New WSM Owner

[Chris Stevz]

Hello All, first off thanks for the great resource that that this site provides to new and prospective owners, the information here certainly has helped me get started. That being said, I have many questions. Over the weekend i picked up the WSM 22.5 after debating back and forth about getting the 18 I decided on the larger unit because when I make ribs I do at min 6 racks and want to have room for the big bbqs we sometimes have. To this point I've been doing them on my Genesis propane unit for the past few years and decided to take the next step and get a real smoker.

Now from what I have seen people seem to have differing of opinions when it comes to seasoning the unit. I wanted to do a few dry runs, not necessarily from the seasoning perspective (though i wanted to get rid of that funky smell) but to learn how to control the heat and get familiar with working with charcoal again. All i did yesterday was heat up a full chimney worth of charcoal then dumped it in - this looked like throwing a rock into the grand canyon. i filled up the water pan and added some wood. Got some smoke for a little while but the unit never really got above 250 and gradually kept losing heat--after two hours it was down to 145deg.

So my questions really surround how much charcoal do you need to use and the is the minion method the really preferred way to keep a sustained cook for several hours? Ive watched a few videos on uTube, all the guys seem to go with that method but it just seems like a lot of charcoal. They also all had automatic temperature control devices hooked up--im not going to go that route in the beginning, i want to learn how the unite behaves first--but is that really needed for needed for long burns with that much charcoal.

Looking forward to learning (and eating a lot here) - thanks for your help. Oh and is it possible to get the 18inch charcoal chamber and use it in the 22 or is that not recommended - again just seemed like a lot charcoal.

 

[Cody]

For seasoning it you just need to cook and the more you cook on it the more seasoned it will get and will start holding temperature better. For me no matter what I cook I fill the charcoal ring with charcoal and use the minion method. I would say the minion method is defiantly the preferred way to use the WSM. When I'm done I just close all the vents and then next time I usually have half a load or less of untouched charcoal in the WSM and yes you can use the 18 inch charcoal chamber in the 22. lots of guys do it to help conserve fuel.

 

[Enrico Brandizzi]

I got my 22.5 in late december 2013. From that on I stopped using kettle because the WSM is too much easy to use.
I always use the tin can minion method with 2 cimneys unlit in and 12/15 briqs lit. It goes on for my needs (7 h ribs at 225F or 5 h ribs at 250F). Then I turn off the vents and next day I usually get back 1/2 cimney perfect briqs.
For longer sessions (brisket about 20 h at 225f) I used 3 cimneys as above and I refilled at the 13/14 h with 1 more cimney.
1 bottom vent open, 2 closed. Exhaust top vent wide open always.
This is my experience up to now

 

[Chad Bman]

Over the weekend i picked up the WSM 22.5 after debating back and forth about getting the 18 I decided on the larger unit because when I make ribs I do at min 6 racks and want to have room for the big bbqs we sometimes have.

Welcome fo the forum and the 22.5" is a great choice for ribs. I own both the 18 & 22 and anything more than 1 rack of ribs, I fire up the 22.

All i did yesterday was heat up a full chimney worth of charcoal then dumped it in - this looked like throwing a rock into the grand canyon. i filled up the water pan and added some wood. Got some smoke for a little while but the unit never really got above 250 and gradually kept losing heat--after two hours it was down to 145deg.

Yeah, the 22" is a large cooker and requires a fair amount of fuel. And filling the water pan (with water) will take a LOT of BTU's to get up to temp. Even then, water boils & turns to steam at 212 degrees. Quite a few of us don't use water in the pan, but we also suggest each owner try various methods to see what works for them. I would also question the accuracy of the temps you're reading. Remember, you're looking at a dome mounted thermometer and not what the cooking grate reads. As an example, here is my cooking grate mounted maverick ET-732 in comparison to the 22" WSM dome thermometer.

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This is my 18" WSM during the Christmas turkey cook.

So my questions really surround how much charcoal do you need to use and the is the minion method the really preferred way to keep a sustained cook for several hours? They also all had automatic temperature control devices hooked up--im not going to go that route in the beginning,

The 22" does require a good amount of fuel. If you're cooking 1 rack of ribs or 25 pounds of meat, there isn't much of a fuel difference. If you're going to fire it up, might as well load it up. Unless I'm doing a high-heat cook (like a big ol turkey) the minion method is the way to go. I'll easily go 12 hours without adding charcoal and no temp control devise here.

Oh and is it possible to get the 18inch charcoal chamber and use it in the 22 or is that not recommended - again just seemed like a lot charcoal.

Personally, I don't see the reason for it. The cooking chamber is still XXX amount of cubic feet and will take XXX amount of btu's to reach your desired temp. Having a different sized ring isn't going to change that equation. I have the 18" ring, but never used it in the 22. If I have a shorter cook, like ribs, I'll just add a bit less charcoal to the 22" ring.

As you'll see, firing up the 22 for a small cook, like a single pork butt or a beer-can-chicken, isn't cost effective. You'll have more $$$ in charcoal than meat you're cooking. That's why most 22" owners also opted to make the mini-wsm. THAT, is a great cooker and really easy on charcoal consumption. You can fit more on this little guy than you might think. Just something to think about.

 

[Chris Stevz]

Thanks for the replies all. I think the main problem, and it wasn't really a problem, was that I didn't start with enough charcoal in the first place. I know that the dome thermometer would be off, but what shocked me was how fast the temperature dropped, but again given the little amount of charcoal it really shouldn't have been surprising. All the videos i have watched people have used considerably more, I will figure it out via trial and error. I saw where some guys used the "snake" method and that looked particularly interesting. At least my family and friends will get to benefit from my all my testing with an abundance of food laying around. I guess I can look at some of the other posts about equipment because i was wondering about the best thermometer as picture above - are there any that operate over wifi to devices? Thanks