New WSM owner? Ye Olde Question about charcoal


 
N

NelliB

New member
Swedish bbq lover here. I am going to buy a new Weber smoker in the coming days. Currently debating the old question internally, 18 or 22? Seems I will settle on the 18,5 since I don't want to burn too much charcoal during normal bbq sessions. However, I was curious regarding peoples success in trying to limit the amount of coal used on the big WSM. Are there any of you using the 22,5 with bricks or some other solution that have gotten the same economy from using the 22,5 as you would using the 18,5?
 
Welcome to the board Nelli!! Im sure youll get a host of answers on this as each person varies. I think a lot of folks whether using the 18 or 22 are going with a foiled clay saucer to act as a heat sink and thus save fuel. Enjoy that new cooker and welcome to the addicition.
 
For me the biggest lesson I had to learn with my WSM was not to light too much charcoal initially when I do the minion method....if you light too much your fire will be roaring right away and you will burn up a ton of charcoal as you try to keep your temp in the low and slow area.....these days I start my fire with only a dozen or so lit briqs and my heat builds more slowly . I feel like this helps smooth out my cook and saves fuel.
as far as bricks go , I have used a foil wrapped brick as a heat sink and I have used sand and gravel at different times. I used water the first few times but quickly decided that water is the least convenient way to regulate temp in the WSM .
( my opinion) .
you absolutely need a thermal mass in the pan if you want to keep your temps stable and on the low side.

Welcome to the forum , by the way. :wsm:
 
Try it with water, with just a foiled pan, and with another heat sink to find out what you like. I like to use a ring from the 18 in my 22 when I'm building a smaller fire for less cook time.
 
Fill the charcoal ring to its capacity and use the minion method. Once your done smoking close the vents and the fire will die and any unused charcoal can be used again to smoke or grill.
 
Frank H said:
For me the biggest lesson I had to learn with my WSM was not to light too much charcoal initially when I do the minion method....if you light too much your fire will be roaring right away and you will burn up a ton of charcoal as you try to keep your temp in the low and slow area..:
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I've had my smoker for a short time and have discovered the same thing. I have been planning to light less charcoals to start with on my next cook (this weekend, cooking my first brisket).
 
I have both an 18 1/2" and a 22 1/2" WSM. I use them both. If I had to have only one, I'd get the 22 1/2" model.

I use an 18 1/2" charcoal ring in my 22 1/2" unit and it does use a bit less fuel.
 
Interesting ideas. How does the heat sink save coal, exactly?

Also, are there any negative sides to using a smaller smaller ring in the 22.5? That sounds like a very nice method.
 
I have an old time coffee can (remember when coffee came in metal cans) that I use for low low temps - I also use it to reduce the amount of space in the 22.5 ring - just pour charcoal around it - this works good for 5 to 6 hour cooks.
 
NelliB said:
Interesting ideas. How does the heat sink save coal, exactly?.
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It's not really a heat "sink" but more of a flywheel effect. It works by not using the heat energy to heat the water. The vents will be closed more causing less charcoal to burn to produce the same air temp. Water has the best heat capacity but takes so much energy to heat. Plus it produces some undesirable side effects such as a messy clean up and brown flaky residue in the lid and sides of the cooker.

A second best would probably be cast iron. Clay is also pretty good which is why so many of us use a clay flower pot saucer. Certain rock, sod, or earth would be good as well. Some folks use sand. I think ceramic briquettes are even used.
 
A cold heat sink(whichever one you use) will use more charcoal because you have to warm it up and keep it warmed as apposed to filling your water pan with boiling hot water. The heat sink helps with temperature swings as it absorbs heat energy when your temp rises and releases it when your temp drops. Every object you add to the cooking zone wether it be more meat, bricks, water adds to fuel consumption.
 
I'm confused by the common perception that using water uses more fuel. Sure, it requires energy to heat the water. But, when the water releases its energy, where does it go?
 
That's it, an 18,5 WSM ordered. This to make things easy on me, and then I could think about complementing it for next summer. Just gotta have something to bring me through autumn/winter and I am so fed up with rebuilding my Weber gas grill for semi-bbqing all the time. :D
 
Matt Jone said:
Surely the released energy is the steam as the water evaporates?
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Exactly. The water will give up its heat. It can't consume it. And, it can't store it (not for long). It has to relinquish it, which as you pointed out, will be in the form of steam.

Some of the heat that goes into the air or water will go into the food and some is going to be lost to the environment. Whether the heat pass through the water or through the air to get to the food, I see no difference.

I think the main difference in heat loss will be in the unused heat in the hot water that you leave behind when the food is removed.

I've been debating this with a friend of mine all afternoon. I'm not sure if we ever agreed.
 
Bob Sample said:
A cold heat sink(whichever one you use) will use more charcoal because you have to warm it up and keep it warmed as apposed to filling your water pan with boiling hot water. The heat sink helps with temperature swings as it absorbs heat energy when your temp rises and releases it when your temp drops. Every object you add to the cooking zone wether it be more meat, bricks, water adds to fuel consumption.
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So I take a little different approach with my water ,. I always use cold water after fire is ready , then add my wood chunks and meat to give my meat more time on the the smoke as it rises slowly to what ever given temp I want ... Does it use more charcoal , I would assume so as there is much more mass to heat... Does it take much longer . Not significantly... Let say though , I live where temps are very moderate here in the Bay Area .
 
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Brad Chilton said:
So I take a little different approach with my water ,. I always use cold water after fire is ready , then add my wood chunks and meat to give my meat more time on the the smoke as it rises slowly to what ever given temp I want ... Does it use more charcoal , I would assume so as there is much more mass to heat... Does it take much longer . Not significantly... Let say though , I live where temps are very moderate here in the Bay Area .
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That's a rather unique approach....I think, never heard anyone else mention it. I like to use water in some circumstances as it adds stability to the cook especially if I am doing an overnight cook. If you are using water and you are trying to achieve a certain temp you are likely to use more fuel trying to get there, its kind of like accelerating pulling a load but once you are there and you are not striving for higher temps like above 250 I think water is fine. Like others have said it has it's issues for clean-up.
 
Dwain....the flywheel is the best explanation I think I've seen on adding "mass" to the WSM. Water is the only item the creates additional real temp control, but they all have a varying degree of flywheel effect slowing the up and downmovement of temps. Great comparison!
 
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