NEW To the Forum Question on grill Grates for MiniWSM project

[ChadRex]

First I want to say Thank you to this great group of Pitmasters for sharing their ideas, and detailed pics for the WSM mini projects.

I have spent the better part of the last couple of days reading numerous threads on these SJ conversion although most of the process is very clear I had a few questions.

1.) Does the Stock pot sit on a built in ridge, in the SJ or does it rest on the SJ grill grate stops?
2) Do most people recommend a two grill grate set up? If so what are the best measurement/ locations for both grates? based on experience of those in this forum?
3) i read some recommendations on using standard SJ grill grate others have mentioned a need to use a different manufacturers grill grates, what brand dimensions would those grills grates be?

From what I understand the set up in order from inside bottom to lid would be as follows:

*Above bottom damper/vent: A can or some vented cover to prevent ash build up
*Charcoal grate sits on that which some have built a wire coal holder attcahed to charcaol Grate.
* heat difuser such as a aluminum pie pan ( Not sure how this attaches to the set up ) does this attach directly to the bottom of the lower grill grate or does it rest on the built in SJ grill grate stops above the charcoal basket)
* Secondary or main Grill grate.. - how much space between difuser/grill and this main cooking grill is optimal?

I apologies if all this information has been posted in varius threads, I have read some details but spread out among different Mini WSm projects.

basically looking for input based on the experince of everyone, what design seems to yield the best results?

Thank you again..

ChadRex

 

[Don Fry]

Welcome to the wonderful world of the mini WSM. What you are going through right now is half the fun because unless you are shelling out big bucks for a custom made stick-burner or something, this is as close as most of us will get to designing our own equipment. It is worth taking the time to read through the long threads at the top of this section. I found it really helpful because it told me not so much what to do, as what ideas others had that didn’t work so well.
Here are my answers to your questions:

1.) Does the Stock pot sit on a built in ridge, in the SJ or does it rest on the SJ grill grate stops? --- Yes, it sits on the little lip where the cooking grate fits on the SJ

2) Do most people recommend a two grill grate set up? If so what are the best measurement/ locations for both grates? based on experience of those in this forum? --- two or three is the consensus depending upon what you normally cook. I have two. My bottom one sits on the lip that holds the tamale steamer and the top one sits on bolts 5” from the top. That provides 4.5” between them.

3) i read some recommendations on using standard SJ grill grate others have mentioned a need to use a different manufacturers grill grates, what brand dimensions would those grills grates be? --- I use two standard Weber cooking grates. I really like to keep the grates of my smokers clean. The Weber grates are super easy to maintain.

From what I understand the set up in order from inside bottom to lid would be as follows:

*Above bottom damper/vent: A can or some vented cover to prevent ash build up --- I have a SJ Gold so I don’t have to mess with this.

*Charcoal grate sits on that which some have built a wire coal holder attcahed to charcaol Grate. --- I do not use a charcoal basket. I just use the normal charcoal grate. It’s plenty for me.

* heat difuser such as a aluminum pie pan ( Not sure how this attaches to the set up ) does this attach directly to the bottom of the lower grill grate or does it rest on the built in SJ grill grate stops above the charcoal basket) --- I have drilled holes in the bottom of the pot vs. cutting it out. Disadvantages of drilling is that you give up some space from additional charcoal and you will not be able to get temps above 275-300 on a consistent basis. For my defuser I set a small metal pan on top of a trivet. The trivet rests on the bottom of the pot.

* Secondary or main Grill grate.. - how much space between difuser/grill and this main cooking grill is optimal? --- Answered this above. 4.5” in mine.

Here is a thread where I documented my built.

Have fun with it.