Minion Method Rule of Thumb Request


 
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Shawn W

Shawn W

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First off, apologies if this is elsewhere answered. Search for Minion Method brings back lots of hits.

I hope to understand MM in the WSM so I waste less charcoal and don't run out of fuel.

Given the assumptions below, does anyone know of a rule of thumb or guideline for using Minion Method like X unlit briquettes, Y lit coals will provide 225F for Z hrs (at a baseline set of conditions) or is each cook just so different this type of thing would be useless?

Is there a known minimum temperature the Minion Method will work with?

Assumptions (corrections appreciated):
1. The factors Number of burning coals and Burn rate of coals determine temperature. To produce the same amount of total heat, more burning coals at lower burn rate will consume the same total amount of air.
2. Number of unlit briquettes determines total cook time given a specific temperature.
3. The ability of WSM to hold a temperature is because: combustion air intake for temperature control is determined by the updraft created from burning coals and limited by back pressure created by escape vent. This would explain temperature spikes when lifting the lid. No back pressure, so coals take off. (Would it also imply a theoretical maximum running temp based on opening size of all vents and given a specific fuel?)
 
I really don't know what all that means, or if I really want to. /infopop/emoticons/icon_eek.gif

Start with a charcoal ring full of unlit charcoal. Take 15-20 briquettes in a chimney and light those until ashed over and glowing. Dump those evenly over your unlit charcoal, add your smoke wood, assemble your cooker add your meat.

Control your temps on the way up, starting to close the vents down to about 25% when your temps reach 190-200. This should settle your cooker in right around 240-250 at the lid and 220-230 at the top grate.

It will burn for 14-18 hours. Good luck with that other stuff. /infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif
 
The number of initial lit briquets is determined by the mass of meat and/or ambient temperature. Light more initally if a lot of meat is being cooked, or if it's cold outside. I'd say fill the charcoal ring with as much unlit as you can fit-- no sense having to refuel if you don't have to. While by no means a scientific explanation, this article explains it pretty comprehensively.
 
My man, what is all that back draft, updraft, and combustion stuff??!?!?! Take it from someone who is not very book smart but has followed the MM to the "T". If you want to cook for 14-18 hours straight then you need 15-20 lit dumped over a ring full of unlit...just like Bruce stated!

I did this Saturday night when I cooked a 7lb pork butt. Loaded the chamber full of unlit, added 20 lit, hid the smoke wood, assembled the cooker, put the meat on and viola...I was off and running at 11pm.

I watched the temp climb and at 190 or so degrees I choked the vents down to 25% and indeed, by 12:30am I was off to bed as it was holding at 235!

I awoke at 8:15am, went to the deck and it was still chugging along at 240 without a tick. My butt was done at 2pm so that makes a continuous cook time of 16 hours. You just can't beat the MM. I use sand in the pan exclusively so I didn't have to get up in the middle of the night to refill the pan with water.

I am such a believer in this method; I used it today to do a 10lb turkey breast and a 6 lb whole chicken! Did the same procedure, secured my temp and after the cook, I did have left over fuel, but I shook off the ash and will re-use it next time!

MM is really a great thing, of course it isn’t always useful for every application but it has to be applicable for most. Terri is a big believer of the MM too. I think she has seen it used in competitions around the country. Pros can't be wrong, and neither can the man that invented it! Thanks Jim!!

Sorry to run on like this, but I love this stuff...Q'in is my life!
/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif
 
No, but I honestly bombed out of first year engineering! lmao

I'm a code writer these days and I could relate to:
function fUnlitBriqs(iAmbTemp, iMeatMass, sMeatType, iWind) as integer
....
var iUnlitBriqs = oButtRoast.fUnlitBriqs (75, 10, 'PORKBUTT', 10)
but maybe I need to lighten up a bit! Or start a Minion Method Theorists group.

You know how some people are natural fantastic cooks, never had instruction in their life? Some people are great due to training/experience/creativity. That's me, not. Aside from the occasional creative success I need a book. With pictures. Popups. Action diagrams. Safety tips. Especially safety tips.

The better I understand MM the better I will be with the WSM. That and at $0.50 lb for Kingsford I don't want to waste it. <More>It started raining heavily near the end of a cook so I shut down the vents. I didn't want to cover the hot cooker. The rain accumulated in rim then ran down inside. It rained for 3 more days, but I didn't want to cover the bullet wet. Ash soup and soggy unused charcoal in the bottom. WSM Needs a rain hat all the way 'round on the lid or Weber should modify lid design.</More>

All I really wanted to know is will MM work for say 3-6hr cook or does it require on a full ring? Roughly How much unlit and how much lit for 3 hrs? For 6 hrs?


thanks folks, and I will try to lighten up and enjoy it more ... being new I've been a little nervous having company over for WSM BBQ
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Shawn W:
All I really wanted to know is will MM work for say 3-6hr cook or does it require on a full ring? Roughly How much unlit and how much lit for 3 hrs? For 6 hrs? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Again, it depends on the factors I previously mentioned. Time alone does not dictate the amount of fuel required. Are you cooking one rack of spare ribs, or two 8 pound pork butts and a brisket? Is it 85* and sunny, or 35* and windy? Using a full ring of unlit is recommended because, if you don't end up needing it all, it can be reclaimed for future use (if you don't let it get wet, that is...). It's all about available energy and what mass there is to absorb it, along with ancillary loss or gain due to the environment.
 
You experienced folk just seem to know how much to start with. I'm still trying to figure it out but I'm logging my cooks so after enough cooks I will have my own baseline.

Would you consider doing some estimates for typical situations under typical conditions for a starting point?

Not looking for right answers, just estimates, maybe a 'why', and how to compensate for wind, sun, amount of meat, etc.

Perhaps this like trying to ask grandma to tell how to make her world's best apple pie? <you just can't teach the right feel of the dough>

ps - not calling Doug a grandma.....
 
ahh, forget it...I ask too much...if you could do all that you should right a book and profit from it

If in doubt and it's important, I will ask for advice about a specific cook.


thanks anyways
 
Shawn, as Doug pointed out, the excess charcoal is really a non-issue with the WSM. I've only used mine 3 times, but used the Minion Method for each cook. At the end of the cook, I just closed all of the dampers. When cool, I gave it a quick shake or two to sift out the ash and, voila, bunch of briqs to resuse. I've not reused any of these for a low and slow cook, preferring to start with all fresh, but I've used them to supplement coals for my grilling. They work beautifully!
 
Shawn,

In answer to one of your questions, when I am cooking smaller cuts like ribs, I often successfully use the MM with a 10-lb. bag of briquettes, which burns for approx. 7 hours or so as oppposed to the loooong burn time a 20 lb. bag will allow you.

...And don't worry about your guests. Southern 'Q' is still a novelty to a lot of canucks, so I'm sure they'll enjoy it even if you feel you could have done better.

Just light the fire, cook it 'till it's done, and relax.
 
Like Darren says. Just do it. This is not rocket science. There are so many variables. You'll just drive yourself nuts. Trial and error win out. Just have fun.
 
Shawn,

Here are my "rules of thumb" and maybe they'll help.

UNLIT CHARCOAL
For ribs, I fill the charcoal ring to at least half full. For butts and briskies, fill the ring up with as much as you can put in there.

LIT CHARCOAL
If it is mild, warm, or hot day I'll light 20-25 briqs. If it is cold, I'll light 35-40 briqs. If you have a lot of meat (say four 8lb butts or 11 racks of ribs...it can be done) then I'll increase the numbers above to say 40-45 and 55-60.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> Southern 'Q' is still a novelty to a lot of canucks <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
ain't that the truth
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> Just have fun.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Tony, I appreciate what you are saying, I'll have more fun as I gain experience and quit worrying about the outcome. tgfTVWB
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> I often successfully use the MM with a 10-lb. bag of briquettes, which burns for approx. 7 hours <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
and
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> For ribs, I fill the charcoal ring to at least half full <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Thanks fellas! That's just what I need...a guideline and confirmation that MM will work with less than full ring.

Mark how do you adjust for wind?

Final question, if using say 1/3 ring charcoal, do you still light the same number of coals (per guidelines) or proportionately less coals?
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>

Mark how do you adjust for wind?

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Shawn

When I want to adjust for the wind, I just put up a couple sheets of plywood at a right angle to block the wind.
 
I agree with what Tony said. You don't necessarily have to light additional coals for compensate for the wind. All you really need to do is shield the WSM from the wind.

I also have a garage and if I believe wind is gonna be a problem, I'll just put it in there... just enough inside the door to take the wind out of play.

You can also close off a vent or two. There are several people (Jim Minion for one and myself) that close of one or two vents and control temps that way. Just move the vent(s) your using for temp control around so that they don't face the wind.
 
Yep, same here. For ribs, half a ring of unlit, then lit ones on top. For butts and brisket, full ring, lit on top. I've only used the MM, works every time.
 
So, I may not have to increase the number of lit coals due to wind, just keep open vents out of wind. Ok, I'll give that a go.

Almost done...

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> Mark how do you adjust for wind?

Final question, if using say 1/3 ring charcoal, do you still light the same number of coals (per guidelines) or proportionately less coals? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Actually, those were two seperate questions, sorry if unclear. Let me restate the second one:

Regardless of wind, when using less than a full ring MM do you light proportionately less briquettes? (half of what you would have lit under current conditions for half a ring)
 
The number of briquets you light initially is proportional to all other factors except how long you expect to cook without refueling.

More meat, or colder weather, or wind = more initial briquets lit.

Long cook = Fill 'er up with unlit.
Short cook = The quantity you estimate to be necessary.

More meat or colder weather, or wind all cause fuel to burn faster at the expense of maintaining your target cooking temperature. Therefore, the only way to recommend an amount of unlit charcoal is to know how all these factors will combine to affect a particular cook, and, unfortuanately, there's no clear-cut formula.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> no clear cut way <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> but there must be 'a' way otherwise good Barbeque would be a random event, show us the way!
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> More meat...cause fuel to burn faster <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> This does not make any sense to me. Fortunately, my comprehension is not required for my acceptance and I respect your experience on the matter.
 
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