Saving coal on shorter burns w/the 22.5"


 
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Paul Schaffer

New member
I love my 22.5" WSM but I felt that the diameter made it less than optimal for doing shorter burns. Piling up the charcoal didn't seem like a good solution to me since they tended to slump and spread out, making them burn faster or not as well.

I'm new to the forums so perhaps this has been suggested before but I went to Home Depot and bought some plain Red bricks. I put them inside the metal collar and put the coals in there. I figured the smaller diameter with the same height would allow for a more even burn with and, coupled with the thermal mass of the bricks, more even heat.

It seemed as if I was able to get a nice, consistent burn of ~6-8 hours using a lot less charcoal.

Has anyone else experimented with this approach and, if so, have you see similar results?

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I dont own the 22.5, but I like your thought process. Some will chime in and tell you that you should only use fire bricks, but those are probably ok. I used red bricks for a while in my kettle, and I still only have three arms.
 
I like the idea - and may use it in my Cajun Bandit. Some folks have reported using the charcoal ring from their 18" WSM in the 22 incher to achieve the results you describe, but your solution seems much more economical if you don't already have an 18" WSM to go along with your 22.

Pat
 
Paul, Really like your idea!!!. one question. How do the bricks(since they look solid) affect the airflow to the coals especially when the charcoal burns down? Personally ,I'd use some of the bricks with the holes to allow air to circulate. Heck, you could even go two rows of brick if they'd fit. Your idea is cool
 
Hi Paul,

It didn't seem as if air flow impacted at all, the bricks have enough of a gap and air is consistently rising from below. The Coals seemed to settle nicely in the column.

I have read about the exploding bricks thing but I figured that since these were fired in a kiln at around 1300 degrees C, they should be pretty stable at a slow/low temp
 
Another idea would to get some expanded metal, cut it long enough to form your desired circle and the heigth you want and bolt together. There is no impact on the air flow. Check out Ugly Drum Smokers (UDS) for more info. HTH
 
If this worked for you, great!

Vs the original design, air flow would have to be impacted. Air rising from below would be blocked by the ash falling from above and settling coals and the bricks form a solid wall.

But it may not be enough to affect low-n-slow. High-heat may be different.

I gave up on trying to figure out how much was enough. I just fill up the ring, shut it down when done, recover what's left.
 
You definitely could be right Travis but the couple of times I've done it, I've had a pretty consistent burn of ~225 for 6 hrs (it went longer but I pulled the ribs off after 6).

I'm curious to see if anyone else can replicate my results with the same method.
 
It'd be interesting to do a bit of testing.

If I had a 22" I'd be right with ya.
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Have your tried to get to 325~350º like you're going to do a high-heat brisket with and without the bricks?
 
I just got some metal stock from a shop near by and welded up 2 smaller rings drilled holes for air and they work fine , But IMHO the bricks would do fine or anything else that would take the heat and confine the coals to a smaller area allowing you to use less coal .
 
lol,

Guy, you said two things that almost never enter into my vocabulary; "metal stock" and "welding".

Travis,

I've not yet tried a high-heat brisket but I've done it for chicken by not adding water to the pan. I suppose the same could be done in this configuration or the pan could come out all-together and you could use the vents to control heat.
 
Originally posted by Paul Schaffer:
lol,

Guy, you said two things that almost never enter into my vocabulary; "metal stock" and "welding

LOL well you would really laugh if you saw me lite off my coals with a cutting torch
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Honestly I never gave it much of a thought just made up 2 smaller rings . But ya if you don't mess with tools a lot it would be diffrent
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I should add I mostly just fill up the big ring no matter how long or short the cook will be but I have only done a few cooks on my WSM . I did try my mid size ring once and it worked great . But it would a been just as easy to of filled up the big ring and just shut the dampers when done and saved the extra coal .
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Got a bit inspired when i read this post(got my new wsm 22" yesterday) so i took a strip of aluminium 2mm thick and drilled holes(pita) then used a few rivet´s to seal the deal.

Original brickett ring is 44cm i made this one 33 cm dunno how large the ring is in the 18" wsm.

This is how it looks(havent used it yet)




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//Me
 
Thats basicly what I did except I used SS I agree drilling the holes is a PITA but mine works greatIf I didn't have a welder I would a used rivets like you did . Iam sure yours will work great also .
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What is the charcoal ring in the Weber made from? Steel, I presume?

My fear with Wolgast's aluminum ring is that it may actually melt.

A few years ago for Christmas, I received this doodad that was a cast aluminum Auburn University logo (my alma mater). It mounts to the grill grate and is supposed to allow you to sear the logo onto your steak or burger. My first try didn't work that well, and the doodad was quite messy. I think I dislodged and turned over the grate toward the charcoal with the intention of burning off the crud. When I came back 10 minutes later, there was nothing on the grate but the steel mounting hardware. After the grill cooled, I found lumps of molten metal among the ashes.

Now, I realize that there are different alloys, and some may handle heat better than others, but I think, in general, aluminum is not the appropriate metal to placed in direct contact with a heat source for cooking. This is probably why the only metal on my Weber kettle grills are the legs.
 
I used it over an 8 hour cook so far and it havent had any probs.

The melting point for aluminium is 933,47 K (660,33 °C) so its not really a problem i guess.

And the 2mm with the cold air from vents will do the trick but if i have any problem i will let u all know.
 
The melting point for aluminium is 933,47 K (660,33 °C) so its not really a problem i guess.
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I've had hd foil burn when I've used it to make a pouch for wood chips. Your aluminium is a little thicker than hd foil, and probably won't burn so easily but I'd prefer to use non-galvanized expanded steel.

-Mark.
 
I would think the ring from an 18" WSM would work real well. However, I would be with the fill the ring, shut it down when you're done, salvage what's left group. That's what I do with my 18". It's rare that I'm not bringing over some coal from the previous cook.
 
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