Lump charcoal and long cooks on the 18.5


 
D

Derek Punaro

New member
Hi all,

So I've done about 6 cooks on my new WSM 18.5" so far using lump charcoal and I find that I'm only getting 5-6 hours of consistent heat before it starts dropping on me. Then of course, I start fiddling with the vents and tapping the ash off and it'll go for another 2-3 hours before I start throwing unlit in there to boost it. I want to start doing overnight cooks so I'm looking to remedy this situation. For my cook this past weekend, I started with a full ring of unlit charcoal (about 1/3 was leftover from a previous session), then added about 3/4 of a chimney of lit on top of it. I did fill my water pan with hot water.

I've read a lot on here but I'm looking for opinions on what will make the biggest impact on being able to do longer cooks without me needing to tend to the fire. Do I swap the water pan for a clay saucer? Switch to a smaller (Brinkman) water pan and load up more unlit charcoal? Get a bigger charcoal basket? Start with the coffee can modified Minion? Just spend more time packing the lump charcoal in so it's tighter and less air gaps? Switch to briquettes? About the only thing I'm trying to avoid is investing in an expensive temp control system at the moment.

Opinions welcome!
 
Go to a waterless method of cooking. I use a clay saucer. Also, make sure you pack the charcoal. It doesn't have to be perfect, but it helps if you get rid of any large air gaps. The next thing to do is find a place where your WSM is out of the wind or make a wind screen. I have an 18.5" WSM and have used both lump and briquettes. I have a clay saucer and an area on a porch with very little wind. I can easily get 12 hours out of a load of lump and usually closer to 16 hours. I never load more charcoal (I do start with a very full ring), I never knock the ash off, I start with about a 1/2 chimney of charcoal using the minion method and once I get my WSM up to temp, it's basically rock solid on holding temp throughout the night.
 
I always use Kingsford Blue with the Minion method on my overnight cooks without any problems. I can go 12-14hrs without a refill and sometimes even longer under ideal conditions. Once the temperature is stabilized I go about 8hrs without checking the cooker. The results are predictable and repeatable using Kingsford.
 
I use charcoal briquettes. It's a little more efficient. Using lump you need to arrange it nice and tight without any big gaps. Start the fire with Charcoal briquettes.
 
+1 on what Jerry N said above. One thing that helps with lump is to fill the ring 1/3rd and shake it a few times to settle the pieces. Then fill another 1/3rd and do the same thing. Then fill with the final 1/3rd.
 
If you can do this yourself or get someone to make up a charcoal basket, it really helps when using lump. Like Jerry says location of the smoker too makes a big difference.

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I have done just about 4 or 5 cooks on my 18.5" WSM. I have been using the Minion method. I use Kingsford briquettes. I have had 2 longer cooks (about 11 hrs.) and have had charcoal left over both times. I used water last time.

I am cooking at 225 F. I fill the charcoal ring full.

Okay, I'm a noob. But, I'd suggest trying briquettes first.
 
I do have a bag of briquettes that's been sitting around unused for about two years because I switched to lump. I do like the aroma it gives off better while cooking. Since I have some, I'll probably give them a shot on my next cook to see how they compare.
 
I recommend using the clay sauce in the pan vs water. You'll use less energy by not heating water and will notice you have to close the vents more (possibly closing a vent or two completely) to stay in your temp range. The result will be burning less fuel therefore the fuel lasts longer.

I use lump in my 22" and get very long cooks at low heat.
 
Last edited:
Derek Punaro said:
Now that's a lot of charcoal! Looks like about twice as high as the stock ring?
Click to expand...

I made this up for my 22 WSM with the idea that it would be more efficient by burning down as opposed to burning across the wide expanse of the 22. It helped some. I have since sold the 22. As you can see it is slightly smaller in diameter sitting in the 18'5 but it's also 7" tall. Neil is right on the mark about left overs which I will either use in my kettles or in my chimney. I can really pack lump in tight and my guess is if you have moved from KB to lump you won't be going back even if you do use up what you have left. The big thing is to be absolutely able to control the airflow. I have Nomex on my WSM as well.
 
I used lump on my cook today and I made sure to spend more time packing it in and shaking the ring when pouring it to get it to settle. I also only started with about half a chimney of lit. The temp fluctuated a bit more at the beginning, but then it settled in nicely for about 10 hours with minimal fussing with it. Much better results than previous. Still looking for a saucer to try, Home Depot was out for the season, so I stuck with the full water pan again.
 
With my18.5", I usually use briqs. When I have mixed lump in, I make sure it fits tight. With this setup, I can go for at least 10-12 hours.
 
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