S J. Gold Mini WSM Smoker


 
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John, I made one for my brother in law the same time I made mine. He loves his also! I showed a pic of mine to a co-worker and he asked how much to make him one! One thing realized smoking the fattie today, is that I HAVE TO MOUNT A THERMOMETER in the side. My method oh hanging a temp probe through the top vent proved to be a royal pain! Just wondering, (to all that have mounted a thermometer in the side) how big of a hole do you have to drill in the side of the pot to mount the thermometer? I was at Bass Pro Friday night, and almost pulled the trigger on one, but to mount it would have required drilling a 3/4" hole in thw side of the pot. Also, I think its time to bite the bullet and buy a thermepen.
 
The hole is dictated by the size of the thermometer. Doesn't matter if the hole is 4" so long as after you mount the thermometer the hole is air tight (or close to it).

I would just follow the directions on the thermometer package.

Jay
 
I'm having a ton of fun on my little guy. It works perfectly fine with the setup I mentioned in case anybody is wondering. No real complaints from me about how this thing cooks. You can get this thing running to hot though which I didn't expect from the comments. If you are going to overload it on charcoal be careful with how many lit coals you minion it with. Think I did about 15-20 and was too much. This thing really dials in though, dials in better than my kettle for sure.
 
DK- what is the maximum temperature that you have seen on yours? How long was this sustained?

I usually light mine with 2 or 3 weber lighter cubes, and it has never reached 250. Usually hangs around 200-210. I have a slab and a half of ribs on now and it has been pegged at 200 for the last 2 hours. This may be influenced by the the stoneware pie pan that I am using as a deflector.
 
I just use a foiled aluminun pie pan.. the minis don't need much of a diffuser so I would get rid of the stone one. I also turned a Silver into a Gold by adding the side vents.

Can get temps into the upper 200s (at top vent) now while before I couldn't.

John
 
Originally posted by J Reyes:
I just use a foiled aluminun pie pan.. the minis don't need much of a diffuser so I would get rid of the stone one. I also turned a Silver into a Gold by adding the side vents.

Can get temps into the upper 200s (at top vent) now while before I couldn't.

John
Click to expand...
Any pictures available?
 
Guys, I also started out using the terra cotta plate as my difuser, resting it on the steamer tray from the tomale' steamer. After the first cook, I ditched the plate, foiled the steamer tray, and presto, quicker heat up, and longer sustained temps. I posted several pics of the bottom of my cooker. (I think they are on page 24.) On my last cook,(my first long smoke on the mini) I smoked a Boston Butt@ 234-245 for the better part of 4 hours without any vent adjustments. I started vwith the bottom filled about 80% and added 9 lit coals. I achieved 220 within 15 minutes! I can't get over how well it dials in, and holds its temp for as long as it does. I can't say it enough, "I love this little thing!"
icon_biggrin.gif

Tim
 
Originally posted by J Reyes:
I just use a foiled aluminun pie pan..
John
Click to expand...

By aluminum pie pan- do you mean a "disposable" pan? If it is something else- what is the diameter?


Originally posted by Tim (the grillaholic):
Guys, I also started out using the terra cotta plate as my difuser, resting it on the steamer tray from the tomale' steamer. After the first cook, I ditched the plate, foiled the steamer tray, and presto, quicker heat up, and longer sustained temps.
Click to expand...

Tim, I left the bottom in my pot, and drilled holes in the bottom (John Ford method). I cooked a chicken once without a diffuser and the smell of burning grease was present. I was afraid this would affect the quality of the cook. IF you were to build another smoker, would you prepare the pot in the same manner- or what would you do different?
 
Originally posted by Tim (the grillaholic):
Guys, I also started out using the terra cotta plate as my difuser, resting it on the steamer tray from the tomale' steamer. After the first cook, I ditched the plate, foiled the steamer tray, and presto, quicker heat up, and longer sustained temps. ...Tim
Click to expand...

What happens to the grease?
 
By foiling the steamer tray, it does the same thing as foiling the water bowl in a WSM. I cand hear the grease sizzeling when it hits the foiled difuser, so I guess some of it is evaporated durring the cook. I will take some photos today and try and post them later.
What would I do differently? So far, I really don't think I would change a thing. Riasing the difuser about 1" off the bottom, gave me just a little extra space above the charcoul, while still being able to mount my bottom grate right at the bottom ring on the tomale' pot.
Like I said, I'll try to get those pics up later today.
Thanks, Tim
 
Originally posted by RodneyS:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by J Reyes:
I just use a foiled aluminun pie pan..
John
Click to expand...

By aluminum pie pan- do you mean a "disposable" pan? If it is something else- what is the diameter?



Originally posted by Tim (the grillaholic):
Guys, I also started out using the terra cotta plate as my difuser, resting it on the steamer tray from the tomale' steamer. After the first cook, I ditched the plate, foiled the steamer tray, and presto, quicker heat up, and longer sustained temps.
Click to expand...

Tim, I left the bottom in my pot, and drilled holes in the bottom (John Ford method). I cooked a chicken once without a diffuser and the smell of burning grease was present. I was afraid this would affect the quality of the cook. IF you were to build another smoker, would you prepare the pot in the same manner- or what would you do different? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
I left the bottom in my pot & made mine with the SJG to make transporting easier.
At home I use a top foiled flower pot base & tailgating a 9 in steel pie pan.
Why? Just like an empty aluminum fry pan can overheat & warp if heated empty I want a heat sink on the aluminum bottom to try to prevent it from melting. So far so good
 
Originally posted by Tim (the grillaholic):
By foiling the steamer tray, it does the same thing as foiling the water bowl in a WSM. I cand hear the grease sizzeling when it hits the foiled difuser, so I guess some of it is evaporated durring the cook. I will take some photos today and try and post them later.
What would I do differently? So far, I really don't think I would change a thing. Riasing the difuser about 1" off the bottom, gave me just a little extra space above the charcoul, while still being able to mount my bottom grate right at the bottom ring on the tomale' pot.
Like I said, I'll try to get those pics up later today.
Thanks, Tim
Click to expand...

OK. I went back and looked at your pics and I get it now. The steamer tray has a concave to it that holds the grease in. I was also wondering how air got through with the foil and now I see you cut little flanges in the bottom of your pot so air could circulate around the foil steamer tray. Great idea.

Just FYI. I tried something similar at first. I accidentally punctured the foil and it made a huge mess. I think you'll be ok as long as you are more mindful of that possibility than I was.
 
Originally posted by John Ford:


I left the bottom in my pot & made mine with the SJG to make transporting easier.
At home I use a top foiled flower pot base & tailgating a 9 in steel pie pan.
Why? Just like an empty aluminum fry pan can overheat & warp if heated empty I want a heat sink on the aluminum bottom to try to prevent it from melting. So far so good
Click to expand...

John- why do you use a different heat sink when you are tailgating vs at home?

Also what is the diameter of both?
 
Justin, glad the pics helped. The pic from under the tomale' pot doesn't really give a good view of how the flanges are bent. I took every other one and bent it up at about a 45 degree angle. Again, this increased my distance above the charcaol grate, but it also created more gaps for the heat to rise into the smoker. I wasn't sure if this would work, but I really couldn't be happier with the results. Thanks for the heads up with the foil on the difuser. I imagine it would only take a few small holes to make a BIG mess.
Thanks again, Tim
 
I started with the flower pot bottom, after transporting once realized it would eventually get broken. The steel pie pan is sturdier & lighter. I'm a pack rat & been in the same house for 23 years, most of this stuff I use what I find around the house.
First tailgate I took a homemade charcoal chimney & the pot bottom.
Second tailgate took 2 weber lighter cubes & the pie pan, It's like camping you get lighter as you do more trips.
 
Originally posted by Shaun R:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by J Reyes:
I just use a foiled aluminun pie pan.. the minis don't need much of a diffuser so I would get rid of the stone one. I also turned a Silver into a Gold by adding the side vents.

Can get temps into the upper 200s (at top vent) now while before I couldn't.

John
Click to expand...
Any pictures available? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Shaun, not disposable type, although that should wrok as well. I bought one at a restaurant supply store like this

Mine has the bottom cut out... original steamer plate in place with extra drilled holes with the above foiled pie pan sitting on the steamer plate. Bottom rack sits 1-2 in. above pie pan and top rack towards the top.
 
i cut out the bottom. then i install the supplied plate/diffuser in its stock position. then i install a trivet on top of the diffuser. on top of the trivet i put a foil covered pan similar to a steel pie pan. its approx 12 in. or so. this catches almost all the grease but allows all the heat to get through. works great for me.
 
Originally posted by RodneyS:
DK- what is the maximum temperature that you have seen on yours? How long was this sustained?

I usually light mine with 2 or 3 weber lighter cubes, and it has never reached 250. Usually hangs around 200-210. I have a slab and a half of ribs on now and it has been pegged at 200 for the last 2 hours. This may be influenced by the the stoneware pie pan that I am using as a deflector.
Click to expand...

My first cook I was pretty much in the 300s the whole time. That was my very first one though. I think grease buildup helps dial in temps maybe? I simply didn't add as much coals and it likes 230-260 range now. You don't need a ton of coals for a pretty long cook on this thing. That is not what I have experienced with a kettle.
 
Same lesson here DK. My first time, I threw about 15/20 lit coals on top, and she haeted up quick but didn't last as londg as I had hoped. Now, I only use about 8/9 lit coals, and it runs like a top! LOVIN IT!
On a side note, I'm noticing more and more Carolina boys on the forum, I think we pretty well have the state canvased!
 
Beware!
The IMUSA 32 qt tamale pot available from Amazon at this time will NOT fit on a SJG!
The pot I just got in was made in Columbia , not china like the same item I got for my first mini. there is no way to tell country of origin from amazon site & the pot is not available locally. I had hoped to make a mini as a present so now I have a SJG I may have to rtn.
 
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