Mike Purnell
TVWBB Pro
Just sold one of my 18.5" WSM and picked up the big brother, can't wait to fire her up! I rarely buy new but it sure does feel nice putting together a brand new bbq
New 22.5" WSM
- Thread starter Mike Purnell
- Start date
Dwain Pannell
TVWBB Hall of Fame
Congrats!
Gary Hodgin
TVWBB Super Fan
Congratulations! Nice looking group.
Greg Powers
TVWBB Super Fan
What a good looking family you have
Mike Purnell
TVWBB Pro
Thanks guys, will give it a go on the weekend. Doing a quick burn now with bacon to get a head start on the seasoning.
Mike Purnell
TVWBB Pro
Thanks Shaun. I sold my Weber gas grill to help fund my new smoker so I'm 100% charcoal now. Bring on the memorial day sales!
Mark Starnes
New member
Very nice family of Webers! Just put my new 22.5 WSM together last night
Mike Purnell
TVWBB Pro
Hi Gary.
I cooked a package of bacon in it to get an early start on seasoning it when I first picked it up. Since then I have used it twice for ribs. Both times it ran a little hot but the 2nd rib cook was much better than the 1st one. I think I should have the temps dialed in no problem once I use it a few more times. Just need to gunk up the insides a bit more.
As for fuel consumption, I haven't really noticed much difference. I used the 18.5" charcoal ring for both rib cooks. I didn't feel the need to use the huge ring, seemed like a waste of charcoal. If I didn't have the smaller ring I would just put a few fire bricks inside the larger ring to help condense the charcoal capacity.
Overall I'm happy I have both sizes. I will use the 18.5" more overall but the 22.5" will be perfect during family gatherings as we like to host lots of parties during the summer. I was going to use 2 18.5" smokers for parties but using 1 bigger smoker would be more convenient and I would use less charcoal.
I cooked a package of bacon in it to get an early start on seasoning it when I first picked it up. Since then I have used it twice for ribs. Both times it ran a little hot but the 2nd rib cook was much better than the 1st one. I think I should have the temps dialed in no problem once I use it a few more times. Just need to gunk up the insides a bit more.
As for fuel consumption, I haven't really noticed much difference. I used the 18.5" charcoal ring for both rib cooks. I didn't feel the need to use the huge ring, seemed like a waste of charcoal. If I didn't have the smaller ring I would just put a few fire bricks inside the larger ring to help condense the charcoal capacity.
Overall I'm happy I have both sizes. I will use the 18.5" more overall but the 22.5" will be perfect during family gatherings as we like to host lots of parties during the summer. I was going to use 2 18.5" smokers for parties but using 1 bigger smoker would be more convenient and I would use less charcoal.
Gary S
TVWBB Guru
Thanks Mike for the info. I bought 14 chicken legs/thighs which covered the top grill, removed the water pan and used a chimney and half of charcoal. Dampered it down so it could not flare up and created quite the smoke. I have since cooked an 8 lb pinic shoulder. Seasoned after that for sure! I just built a new charcoal basket..14" in diameter by 7" high. I am hoping with less surface area I might get better mileage. It does use a fair bit of fuel. A full ring lasts me about 12 hours so far.