My first ever smoker - 22.5 WSM just showed up today!

[David]

If ashes dumped int he woods is killing flipper, then there's a lot of guys on here killing flipper. Ashes, I'd say is right mighty fine. Used cooking oil? I wouldn't dump that near the house as I wouldn't want to attract vermin. Doubt any rats are interested in my charcoal ash. If I'm balling up greasy aluminum foil & tossing it into a trash bag, I've also dumped the ashes into the same bag to save some steps.

If you're only cooking on the top rack, adding a disposable foil pan on the lower rack will help contain a lot of mess. Especially if you're doing a single pork butt. Doesn't work as well with 3 racks of ribs. But, it's just clean up. Pretty easy even if you do make a mess.



For a 22"? What size clay saucer are you using and where did you get it? Curious is all...

Got it either at Home Depot or Lowe's don't really remember. Can't measure at the moment, but I just measured from the tip of the built in ledges of the cooker and got one that the lip of the clay pot rested on them. I also added a few more washers to ensure a good fit after I first put it in...........................d

 

[Mike Leiter]

Got it either at Home Depot or Lowe's don't really remember. Can't measure at the moment, but I just measured from the tip of the built in ledges of the cooker and got one that the lip of the clay pot rested on them. I also added a few more washers to ensure a good fit after I first put it in...........................d

Did the same and added a few extra stainless washers to the bolt on the inside to push the edges of the arms that hold the bowl in place out a tad. The 22.5 version uses a 16" clay pot to sit in the water bowl and you can find a better selection at Lowes..at least around here in my area.

Some have mentioned using a 18" version that sits/hangs by itself but I don't have experience with that size. The 16" sits in the pan and takes up most of the space anyways..

 

[Matt Gard]

Great advice Bob and Chad, thank you. I picked up some charcoal last night and am going to assemble and do a foodless trial run this afternoon if I can find time. It sounds like I need some food handling gloves as well as some grill gloves/welder gloves.
When all is done is there a tool that's needed to clean the smoker out of ash/charcoal like a certain size shovel or anything like that?

Does anything drip/drop from the bottom of the smoker that would damage the brick patio surface/can I put it on a rubber welcome mat of sorts?

Thanks for humoring all my newbie questions!

A foodless trial........no such thing, grab a slab of ribs and throw them on, at least you will have something to show for your effort and no ribs are bad ribs.

 

[Chad Bman]

Some have mentioned using a 18" version that sits/hangs by itself but I don't have experience with that size. The 16" sits in the pan and takes up most of the space anyways..

Likewise, I have the 16" and it sits in the pan just fine. Had I found an 18", I *might* have gone that route.

A foodless trial........no such thing, grab a slab of ribs and throw them on

I was thinking the same thing. A foodless trial? Not on my watch... lol

 

[Dave M..]

I eventually got my trial run done - although it wasn't the standard foodless 'seasoning' run of the smoker I had intended. While rooting around the basement for something, I discovered that the past homeowner had left - much to my excitement - five 40lb bags of hardwood lump charcoal! I know folks say that it's not for the beginners etc, but I figured if I was going to do a trial run for the purpose of learning the cooker a bit and seasoning it (whether it's necessary or not), who cares. I filled the ring with lump somewhat carefully to keep pieces from falling through and to get as much coverage as possible...and then dumped about 10-15 chimney lit KBB on top that finished off a bag I had laying around and three chunks of applewood. A couple hours later it was hanging steady around 285 so I threw some chicken drumstick/thigh quarters on the grate, figured why not. I was still waiting on my pit viper, but I plugged in the cyber q food probe and removed them when they were 180 internal temp. With the minimal prep/love they got, they were actually surprisingly good..very tender and juicy, meat fell off the bone. That said, it's not so much that they tasted really smoky, but they really smelled overly smoky..

As far as my cooking on the grate vs pan question - I'm considering chickens, pork butts, chicken parts..really anything..curious what meats do just as well in a tray as compared to on the grate...it would seem way less messy for sure. I figure if you're making a beer can chicken for example, that is up off the grate anyway, it might as well be in a tray to catch the mess?

Today's a new day, and my first real trial run of cooking. I am going to a well rated local butcher shop called Mr Brisket, and plan to pick up a pork butt to marinate/cook tomorrow, and maybe some chicken breasts or ribs to play with today. The pit viper fan is in, the cyber q is all set up on my home network's wifi and accessible here or anywhere (I was testing it Thursday watching my pit temps on my android phone while getting a hair cut ), I'm excited to see how it controls temps. I am debating the lump vs briquettes call for this first run with the cyber q controlling things. Since it's going to be a shorter cook of just chicken or ribs, perhaps I will give the lump a go. For the pork butt I'll probably use briquettes for the known longevity. I wonder if I should get two butts. I've never made one or done pulled pork, but with all the effort I wonder if I should be doing two to get more end product.

Thanks for any thoughts!