Shooting for that LOOOONG Smoke!


 
M

MGordon

New member
First time caller, long time listener. Thanks much for all the advice on this board. Been very helpful and my family appreciates the fantastic food that has come out of the recommendations here. I have a WSM 22.5. Got it for Father’s Day in June and I’ve used it about 15 times now. I love it. Done three overnight smokes that turned out great. The thing is, I can’t seem to get more than 8-9 hours of consistent temp. I read on these boards people talking about 12-15, even 20 hours of even temp, and I don’t see how that’s possible. Here’s my basic setup.

Full Minion with a hole in the middle, packed as high as I can. I use your standard KBB. I'm in North Jersey but colder temps don't seem to matter as long as it's above freezing.
8-10 coals in a chimney starter
Wood is buried in coals and also on top
Pan: Here’s is where I’ve experimented, but nothing gets me a real long burn. I’ve done empty pan, filled pan, foiled pan, foiled pan filled with hot water, foiled pan ½ filled, etc. Only thing for me is that a full pan gives me lower temps but eats fuel faster.
I drop the starter coals in and assemble the cooker, all vents wide open.
When she hits 180 I close two bottom vents completely, and the third closed to just 1/3 open. Top vent stays full open. Always has, as I was told that should stay open always.
When it hits 230 I drop the meat in, close it up, and never open it again. I have a dual remote thermo to track food and wsm temps.
Depending upon the pan setup, it sits around 240 or 260 for about 7-8 solid hours and then starts to drop.

Any suggestions? Could it be oxygen coming through the door and I need one of those gaskets? Again, I appreciate the advice.
 
I'm no pro but it is my assumption that when others say they get 15 hours that doesn't necessarily mean they don't need to stoke the coals. Your experiments seem good but have you tried keeping all 3 intake vents open, and just a sliver? Have you tried no hole in middle and scattering your 8-10 coals across the bed?

This could be my imagination but I drop handfuls of kbb and tightly compact them; early-on I merely dumped them from the bag until the ring was full. I'm inclined to say I get a longer burn by tightly compacting them.

This may also not be good advice but if I were attempting to rule-out an issue with my access door I, personally, would buy a roll of high-temp aluminum tape from Lowes or elsewhere and seal the edges and try that with a session before I added a gasket.

As a side note, while I have read what you also read, I do sometimes choke down my exhaust vent a certain degree.

Good luck!
 
I don't think the issue is air getting in through the cracks. That would translate to higher temps. It sounds like you're getting a nice, steady burn and simply using up the fuel in the process.

As you've discovered, water in the pan will eat through fuel a lot quicker since it's sucking up a lot of the heat turning that water to steam. If you can maintain steady temps without the water, go dry and save the fuel. Foiled/not-foiled is just a choice to make clean-up easier.

It sounds like you're doing everything according to conventional wisdom. Bottom vents adjusted to maintain low heat. Top vent open. Lit charcoal added to a hole in the middle.

Wind can pull heat from the exterior wall and result in faster fuel burn. Some kind of wind break might help. The big daddy WSM does have more exterior surface area than the two smaller ones and that will result in more heat going through the side walls. An insulating blanket would help with that. A welding blanket would likely be the safest approach but they're a bit expensive if you don't already have one lying around. OTOH, if it saves you 25% on charcoal it would pay for itself fairly quickly. Harbor Freight had one for about $40. No idea if that's high or low. It was more than I wanted to pay, though, so I'm still smoking bareback.

A while back I got a cheap infrared thermometer and had fun taking the temperature of all kinds of things. I noticed the temp of the aluminum door on the WSM was significantly warmer than the side walls. Some extra insulation on the door would cut down on heat loss.

A crazy idea just struck. You can buy aluminum flashing at any hardware store. Get about 7 feet of 24" flashing. Roll it into a cylinder around the WSM and secure the ends with binder clips or spring clamps. Prop it up on blocks to allow air flow underneath. That should block the wind and also provide a bit of insulation while not being any kind of fire hazard. You'd have to take it off to tend the fire but it doesn't sound like you spend a lot of time messing with that so it shouldn't be a huge issue.
 
I've gotten a 24 hr burn before but that was in the heat of summer (I'm talking 100 degrees plus) and that makes a huge difference. It was also using the older formulation of Kingsford Charcoal. You might just have to go tweak the vents. It could be that the ash is clumping up for whatever reason and blocking airflow. You can just tap the leg with something and hopefully it shakes that ash loose. I also don't do a full hole in the middle to start my minion. I just make a little divot and pile 12 to 15 lit coals in it. If it's colder I might start with 20.
 
fwiw - Harbor Freight welding blankets are made with fiberglass. Not sure if any "slivers" would get in the cooker, but they sure can get in your skin.
 
I think it's just the nature of the beast, the big guy is a fuel hog. You would think that all things would be equal, a full ring on a 18.5" WSM would give you the same times as a full ring on the 22.5" WSM and pretty close to the same temps.
My last overnighter I did was cold ( mid Feb) and I started with hot water in the pan and had an 18# brisket on at 11pm.
Filled the ring and stated with a 1/4 chimney of lit. 7 am I had to reload as most of the fuel was spent ( regular KBB ) I emptied the remainder of an 18# bag in and that got me to about noon.
Fire was spent again but it was time to foil so I finished in the oven. 18# in 13 hrs give or take seems like alot to me vs my 18.5" WSM.
I'm thinking on switching to a denser fuel for the big guy.

Tim
 
If your temps are steady you don't need the gasket. Are you burning all the charcoal or is the temp dropping with coal still in the basket. Ash builds up on the coals and can cause temp to drop. I start tapping on the legs after 4 hours to get the ash to fall. I still only get about 8 hours on a full load of KBB cooking at 250 to 275 on my 22.5. The big guy is a charcoal hog . :wsm:
 
8 hours at 250 seems to be the most I can get out of my 22.5. In the summer, that is. For my next brisket I'm thinking of trying the long burning Kingsford...
 
Robert-R said:
fwiw - Harbor Freight welding blankets are made with fiberglass. Not sure if any "slivers" would get in the cooker, but they sure can get in your skin.
Click to expand...

I've been using one for more than a couple of years without any problems. Any "slivers" can be cut off or taped up.
 
MGordon said:
Depending upon the pan setup, it sits around 240 or 260 for about 7-8 solid hours and then starts to drop.
Click to expand...

I'm assuming that it will drop after the 8th hour if you leave the bottom vents alone. Does it continue to drop even while opening the vents up?
 
Ive been able to maintain a constant 265*-275* for 10 hours+ in my 22.5. I foil my water pan, and cram as much coal as I can get in the charcoal ring. I go against conventional wisdom in that when I load up my Weber chimney for my lit coals, I fill it 3/4 full. Sitting around waiting for 8-10 coals to do heat up the smoker took way to long for my liking. I pour the hot coals all over the unlit, and let the big dog eat!! I'm up to temp and running in about 30-40 minutes tops. As others have mentioned, try leaving all 3 bottom vents open just a little and see if that helps. Also, at about the 6 hour mark try tapping each leg of your smoker. Not hard enough to damage it, just hard enough to knock off any ash build up that may have formed on or around your coals.
Good
Ice,
Tim
 
Very interesting and helpful posts. Thank you all so much. For the most part, it almost sounds like I’m getting the best I can. Good to know it’s probably not an oxygen issue. I like my WSM the way it is.
It didn’t occur to me that I might be smothering the fire. If I recall correctly, the coals look pretty spent by the 8 hour mark. But I will experiment with three things:
1. Packing the coal tightly (I usually just pour it in and I’m done).
2. Leaving three vents open a sliver instead of one.
3. Tapping legs to remove ash when it starts to drop.
I used reflectix wrapping in my Dec 30 overnight smoke and just created a tube all the way around the smoker with a few inches airspace. It made a big difference compared to my previous cold test without the tube. I may try using it in the summer too.
Thanks all.
 
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