Jeff Bowerman
TVWBB Member
mine started in the 50's...lit about a cup full of lump then piled around
this was almost 5 hours into the cook
this was almost 5 hours into the cook
S J. Gold Mini WSM Smoker
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Jeff Bowerman
TVWBB Member
this is what was left after nine hours of burn time...i closed all vents after that and it went out.
Well this thing just continues to impress today I did 36 chicken wings on it. I can only do 18 or so cooked indirectly on the kettle...
I used 3 racks, 12 wings on each rack. The middle rack actually cooked the fastest.
Pics...
Bottom rack
Middle Rack
Top Rack
Wings done
Pan 'o wings...
Wings wrapped and ready for NEW YEARS EVE.
NOTE: That the smoker was loaded in the house, and emptied in the house. AWSOME!!!!
I used 3 racks, 12 wings on each rack. The middle rack actually cooked the fastest.
Pics...
Bottom rack
Middle Rack
Top Rack
Wings done
Pan 'o wings...
Wings wrapped and ready for NEW YEARS EVE.
NOTE: That the smoker was loaded in the house, and emptied in the house. AWSOME!!!!
Jeff Bowerman
TVWBB Member
awesome cook
Originally posted by JHunter:
Well this thing just continues to impress today I did 36 chicken wings on it. I can only do 18 or so cooked indirectly on the kettle...
I used 3 racks, 12 wings on each rack. The middle rack actually cooked the fastest.
Pics...
Bottom rack
Middle Rack
Top Rack
Wings done
Pan 'o wings...
Wings wrapped and ready for NEW YEARS EVE.
NOTE: That the smoker was loaded in the house, and emptied in the house. AWSOME!!!!
Looks awesome! What temp did you cook them at and for how long?
Cooked them at around 225 for about 2 hours. I wanted a higher temp of around 300+ but the big pottery dish does a GREAT job at keeping the temp at around 225.
I still can't get over it cooked 36 wings, I think I could cook 3 chickens on it. With three racks you definitely have more room than a 22" kettle...
Jeff Bowerman
TVWBB Member
i use an 8" dish as well as the piece i cut out of the bottom..all wrapped in few layers of heavy foil.
didn't think it was possible but I think I put too much fuel in for my butt cook. I filled this thing all the way up. I think a charcoal ring would have definitely helped, and I like the idea of the air holes on the side (the SJG). Long story short, after 8 hours, I have PLENTY of charcoal left, the temp is at 150, and I have a few smoldering coals in the middle.
The butts are at 160 but don't feel 'done'. I may wrap them add some water and let them go all night for a 16 hour cook. There is LOTS of hickory smoke flavor, as I pulled a bit of pork off to taste it. I am learning a lot but I would have preferred to have pulled off two juicy butts at 10 tonight.
UPDATE: Restoked the fire, wrapped the butts added two cups of water to each aluminum pan. Turns out the fire went out because of too much ash... Gotta work that out by the next cook. Maybe a tuna fish can with some holes in it...
j
The butts are at 160 but don't feel 'done'. I may wrap them add some water and let them go all night for a 16 hour cook. There is LOTS of hickory smoke flavor, as I pulled a bit of pork off to taste it. I am learning a lot but I would have preferred to have pulled off two juicy butts at 10 tonight.
UPDATE: Restoked the fire, wrapped the butts added two cups of water to each aluminum pan. Turns out the fire went out because of too much ash... Gotta work that out by the next cook. Maybe a tuna fish can with some holes in it...
j
[QUOTE/]I still can't get over it cooked 36 wings, I think I could cook 3 chickens on it. With three racks you definitely have more room than a 22" kettle...[/QUOTE]
Nice batch o' wings! Not to go too far off topic, you CAN get that many wings on a 22" kettle. I use a 15" grill with 5" carriage bolt legs and center over the drip pan for indirect. Doubled my output. Anything over 250 degrees goes on the kettle, less goes on the mini. Earlier in this post I showed the legs on a mini grate for turning it into a 4 layer smoker. Just an FYI. Keep the pictures coming of that awesome cooking!
Nice batch o' wings! Not to go too far off topic, you CAN get that many wings on a 22" kettle. I use a 15" grill with 5" carriage bolt legs and center over the drip pan for indirect. Doubled my output. Anything over 250 degrees goes on the kettle, less goes on the mini. Earlier in this post I showed the legs on a mini grate for turning it into a 4 layer smoker. Just an FYI. Keep the pictures coming of that awesome cooking!
Here is the butt cook, biggest take away is that I can cook for 8 hours at 200 degrees, probably longer. Next biggest take away is that I had too much charcoal, and too much ash.
First Butt on the bottom rack.
Second Butt on the middle rack...
Lots of coals for a nice long burn. Lots of hickory, too much for anything but a pork but.
I said there was a lot of smoke. That's not burnt, that's flavor!!!
Like I said lots of Flavor!!!
And the pay off!!! home made slaw came out great too...
I learned a lot on this cook, but cooking 14lbs of meat is absolutely possible with the mini. If I can get my temps up to 400 degrees during a cook, this may become my favorite cooker. I would like to get better legs, and a better ash bucket, and better anti ash clogging. I know I could get better ash control with lump, but I don't feel safe using it on my deck.
First Butt on the bottom rack.
Second Butt on the middle rack...
Lots of coals for a nice long burn. Lots of hickory, too much for anything but a pork but.
I said there was a lot of smoke. That's not burnt, that's flavor!!!
Like I said lots of Flavor!!!
And the pay off!!! home made slaw came out great too...
I learned a lot on this cook, but cooking 14lbs of meat is absolutely possible with the mini. If I can get my temps up to 400 degrees during a cook, this may become my favorite cooker. I would like to get better legs, and a better ash bucket, and better anti ash clogging. I know I could get better ash control with lump, but I don't feel safe using it on my deck.
These butts actually had about 16 hours in the Mini WSM. I don't think the heat ever got over 200 degrees. The bottom but finished up in the WSM, the top butt needed another two hours in the oven to 'tender up'.
I definitely had too much smoke going, but the buts take the smoke just fine, probably had smoke on them for 4 hours before the wood chunks finally died out.
John Ford
TVWBB Pro
Jim I agree, there is a point that adding more fuel, chocks the fire down & causes a lower temp. happens more with briquittes than lump because lump naturally leaves more air space.
I've bought a couple of concrete fiber grill pads for my deck @ Lowes, this might make you more comfortable using lump.
I've bought a couple of concrete fiber grill pads for my deck @ Lowes, this might make you more comfortable using lump.
Did the high temp cook, here is the fall out...
I didn't put a heat shield on the bottom so the bottom wings burned from the flare ups. The top wings were fine but a bit over done. I will redo the cook tomorrow, with a heat shield, and only 1 hour instead of 1.5 hours...
I will post pics later...
I didn't put a heat shield on the bottom so the bottom wings burned from the flare ups. The top wings were fine but a bit over done. I will redo the cook tomorrow, with a heat shield, and only 1 hour instead of 1.5 hours...
I will post pics later...
Ok, did a second "high temp cook". Which has taught me quite a bit about this cooker, here is what I have learned.
1. Its not a high temp cooker, its a low and slow smoker.
2. Using the flower pot will actually waste a lot of fuel, waiting for it to heat up.
3. A piece of aluminum on the bottom grill is all you need to deflect and make the heat radiant vs direct. Means that you can probably get away with just cutting holes into the bottom of the pot (vs cutting the entire bottom out) so that the smoke can get through.
4. Lump is better than the briquettes in this cooker. Mainly because of the low ash production, but also because the fire doesn't burn as hot in this smoker (which means the fuel will last longer than it will in a grill). There isn't a lot of space for the ash in this cooker, so the less ash that's produced the better.
5. I think the rule for this cooker is 250 or less use it, 300 or more use the kettle.
6. This thing uses a surprisingly small amount of fuel. I think you can easily get a 4 hour burn with one load of lump, maybe 6 - 8 (but that's a test for another day).
Summary:
Use this as a great little smoker for low and slow. Its not a small roaster, its small smoker. I hope this saves someone else the hassle.
jay
1. Its not a high temp cooker, its a low and slow smoker.
2. Using the flower pot will actually waste a lot of fuel, waiting for it to heat up.
3. A piece of aluminum on the bottom grill is all you need to deflect and make the heat radiant vs direct. Means that you can probably get away with just cutting holes into the bottom of the pot (vs cutting the entire bottom out) so that the smoke can get through.
4. Lump is better than the briquettes in this cooker. Mainly because of the low ash production, but also because the fire doesn't burn as hot in this smoker (which means the fuel will last longer than it will in a grill). There isn't a lot of space for the ash in this cooker, so the less ash that's produced the better.
5. I think the rule for this cooker is 250 or less use it, 300 or more use the kettle.
6. This thing uses a surprisingly small amount of fuel. I think you can easily get a 4 hour burn with one load of lump, maybe 6 - 8 (but that's a test for another day).
Summary:
Use this as a great little smoker for low and slow. Its not a small roaster, its small smoker. I hope this saves someone else the hassle.
jay
Good points! I think we all try to push the limits of all of our cookers to see what they can and can't do. The little SJS and SJS Smoker Joe are great little mini-grills and mini-smokers - not to mention fun to mess with. However, there are very few grills that can do everything and do everything well. Two that come to mind are the Weber Kettle - I mean - there has been no real REASON to try to improve on the original design, it just works and works well and is very versatile, and the Big Green Egg/ Primo/Kamado Joe/ Kamado type cooker. Still, these little Smoker Joe's are great for low and slow, reasonably long, relatively small cooks, and are dang fun at that!
Pat
Pat
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