Minion Method Methods..


 
Matt H

Matt H

TVWBB Fan
I've been trying to think of ways to maximize the efficiency of the Minion method, but don't want to waste the charcoal to test them, so I'll turn to the experts.

My go-to method is to put a layer of unlit in the ring, add a few chunks of wood, fill the ring the rest of the way with unlit and dig a small hole in the middle where I dump 15-20 lit coals and let her take over from there. I have an 18 by the way.

I do really well with this method and can get way past a 12 hour burn time, but multiple times throughout the cook, I either have to kick the legs to knock the ash off or take the WSM apart to stir the coals.

I was thinking of reversing it by putting the 15-20 lit coals in the middle first, then adding the unlit on top of it until the ring is full. My reasoning is the ash will be able to fall into the bottom of the cooker instead of laying on top of the coals smothering the fire.

But the drawbacks I can anticipate are the fire getting smothered by the unlit and lack of oxygen, or the lit coals having a chimney type effect burning the unlit coals faster and hotter than if they burned top down.

Has anyone tried this before and what were the results? Or, does anyone else see any other problems that would arise from this setup? :confused:

I can't wait to hear your thoughts on this.
 
I am NOT (by any stretch of the imagination) an "expert". However, FWIW, I really like the "Tin Can Minion Method" for me. That seems to give me near perfect repeatability and the ability to maximize the burn time.

FWIW
Dale53
 
Robert McGee said:
I am NOT (by any stretch of the imagination) an "expert". However, FWIW, I really like the "Tin Can Minion Method" for me. That seems to give me near perfect repeatability and the ability to maximize the burn time.

FWIW
Dale53
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I'm not an expert either, and I haven't tried the "Tinion Method" yet - just came across it on this site a few days back. It looks promising, and I'm going to try it this weekend I think. I have noticed that since I switched to lump charcoal there's a lot less ash hanging around amongst the coals when I'm several hours into a longer cook. With KBB on long cooks, I used to have to smack the legs to get the ash to drop through, but I haven't seen the need to do so with the lump. YMMV.

As far as putting unlit coals on top of lit, I haven't had good luck with that technique. I under-fired my WSM for a cook on a really cold night this past winter and after realizing my mistake tried to correct it by shoveling in a bunch of unlit on top of the coals. It didn't work very well - took the pit a long time to come back to where it was, though it did eventually get to the temp I was shooting for. I think a fire that burns its way down from the top or out from the middle is a better strategy, but as I said, I'm no expert and am still learning a lot every time I cook and every time I stop by this forum.

Dave
 
If you put the fire on the bottom, you're trapping the heat in/ making it much harder to heat the smoker.

Try the coffee can method. I never have to stir coals.
 
Alan F said:
If you put the fire on the bottom, you're trapping the heat in/ making it much harder to heat the smoker.

Try the coffee can method. I never have to stir coals.
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Agreed. You want your fire burning from the top down or across the fuel not from the bottom up. I've done that several times with my kettle and it never works as well as unlit on the bottom, lit on top or as mentioned in the centre and spreading out from there.
 
Interesting, the comments about with lit on the bottom that temps don't get up enough...

I was expecting I'd see people saying the opposite-- that things got too hot, because once the lit started to spread down there, too many coals got going all at the same time.

Guess that's why I'm not a physicist!
 
Very interesting. I too would have thought you'd get an uncontrolled burn with high temperatures.
 
Here's a series of pictures showing the "Tin Can Minion Method". I'm a believer for great control of the temps and a very long burn. Further, after dumping the tin can, I can put the food on in twenty minutes or so. The temperature is about 200 degrees, and I regulate the bottom dampers (two closed and one about half or 2/3's closed while watching my Maverick 732 for grate temperature). Shortly, it settles in at the temperature that you require and does it's thing (maintaining the same temperature for hours).

http://tvwbb.com/showthread.php?43204-Smoking-a-fine-Boston-Butt-on-the-WSM-Harry-Soo-style

Dale53
 
15-20 coals might be too many. I typically fire up with about 10.

Ash production is a function of your charcoal, not the method you use to light them. If you're using KBB, stop. It's half limestone. KC will burn down to nothing without needing to be tapped to knock the ashes down.
 
I tried the minion several ways and have settled for using a small coffee can instead of a standard size as it takes about 12 lit coals and I get a nice burn and control of temps. I found it was hard for me to get really low temps i my WSM 22 with lump, anything below 275. Stubbs gives me perfect temp control up to 275 and anywhere below. So it depends on what and how I am cooking
 
Bill Schultz said:
I tried the minion several ways and have settled for using a small coffee can instead of a standard size as it takes about 12 lit coals and I get a nice burn and control of temps. I found it was hard for me to get really low temps i my WSM 22 with lump, anything below 275. Stubbs gives me perfect temp control up to 275 and anywhere below. So it depends on what and how I am cooking
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I'm guessing you have an air coming from other areas than your bottom drafts. You should be able to smother than fire right down to nothing if you have control over the air coming into the smoker.
 
I've always made a slight indention and added about 15 lit coals with the lump. I looked for a small coffee can today at the grocery store and all I could find was plastic. The search continues for a small tin coffe can.
 
Matt H said:
My go-to method is to put a layer of unlit in the ring, add a few chunks of wood, fill the ring the rest of the way with unlit and dig a small hole in the middle where I dump 15-20 lit coals and let her take over from there. I have an 18 by the way.
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I use the same method as you. It sounds like the problem you have is the ash choking out the fire. My solution to that is to use lump. Do everything else the same and when you use lump, make sure you pack the ring so there are no big air gaps and you maximize the amount of charcoal in the ring. I think you'll like the results. Lump has very little ash - especially compared to Kingsford. I don't think the way you light or build your fire or pile using briquettes is going to change the fact that the ash will tend to choke the fire. As you have said and experienced, you can still get long burn times, but at some point you will usually have to tap the legs or do something to get the ash to drop out of the way.
 
Actually Gary the temp control is great and I am very happy with it, especially since I switched out the stock door for the Cajun. But both the cowboy lump and the RO lump have burned at higher temps for me with RO being the best so far. The only way I can get the RO below 275 is shutting all the air vents below or all and one open a scootch. The WSM is well seasoned for some time. So it has told me what does what in it and I just make due. Also I am measuring all temps at the grate.
For low and slow she likes Stubbs and will hold temps all night and well into the day at 225-250. For any thing hotter, like chicken or high heat butt or ribs at 275 I use RO lump.
That is just what she wants and she yields well for me. No air leaking problem above what the design prefers.
 
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NeilH said:
I've always made a slight indention and added about 15 lit coals with the lump. I looked for a small coffee can today at the grocery store and all I could find was plastic. The search continues for a small tin coffe can.
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Try a large can of beans/veggies/fruit/whatever. Doesn't *have* to be coffee in that can.

Bush's baked beans can be had in a tall, narrow can that would be perfect for fitting about 10-15 lit coals. Plus, yummy beans. It's a win/win. :)
 
I've never used the "Tinion" method, just straight "Minion" with about 15 or so lit coals of KC. I lay down about 1/2 ring of KC, throw in my wood chunks and cover with more KC. I throw in a couple more chunks of wood on top and sprinkle with the lit coals. It takes about 20 minutes for the temp to hit 240 (Maverick). In a 5+ hour smoke (ribs), usually 60% the coals are spent. I shake out the ash and smaller bits and re-use the unspent coals as the base layer on the next smoke. Nothing is wasted. I've only done two long smokes (11-12 hours) and by the end, only about 15% of the coals remain.

FYI, I have also found there is not much ash left from KC as compared to regular Kingsford.
 
Dave Alvarado said:
Try a large can of beans/veggies/fruit/whatever. Doesn't *have* to be coffee in that can.

Bush's baked beans can be had in a tall, narrow can that would be perfect for fitting about 10-15 lit coals. Plus, yummy beans. It's a win/win. :)
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Dave I was thinking the same thing!!
 
Oh, while we're on the subject, one thing I've been doing also is NOT burying my wood chunks. Used to do it, then found out that meat takes on most of its smoke flavor (and smoke ring) in the first few hours of smoking. Burying wood where it won't light off for a few hours kind of defeats the purpose. Now I put my wood chunks on top of the charcoal around the pit where I dump the lit coals. I'm finding that works better for me from a smoke standpoint, although it does create some weird temperature spikes when the wood chunks light up.
 
Same for me Dave, I was stumped at first trying to figure what caused my steady 225-250 to jump to 300 and so I asked the WSM, I said *** and she opened her mouth on the side and there were flames from two pieces of hickory burning down.
Now, last time I smoked I had soaked my wood for half an hour in water and did not get that big a spike.
When I used my electric smoker I would take my soaked chunks and wrap them in a layer of aluminum foil with some holes in it. That worked like a charm and that is what I am going to do with my next smoke.
 
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