Long Cooks on 18.5" WSM


 
B

Brian Johnson

TVWBB Pro
So I cooked my first brisket overnight on New Year's Eve (might be the start of a tasty tradition). The brisket turned out pretty well, despite my nerves, but I started having trouble keeping the temp up once the WSM had been going for 10 hours or so. I ended up having to add half a chimney of lit coals twice before taking the brisket off. The second time added coals, I did a hot squat and noticed that the ash had reached the bottom of the charcoal grate. Assuming that it was hindering combustion, I took a shovel to the hot ash and transferred some of it to an ash can.

This is only the second time I've done an extended cook on my WSM, but every time I've tried to go for a really long cook it seems like by the 11 or 12 hour mark there is so much ash that it starts to interfere with air flow and hinders combustion. At least that's my assumption, all I know is that I start having a hard time keeping my temps up and when I open the smoker there is a ton of ash.

With that as a back drop, here are my questions. Do you have trouble keeping your coals going toward the 12 or 13 hour mark? How do you deal with extending the cook?
 
Brian may ask a couple questions first?

1) what brand of charcoal are you using
2) what temp are you cooking at

I usually without problem can go 15 hrs on full ring. On Christmas eve into Christmas I did a brisket that went 17 hrs before I started losing temp and that was because I was out of fuel. On long cooks I cook at 235 or so.
 
Derrick Llewellyn said:
Brian may ask a couple questions first?

1) what brand of charcoal are you using
2) what temp are you cooking at

I usually without problem can go 15 hrs on full ring. On Christmas eve into Christmas I did a brisket that went 17 hrs before I started losing temp and that was because I was out of fuel. On long cooks I cook at 235 or so.
Click to expand...

cpl more questions: are you using water? is you cooker located in a windy area?
 
Derrick Llewellyn said:
Brian may ask a couple questions first?

1) what brand of charcoal are you using
2) what temp are you cooking at

I usually without problem can go 15 hrs on full ring. On Christmas eve into Christmas I did a brisket that went 17 hrs before I started losing temp and that was because I was out of fuel. On long cooks I cook at 235 or so.
Click to expand...

I'm using Kingsford Blue. I just started cooking with a WSM back in June and KBB is what I knew/know. Then around Labor Day my father-in-law gifted me with about 200 lbs of KBB. It was on sale at the Lowes and he found out how addicted I've become to smoking so he wanted to make sure I had enough fuel for the winter. Of course N.Dakota and N.Carolina winters are completely different, both in length and intensity, but I wasn't about to pass up free charcoal! I digress...

On New Year's Eve, the dome temp (using the built-in thermometer) was around 225 F, but the grate temp (according to the Maverick 732) was about 240-250 F. I just got the Maverick at Christmas, so my previous experience was only using the dome temp and at that point I was shooting for 225-250 F.

Dwain Pannell said:
cpl more questions: are you using water? is you cooker located in a windy area?
Click to expand...

So far I've only used water, unless doing turkey or chicken. As far as wind goes, there was a slight (chilly) breeze at least by morning. There are two spots on my property where I generally cook, and this last time I chose the more wide-open of the two. I tried to fashion a make-shift wind block out of an old card table, but I'm not sure if it did any good.
 
You will certainly go through more fuel using water. Also if any wind blowing will cause more fuel usage as well. Now I am sure this is a matter of opinion but I have never used water no mater what I cook. I feel like the WSM is such a tight enclosed cooking chamber that plenty of moisture is created just from cooking the meat. Your temps are perfect and should not be effecting the longevity that much.

My suggestion is to try and go without water. I just foil my water bowl for easy clean up. Then make sure you have your wind break up. KBB is all I use as well so before changing a bunch of variable I would stick with the KBB and just change the other and see how it goes.
 
I realize you have lots of KBB, but lump will produce less ash. I know of no reason you could not mix some of each during long cooks.
 
Ditto what Derrick and Greg said.

Water will increase fuel usage because the fire is using energy to not only heat air but also the water - which takes a lot more energy. This means you have to have the top vent open 100% and the lower vents mostly open which depletes your fuel faster. When using a dry pan I barely have the lower vents cracked open and even close the top vent up to but no more than 50% to restrict the heat from pulling in fresh air that feeds the fire thru the lower vents (which raises temps). ALWAYS have the top vent open more than the bottom vents to maintain a positive chimney effect.

Cooking in an open area when windy can also cause higher fuel usage. Try to block the wind as best you can. I use a tarp thrown over the rails of my Big Deck. Here in N AL on the side of Berry Mountain there aren't too many folks that can see the redneck wind block and if they did they probably wouldn't care cause they're the "leave the Christmas lights up all year long" kinda redneck. LOL

HTH
 
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