Question on smoking in *COLD* temperatures


 
K

Kurt_C

TVWBB Member
*** 18.5" WSM, Kingsford Charcoal Briquettes ***

I have a dilemma. I've been asked to smoke a ham for Christmas, and since I've never done one before(it's about the only cut of meat I haven't done), I want to do a test run tomorrow. However, we're in a deep freeze, and the expected HIGH tomorrow is -28C (-18F). Luckily they aren't calling for much wind.
Am I going to be able to get my smoker up to 225-250 for the 4-5 hours required cooking time? Should I use water in the water pan or keep it empty? I'm thinking of using water in the pan(to help maintain temps), dumping a full chimney unlit in the chamber, then a full chimney of lit on top.
Let me know if anyone has successfully used their WSM in very cold conditions. I think I might be the craziest guy around even thinking about attempting this, but if I can pull it off, it'd be quite the feat!!!
 
you should not have a problem maintaining 225 for 4-5 hours. You might want to only fill half with water.

Let us know how it goes!
 
Thanks - I'll try with 1/2 full water pan. I'll give myself an extra hour or so to get the temps up to 225-250 - I assume it'll take much longer than what I'm used to. I'm up in Edmonton, Alberta. It's supposed to warm up mid-next week, so it should be milder for Christmas. But if this works tomorrow, then I know cold weather won't prevent me from smoking anything(wind's a different story though!). Thanks for the reply.
 
225 for 4-5 hours isn't that demanding a requirement if it's not windy, so you'll probably be fine. When it's really, cold, though, the no-water methods really shine.
 
I hate to be a contrarian, but use a full pan of hot or boiling water. That will save some time getting everything up to temperature. A full pan of water will be a greater heat sink than a half pan and provide better temperature stabilisation.

Your biggest enemy will be wind. I've smoked at sub zero (F) temps before w/o a wind break and it works, just takes more fuel. If you can block all the wind you should be just fine, especially for such a "short" cook. Even a small amount of wind in such cold will suck the heat out quickly.

Best of luck!
 
I don't have any problems smoking in cold weather. Most of the time, I don't notice a difference at all. Today I smoked a bunch of ribs in the smoker in 20 degree weather with half a water pan of hot water. Maintained 250 degrees for 7 hours with only half the charcoal bin filled. Since your weather is much colder, I would just do a full chimney full of lit charcoal and dump it in a 3/4 full bin. You should be fine.
 
Shouldn't be a problem I don't think. I did a ham and turkey last year for a friend for their xmas dinner, and it was in the single digits and WINDY. I ended up building a wind break, which I needed anyway, but getting the temps up for the turk wasn't even a problem. I maintained 330-360 for 3 hours for the bird, and then the ham was a piece of cake too, 315-325 for about 3 hours on the ham too, adding glaze pretty regularly. Good luck with your ham, they are DELICIOUS off the WSM.
 
Thanks for the replies everyone. I'm still not sure about the water pan, but I'm leaning towards a full water pan of hot/boiling water, which should help get the temps up initially (thanks for that Ed). I will take some pictures and post my results. I'm a lot more comfortable now - as long as the wind stays away, it sounds like I'll be fine.

The only problem with smoking in the winter is you can't find charcoal anywhere! I bought a few 18lb bags in the fall, so I have enough to do a few more cooks, but that's about it. Next year I'll have to stock up for sure!
 
I'm presently smoking a pork shoulder under my open carport with on/off drizle and wind and temps around 35 deg and not using the waterpan at all at least for now. Smoker temps have settled to about 260 in which I'm basically wanting 250-275 deg. range. I'm trying to slowly get away from the waterpan as it seems to be mostly a heat sink.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">The only problem with smoking in the winter is you can't find charcoal anywhere! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
In Ontario, Both Rona/Cashway Stores and Home Hardware carry Maple leaf Lump in the warehouses, check to see if they can order some in for you.
 
Hello Kurt, I use my WSM last weekend here in Montreal Quebec with -6 c temps. Smoked 2 11 lbs pork butts for 15 1/2 hours at 225 f. No water in the pan. Just a foil wrapped brick. Had no problem maintaining temps. I find the wind is more of a hamper than the colder temps. The butts were very moist and tasty!
 
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