Probably a real dumb question


 
J

John_H

TVWBB Member
I've had my WSM for about a year and average about 1 cook per month. In that time I've never had to add charcoal. Tomorrow night I'm cooking 4 butts and am thinking it may take a little more fuel. When you add fuel do you add it lit or unlit? What do you use to physically put it the door or the grill? Thanks for your help to my simple question.
 
John,

If and when I have to add charcoal I add it unlit through the door. I just wear a disposable glove, grab a handful and gently toss them into the fire ring. Usually two or three handfuls will do it. It's usually near the end of a long cook and I just want enough to get me to the end.
 
Never done 4 butts...All my cooks have been done on 1 full ring with leftovers. But when i have pull back on coals on a shorter cook and its been really low i do what Bruce said.
 
i always use more then i need. when the cook is over i seal it up and use leftovers next time. better to have to much then to little ive learned in the past.
 
John.......are you telling me you have cooked "about" 12 smokes on our WMS and have never had to add any charcoal ? I want to know what kind you use if so.

Secondly, I never mess with the side door. I lift the lid off the cooker, then lift the middle portion off (while it's cool of course) and for 4 butts it's going to burn a long time. My last pork butt took me 20 hours to get the meat to 175 internally. Granted, I did an overnight smoke and had my temp contoller set too low (210). The next morning I bumped it up to 250 to try and get the internal temp up on my pork butt. It was a 9 pound butt, so I loaded up my lower charcoal ring all the way to the top and then added my hardwoods along with that. I did not have an abundance of left over charcoal, but a little. I keep a pair of FABULOUS gloves on hand to mess with the hot smoker during a smoke. I bought them from texasbbqrub.com for $11.00 and free shipping. They are heavy rubber that go almost up to the elbow, but have a nice soft lining inside and they are great.

I hope this helps a little, But I use the Minion Method when cooking. I put in what charcoal I want and I have an old coffee can open on both ends and I set it in the middle of the charcoal grate. I put all the charcoal I want around it and as high as I think I'll needd to cook. I then put a bit more in an upside down chimney and light it and get it really hot. Being very careful and with my heavy gloves on, I remove the can with some pliers and then dump the hot coals into the center of the remainder of the un-lit coals. The hot coals continue to light the outer ones a bit at a time thus giving you a longer burn on your fuel. Hope that makes sense. The charcoal lights a bit at a time from the center outwards and along the way it's also burning the hardwood. You can put some of the hardwood under the charcoal also so it burns during the cook and does not all get burned in the beginning. I'm not sure that is effective, as some mmuch more experienced cookers than me say the meat does not absorb any smoke after about 140 degrees. I dunno.

Good luck, and let me know how you got 12 cooks on one load of charcoal please.
 
John, pardon me if I misunderstood your statement. I take it after some thinking you meant you have never had to add charcoal DURING a cook. Well, neither have I, as you sorta learn how much to put depending on what you are cooking. I can tell you it's better to put way too much, as once you "Kill the fire", you can use the good leftover charcoals that did not burn on the next smoke. Sometimes I may only burn about half of what I put in, so I just pluck them out after it's all cool in a day or so and re-use them if they have not been burned. For four (4) pork butts I'd load the ring up just a bit higher than the top of the ring. You can easily get 20+ hours out of that. I normally open only my top vent about 1/4 to 1/2 and all the others are closed. My Temp Controller on the bottom uses on of the vents holes to puff some air on when needed to keep the pit temp on target. I am using the DigiQ 2 Guru so I can monitor the internal temp of the meat and the pit temperature. On a long smoke I start it late in the evening and go to bed and forget it. My DigiQ has never gone over or under 1 degrees pit temp. When I get up the next morning I check both temps and if needed, I adjust the pit temp accordingly. Again, my last butte was 20 hours and I had charcoal left over.
 
Sorry for the misunderstanding. George was right. I just meant that after I've loaded up the charcoal ring in the beginning I've never had to add additional charcoal During the cook. I appologize if I wasn't clear.

Thanks for all the great responses.
 
I've done it both ways...added it unlit through the door and lit through the door. Adding it unlit will take more time for the coals to fire and get the temps up. Adding it lit, the coals are fired and are ready to go. I use a chimney starter and when the flames are coming out the top, I use fireproof gloves and some long tongs and can load in about 2 or 3 briqs at a time. Takes about a minute to reload a full lit chimney into the chamber. Plus loading them with tongs, you can place the briqs better and not load up the front of the ring.
 
Doesn't sound normal. Are you making a mountain out of the charcoal? When I go full strength, I'll fill the chamber full and level to the top of the ring. Then I fire up a full lit chimney and when I dump it on, I redistribute the lit coals, so they are higher all around and kind of slant down towards the center. Almost like following the contour of the water pan. The middle of the chamber after all is said and done, is still somewhat level with the top of the ring. I never had an issue of the charcoal touching the bottom of the water pan.

Is your water pan set on the tabs or did it fall through?
 
You are absolutely correct Chuck. I failed to say that when I load the ring up I allow a bit towards the center for the water pan. Otherwise, It will touch and cause you to have to "Slam" the center piece of the smoker down onto the coals to "move them". I learned this lesson on about my second cook. I could not understand why so much smoke was coming out from the bottom seam, just above the charcoal chamber. It was because my smoker was not setting all the way down into the seam, but instead was sitting on top of the coals. A VERY good point to bring out. I'm sorry I forgot to mention it. I load it up, but know now about how far the water pan goes down and allow for it.

Thanks for bringing this out. It is CRUCIAL to those like me that don't think about little things like that. Otherwise on a 20+ hour smokes, I load it up just above the ring, but a little less in the center of the ring.
 
George, been there and done that
icon_biggrin.gif
Now I always leave a depression in the middle of my charcoal not only is this so my water pan fits in but a nice place to put your lit from the chimney. Keeps the lit from rolling off and down the sides.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top