procedure? Grab a Dremel with cutting wheel, a cold one and cut? Touch up with some black HH paint? :confused:

Chad - I looked at your thread. Nice job on the mods. You guys are feeding the fire...no pun intended. :D
 
I own both - a Dremel & a regular ol' hand held angle grinder. The grinding wheel on the grinder is 1/4" wide and the tool I opted to use. With the Dremel, at least with the cutting attachments I have, a double cut would have been necessary. No paint touch up required. Just fire up the smoker and it'll be a self correcting problem. ;) The photo of the notch in my mod thread was taken after a few smokes. Rust doesn't stand a chance against regular usage. lol
 
Nice job on the handle Sam. I agree with Chad, cut the notch, after a couple of cooks nobody will ever know. Gunk is your best friend when it comes to smokers.:wsm:
 
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