Mac Mayhew
TVWBB Member
I've owned a 18.5 WSM since the newer versions have come out with the thermometer a few years ago. I absolutely love the thing and have used it fairly extensively since I got it.
Like others have said, the much larger water pan has been problematic on longer cooks, as it impedes access to charcoal and/or wood when filling up the charcoal chamber. I have found that with longer cooks the Brinkmann pan works much better. For shorter cooks, I continue to use the stock Weber pan, as the quality of construction is much better.
My owner's manual (yes, I recognize that the manual really isn't necessary) clearly indicates that Weber suggests 200 briquettes (or basically full) for things like pork shoulder, which obviously requires many hours. However, the newer manuals recommends only 100 briquettes, which to me, means there is no way you are going to finish the cook without adding charcoal, even if you start via the Minion method.
Perhaps I'm reading into this too much, but it seems that Weber recognizes that the water pan is a problem, so they decreased the receommended amount of charcoal to compensate for the lack of clearance. To me, this indicates that if we are hoping for Weber to redo the new 18.5 water pan, we'll be waiting a long time. It doesn't appear that Weber is planning on making any changes to the pan.
Anyone else have thoughts about this? Or am I overanalyzing this thing too much?
Like others have said, the much larger water pan has been problematic on longer cooks, as it impedes access to charcoal and/or wood when filling up the charcoal chamber. I have found that with longer cooks the Brinkmann pan works much better. For shorter cooks, I continue to use the stock Weber pan, as the quality of construction is much better.
My owner's manual (yes, I recognize that the manual really isn't necessary) clearly indicates that Weber suggests 200 briquettes (or basically full) for things like pork shoulder, which obviously requires many hours. However, the newer manuals recommends only 100 briquettes, which to me, means there is no way you are going to finish the cook without adding charcoal, even if you start via the Minion method.
Perhaps I'm reading into this too much, but it seems that Weber recognizes that the water pan is a problem, so they decreased the receommended amount of charcoal to compensate for the lack of clearance. To me, this indicates that if we are hoping for Weber to redo the new 18.5 water pan, we'll be waiting a long time. It doesn't appear that Weber is planning on making any changes to the pan.
Anyone else have thoughts about this? Or am I overanalyzing this thing too much?