S J. Gold Mini WSM Smoker


 
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well i just loaded the mini up for the first real smoke/cook. i have a chunk of bologna, two fatties and two chunks of spam on. using a small chunk of oak and pecan on the coals. i'm not happy on my setup, i just wasn't prepared the way i thought i wanted. but thats the way we learn. it will be fine no matter what. one thing i really see is that i'm gonna need a coal basket.
 
branon, got a pic of yer basket? and how tall did ya make it ? seems like its a bit to tall?

Originally posted by Branon S.:
FYI: My charcoal basket sits higher than the bottom edge of the steamer when placed on the grill.
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for the little coals that i need the coals just are to spread out. i tried mounding them but wasn't that good. i'm into my third hour of smoking now and the meat is not cooked yet. it should already be done. i found that the fire didn't burn right and was only half burning. so a basket would just make it easier to work with and burn better. at least for me.
 
When you say half burning, do you mean they aren't burning well...or they are only burning on half the the charcoal grate (like not evenly)?

I'll be honest, I haven't run into any burn issues (yet). I pile as many coals as I can in the kettle and then pull out about 12 or so from the very middle to light. Then I put those back in the very middle and the fire burns outward from there.

I hate that this isn't working for you.
 
yea, the cook took five hours. the int temp i wanted wasn't met but still close enough so its all good. the real problem is that i just wasn't paying attention and i tried to get fancy. yea, the coals burnt only on one side. that was due to the way i put the coals in and the wind that picked up. for sure its not the mini, just me. i'm actually excited about it. the thing will cook enough for me and its small so i can handle it as i'm in a wheelchair and it skimps on coals. to be sure this little thing is and should be a big hit for sure.
 
Originally posted by george curtis:
branon, got a pic of yer basket? and how tall did ya make it ? seems like its a bit to tall?
Click to expand...

These are the only pics I have of the charcoal basket now. I recycled some expanded sheet metal I had from another bbq project. I think it's about 6 inches tall.
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I was going to use the steamer tray you see below as the heat sync tray but after cutting out the design I thought it might be too weak to hold it once exposed to high temps. I bought the charcoal grate for the 18" kettle to use instead.

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Branon
I'm with you on the lump charcoal. Works great for this little guy. Almost did the exact same thing with the steamer tray... Nice job. What kind of lump do you use? I get the Full Circle from Schnucks.

We have been using this little cooker like crazy all winter. It works great. I am making another for my dad and brother-in-law. I will post some links to pics to show some of the small mods we have in mind.

I love the paint jobs guys!

LDean started quite a cult.
 
I use Fire King made by Struemphs and the Mesquite lump sold at Sams. Fire King sells for around $12 for 20lbs and the Mesquite is $15 for 40lbs.

I highly recommend the Fire King.
 
Hey Ernie:
When you make you 2nd and 3rd Mini, I have a suggestion. When I made my second Mini, a Homer Simpson SJS, I cut the bottom outof the barrel, leaving about 3/4" of the metal making the hole no more than 12.5" in diameter. I purchased an ascessory 13.5" grill for $3.95, laying it in the barrell bottom, securing in place by drilling holes in the bottom, wiring in place. By using a 11.5" terracotta base as a grease catcher and heat sink, setting it on top of the 13.5 grill. Also, by placing the extra rack in the bottom, you will pick up an additional 3" of cooking space, vs placing a rack on the indented ring in the steamer or installing hangers above the ring. You can also lay another 13.5 grill on top of the ceramic disk, to use as a cooking grill. Of course, for those with charcoal baskets, the basket can not protrude past the barrel bottom. I made a basket out of expanded sheet metal, the diameter of the charcoal grate, with a height of 2 7/8"inch. Lowes has short legnths of expanded metal, but I had to splice, just wiring together to get the 30" diameter needed. You can also just use the indented ring in the steamer barrel to hold the bottom cooking rack, rather than installing bottom hangers. Hope this makes sense, someday I will learn how to post photos.

LDW



Originally posted by Ernie D:
Branon
I'm with you on the lump charcoal. Works great for this little guy. Almost did the exact same thing with the steamer tray... Nice job. What kind of lump do you use? I get the Full Circle from Schnucks.

We have been using this little cooker like crazy all winter. It works great. I am making another for my dad and brother-in-law. I will post some links to pics to show some of the small mods we have in mind.

I love the paint jobs guys!

LDean started quite a cult.
Click to expand...
 
My mini is set up very similar to the what LDean is describing (with the bottom grate setting on the indented portion of the barrel). I love the extra space.

Also, FWIW, I didn't even think to create a charcoal basket so I ended up just laying out the charcoal in the bowl. Because of that, I don't think my mini needs one. However, I may be benefitting from the fact that I used a stainless steel veggie basket instead of a grill grate to hold my ceramic plate so there's really no gaps where any meat is exposed to direct flame.
 
some are not going to like this but i was just in a wal mart in another town and the imusa 32 qt pots were on sale for 16.00 . so go check around.
 
I found that here in Austin there are 2 kinds of IMUSA tamale cookers one for 19.95 with aluminum lid and the other same pot but glass lid 24.95

I got the aluminum lid

later
 
This is such an awesome thread I can't wait to get in to the action myself. But I can't help but thinking, who will be the first to create the double decker (2 tamale cookers stacked on top of each other) version?!!
Just kidding, I'm sure that thing would be pretty unstable, or would it....
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Originally posted by george curtis:
some are not going to like this but i was just in a wal mart in another town and the imusa 32 qt pots were on sale for 16.00 . so go check around.
Click to expand...
I like that because I'm looking for two! I better run out and get them today so I don't miss the sale.

thanks for posting that info.
 
I've finished my build (I went ahead and cut the bottom out) and I'm in the middle of my test burn. I'm using the steamer insert as a heat shield, no water pan, and about 20 coals. So far its holding at 250 with the lower vents at 33% open.
 
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