Some Mechanical Questions


 
E

Eugene A

TVWBB Fan
Hello, Everyone:

I cruising through the learning stages of how to use my WSM.

The longest cook I've done so far has been for 11 hours. On my wish list is an ATC for the longer overnight cooks, if I ever get there.

Specifically for the WSM, if/when it comes time to add more fuel, mechanically how is that done? Before anyone gets cute, I understand opening the side door and adding more coals. But it seems awkward to have a chimney full of coals, kneeling down and trying to pour it through the opening beneath the water pan, and then trying to spread them around the coal grate inside the ring. Do you lift the top section off to add another full ring of unlit coals as if you were starting at the beginning? Do you just add more unlit coals through the side door and spread them around the lit coals? Do you add more lit coals? And how much more fuel do you add? Do you make the determination based on how long the meat has been cooking and/or the internal temp at that time? If everything is set up right, I figure that adding more fuel in the middle of a cook won't take much time, and there won't be much loss of cooker temp or food temp that can't be recovered quickly.

I'm figuring that the answers are probably simple, and that maybe this will be another "duh" moment for me. Consider that you're talking to someone who tried pulling BX cable out of the junction box because the little piece of wire sticking out was to short to make a connection. (That was WAAAY back when I was a first-time homeowner.)

Thanks for the info.
 
I think you can get a longer cook by loading up the unlit charcoal in the ring. I've done overnights without an ATC this way.

You can do the "hot squat" by removing the lid, food and center section to tend your fire. However, I'd be VERY careful if you chose to do this.
 
I am about 20 or so cooks in to using my WSM so not an expert by any means. I use the minion method and with that method i have only had to add coals on 10+ hour cooks once and it was pretty cold and windy out. When i did add the coals, I didn't use lit coals I opened the door and tossed a few unlit briquettes in there and moved them around with a BBQ fork i have purely for this purpose (i never use a fork on the grill, not a fan of puncturing the meat). Seems to work well for me. The other thing to take a look at is the ash build up in your coal area. I use kingsford as of right now and there are times where the ash gets heavy enough that it will in essence put out your fire. A few quick taps of the legs or open the door, yeah i know you lose heat, and stir the coals around a little bit to allow more air flow to the existing coals. Usually that gets the fire back going for me. Just be conscious of the ash flying around as you don't want it to get on your food. The few times i have had to do this, my meat was alrady wrapped so i wasn't too concerned.
 
I use a folding camp shovel to add unlit coal to mine, especially the 22".
I don't use water, so a hot squat with the 18" is a better option if I need more than a couple shovels full added.
I hot squat the 14", it's light and there isn't a whole lot of room to add charcoal through the door.
 
First off, assuming we're talking about an 18.5", I'd HIGHLY RECOMMEND getting a Brinkman water smoker charcoal pan to replace the Weber water pan. You can fit at least another layer of charcoal and wood in the ring and it holds almost the same amount of water. The reason is that the bottom is flat, and this is handy if you need to sit the pan down without it rolling over. Speaking of water, filling with hot or even boiling will help get the cooker up to temp quicker and conserve fuel. By the way, since the Brinkman pan is a little farther from the fire, it's a little less likely to boil to the detriment of your smoke flavor and won't need refilling any more than the Weber pan. Cost saving is the only reason Weber has used the Smokey Joe lid (pre '09) and now the Smokey Joe bowl for the water pan. They changed pans in '09 because of complaints that the old one didn't hold enough water.

Only things to add to Dwaine and Jay's points is that it's smart to do a hotsquat refuel BEFORE refilling the water pan, for obvious reasons. Also, shut the top vent when knocking ash off briquettes, but don't forget to open it back up when you replace the door. The best thing about the 18.5" wsm is fuel efficiency though, and even with four butts and using water, I only have to refuel if I use cheap lump. Only other caveat I can think of is that my cooker is usually well protected from the wind.
 
Ok i don't know what WSM you have. 22.5 or smaller. I have the 22.5 and i go for the hot squat. When i have to refill usually i don't have much water in so it is not so heavy. I close all the bottom vents 5'/10' in advance then i pull up the lid and the center section and put back the lid immediately on. then i start to arrange the leftover briqs. Then i pour in 1 or 2 chimneys of new briqs depending on how long it will go to end the cooking session.
Then i set up the WSM and open the bottom vents. It works good in my opinion. Remember You have to be as fast as possible so prepare everything in advance!
 
Thank you, everyone, for the advice. I should have told everyone up front that I have the 18.5" WSM.

On my 11 hour cook the coals (KComp) were almost at the end, and the temp was starting to drop but still in the acceptable range. The meat hit temp a few minutes after I added some unlit coals; so, I don't know if the additional fuel really did anything. And I learned a few things about KComp.

Whenever I use my WSM I routinely tap the legs with a rubber mallet to knock the ash down about once an hour or so after the first hour. I like the idea of changing out the water pan. In all my cooks the water didn't seem to drop by more than 1/3-1/2; so, maybe next time I'll use a little less water or just use the smaller pan.

When I did a test burn using lump I had to do a variation of the hot squat (empty water pan) because the coals weren't quite lit -- I didn't allow enough time for the starter coals to ash over when I poured them into the basket.

I have to say...all this practical advice is a great supplement to the user manual. Too bad Weber doesn't encourage customers to consult the user manual AND user groups like this one.
 
I use the minion method and have never had to add coals. Even when I cooked a brisket for about nine hours, I let the smoker keep going and it still kept good temps for around 15 hours. I don't use water in the pan and use Kingsford. I guess if I did have to add charcoal, I would just throw some unlit on top of the lit.

Wayne
 
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