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THoey

THoey

TVWBB Super Fan
Just got my 22.5" WSM today and put it together. Loaded her up and did a high temp burn to clean her out. After that, I shut all the vents to put the flame out (about 90 mins ago). I planned on firing her up again in a couple hours to cook my first brisket on it.

But, I just went out for a smoke and saw the temp guage still in the 200's. Turned on my Maverick and she was humming along at 228* on the top grill and 232* on the bottom. Opened the charcoal door and smelled sweet smoke. And then the temps went up, I gather from opening the door. I went ahead and threw some sausages on it, don't want to waste the smoke. But, what do I have to do to put out the coals? Also, when I get ready to do the brisket, how do I add new charcoal to the minion method so that she can burn through the night?

Thanks in advance...
 
Howdy T.
The WSM is still new and does take awhile to build up some BBQ caulk to seal any gaps which helps in shutting down.
You can add coals to an already Minion started cook. Fill the ring with un-lit over the lit for an overnighter, than add just a tad off lit to top it off.
IMO your pit temps are low enough to handle an all nighter, but remember, the MM is all about starting with a full ring of unlit, then scattered with a bit of lit and catching you're temps on the way up.
I think your good to go (as is) but keep us updated.

Tim
 
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Thanks Tim. I did the minion with an almost full ring of KBB and about 5 lumps of pecan. I created a valley in the middle and then dumped 25 lit KBB's to start it up.

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So, you are saying to just fill her back up and then add a couple lit to the top? Won't that burn faster / hotter since it will have two sections of burning coals (buried and on top)?

She was holding steady at 228* on top. Since I quit trying to shut it down, I cracked the top vent and she is holding stable at 232*. Good enough for a brisket to me.
 
I would worry about adding just un-lit and burying the coals and snuff them out at you're temps.( and that all depends on how much lit you have remaining} A tad bit of un-lit on top might work IMO

Tim
 
Makes sense. Thanks again. Temps are dropping now. Sitting at 223*. Think I need to crack a vent.

Just ordered a gasket kit from the BBQGaskets webpage. That will fix my leaks for next time...
 
Great advice given by Timothy but he forgot one thing......

Get plenty of adult beverages and have fun.
 
It will get better over time with some build up of "gunk" but the fact that the fire did not go out is an indication that there's a lot of air getting in. The most likely culprit for this is the door. Check to make sure it is fitted well and if not, gently bend it into better shape. Also, make sure the middle section is seated well in the charcoal bowl and that there are no gaps that would indicate an out of round situation. Same for the lid. A little massaging of a new unit is sometimes necessary.

Note however, that while I would expect the fire to be close to out after about an hour, never assume that the fire is actually out. A piece of charcoal can reignite many hours after it appears to be out. Be careful if you are dumping charcoal you think is out. I usually wait a couple days to dump the charcoal and I always dump it into a bag that I put in a metal trash can and wait a few more days before I put it out in the trash.
 
Thanks for the info Jerry. Old Boy Scout. I'll make sure before I throw anything out. On that note, I was also reminded that I need a mat or some stone under the pit. Will get that soon...
 
Added some fresh coals and a couple of lit on top, but I guess that wasn't enough as my temps dropped to below 220. Fired some more up and got them in. Temps spiked about 250*, tapped the bottom vent a little more closed. Bottom at less than a third and top about a third. Temp dropping, down to 241*. Need to take a shower and have to leave for a bit. Will be back and forth to check it. Trying to get it stable before I go.
 
The best thing I ever did to help my Q'ing ---- quite worring about minor temp swings. I used to chase temps and tap vents much like your doing, but no more. It's like waves on a lake. They go up & down and rarely ever stay perfectly flat. Same with temps. I was doing a 12ish hour pork butt and I sat the Maverick next to the TV while I watched football all day. I watched the temps swing up and down all day long when early on - I would have made vent adjustments.

But, you gotta watch for ash build-up too. Typically, I don't worry about that for 8 hours or so.

Your WSM never will be air tight. It's a metal-to-metal connection. (bowl to mid, lid to mid, door, 4 vents) Using it will help 'season' or fill in those joints. After 90 minutes, I'm ready to put the cover back on mine. Out of curiosity, did you take a tape measure to check for roundness at the bowl/middle section/lid to make sure they're close?
 
Measuring top to bottom then left to right and seeing how close the measurements are. (The 22.5" direction)
 
Thanks for the link. Will check it out tomorrow. And yeah, the door needs serious reshaping work along with the gaskets I ordered. All in all, we got through it. Took about 17 hours for this 16+ LB brisket:
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