Longer burn times?


 
DBono

DBono

TVWBB Super Fan
Hi All Fired up the 22 WSM once again..Filled the ring with KBB, temps ran at 275 for only 5 hrs, coals look like they are finished. How do you guys get 10-16 hrs on a full ring?
I have lava rocks in the water pan, with water in the pan will I get longer burn times? I would love to do an overnight with WSM.
Maybe smoking at 225* will do the trick?

Thanks Dan
 
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What is your exact procedure for starting the coals? Are you using the Minion Method? What charcoal are you using? I regularly get overnight cooks on my WSM22. With some details, we can get you there Dan.
 
Dan.
I can get easily get 11+ hrs on my WSM14, with a full charcoal ring. 10-12 lit briqs @ 250°f-275°f.
Initially how many lit briqs are you using?
As Bob says, a bit more info & I'm sure you'll be doing those overnighters in no time.
 
I generally put a full bag of KBB in and really mound it up. Then I take 12 to 15 lit coals and place them in the center. To get 225 to 240 or so I typically open all the vents until it reaches about 200 and shut down 2 bottom vents and put the front one at about half and then drop to maybe a quarter open once its to temp. I usually run no water, just foil the pan. I doubt you'll run as long at 275 but you should still be able to cook whatever you are cooking.

I'm super jealous of that Shirley Fabrication smoker, btw!
 
22" WSM here.
Empty foiled water pan.
15-18 lbs KBB.
Start fire with 10-15 briquettes or a Weber starter cube right in the middle of the charcoal bed with 3-5 briquettes stacked around and on the lit cube.
I use 8-12 fist size wood chunks distributed across the unlit coal bed.
I try to cook around 230-240 degrees and if it is not windy (15-20+) I get 16+ hours.
I have cooked hotter (275-300) and can get 8+ hours on a full load of charcoal.
Hope this helps.
 
I'm super jealous of that Shirley Fabrication smoker, btw!
Hi The Shirley is a great!! Good for when to want to spend the day feeding it.
Dan
 
Everyone has provided great advice... I recently just tried a new method... It is something like a modified snake method with lump charcoal and kingsford mix... it lasted 10 hrs before having to reload at 270 degreea... I placed a small coffee tin in the center, put a brick seperating the front and back of the fuze, or snake, so voth ends dont light... put the charcol all the way around and at the beggining... wherever you want to start leave room for lit coals... about 15 coals... get up to 200 and cut all vents back to about 1/8 inch gap and let it get to desired temp... dont forget oak, hickory etc... for desired flavor... Water helps regulate but will cut a couple of hours off the burn time... easier temp control though... I use play sand about 1/4 full with foil over... I cooked beans under my brisketon this one... came out great... when reloadng... i reversed the burn the other direction... made loading coal effortlessly... it is one way that i actually really liked... mine is a 22.5 in. wsm

let me know if you try it out... worked great for me... i usually do minion which also works great...
 
18.5" with a full load of RO lump plus a full chimney of lit on top. BBQ guru Digi-Q and it'll cook all night and well into the next day. Have done several brisket and pork butt cooks this way, never had to refuel.
 
To save some time, I like to light my chimney then put it in the smoker with all vents open to help get it up to temp. Once the chimney is fully lit I will close the vents down to get the temp where I want it after I put the lit charcoal in the smoker. I add a few briquettes every hour to keep the temp up. An auto temp control will definitely help with long cooks.
 
The guys that are getting 10 plus hour burns are only cooking at 225 degrees. Also maybe your cooking a little hotter then 275 hows your therms?
 
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