Hello All,
I live in the PNW and got into smoking/curing approx 3 years ago now. I have a very heavily modified electric ECB and another for spare parts but, after trying my first smoke using a lil joe charcoal base conversion and my 22.5 OTG purchase a year ago, I now acknowledge charcoal as the king fuel for burning meat.
I absolutely LOVE the 22.5 OTG and have had more fun with that this last year than all of my smoking experiments put together. And there have been alot. Homebrew temp controller, Gas/Electric combo use, Homebrew cold smoke generator to name a few. My poor SS gas monster grill hasn't been fired up since '11!
So with some holiday money coming my way- and my research complete on all other imitators, the time has come to lock in my wsm purchase. The problem is I am now struggling as many before me have with the decision on the 18 vs 22. I see the 14 has just come out which actually swings as a neutral in my book as I could see picking that up for small cooks if conserving charcoal is the goal vs firing up a 22 all the time. However, the need to start with one unit which swings my decision to the 18 as an all around/ all the time unit.
I have a family of 4, my typical cooks are for 6-8. Rarely 10+ but the 22 would be such a nice to have. Just to know I could if I wanted ya know?
Although I ran every search I could for the last 24hrs straight on this site (thank you all btw) and looked at all the pictures of how much fits on each- I am humbly requesting you guys help me kick this dead horse yet again with helping me find some specific data.
I am looking for this specific info:
1. Ramp up times for the 18 and 22. How long does the wsm take to get to temp ~225F from a cold start? Is it significantly longer firing up a 22 for a cook vs the 18? Does this answer change if using the minion method vs a standard burn?
2. I've seen the complaints of 15lbs of charcoal on the 22 for a 12hr cook. What I can't find is how much charcoal is consumed for a 12hr cook at the same temp on an 18? How much fuel will I really be saving if always running an 18 vs a 22?
3. Whats the largest turkey that will fit in an 18?
4. When rolling ribs - do they uncoil and lay flat when fully cooked? Or do they retain the coiled position?
5. Anyone have the consumption rate on the 14 yet? (see question #2.)
Thank you all for helping me on my path- as I see you all have done so graciously with others before me.
Jon V.
I live in the PNW and got into smoking/curing approx 3 years ago now. I have a very heavily modified electric ECB and another for spare parts but, after trying my first smoke using a lil joe charcoal base conversion and my 22.5 OTG purchase a year ago, I now acknowledge charcoal as the king fuel for burning meat.
I absolutely LOVE the 22.5 OTG and have had more fun with that this last year than all of my smoking experiments put together. And there have been alot. Homebrew temp controller, Gas/Electric combo use, Homebrew cold smoke generator to name a few. My poor SS gas monster grill hasn't been fired up since '11!
So with some holiday money coming my way- and my research complete on all other imitators, the time has come to lock in my wsm purchase. The problem is I am now struggling as many before me have with the decision on the 18 vs 22. I see the 14 has just come out which actually swings as a neutral in my book as I could see picking that up for small cooks if conserving charcoal is the goal vs firing up a 22 all the time. However, the need to start with one unit which swings my decision to the 18 as an all around/ all the time unit.
I have a family of 4, my typical cooks are for 6-8. Rarely 10+ but the 22 would be such a nice to have. Just to know I could if I wanted ya know?
Although I ran every search I could for the last 24hrs straight on this site (thank you all btw) and looked at all the pictures of how much fits on each- I am humbly requesting you guys help me kick this dead horse yet again with helping me find some specific data.
I am looking for this specific info:
1. Ramp up times for the 18 and 22. How long does the wsm take to get to temp ~225F from a cold start? Is it significantly longer firing up a 22 for a cook vs the 18? Does this answer change if using the minion method vs a standard burn?
2. I've seen the complaints of 15lbs of charcoal on the 22 for a 12hr cook. What I can't find is how much charcoal is consumed for a 12hr cook at the same temp on an 18? How much fuel will I really be saving if always running an 18 vs a 22?
3. Whats the largest turkey that will fit in an 18?
4. When rolling ribs - do they uncoil and lay flat when fully cooked? Or do they retain the coiled position?
5. Anyone have the consumption rate on the 14 yet? (see question #2.)
Thank you all for helping me on my path- as I see you all have done so graciously with others before me.
Jon V.