I first want to thank everybody that contributes to the TVWBB forums especially the Mini WSM subforum. The information shared here is invaluable and has helped me immensely in the success of my cooks.
I wanted to ask at what temp does your Mini WSM prefer to settle at or what is a range that you find easy to control? Secondly what method of lighting your charcoal do you prefer to use to reach those temperatures?
On my first SJS Mini WSM cook I used 12 lit KBB briquettes to initiate the doughnut Minion method. I remember the Mini shooting up to around 275 and it being a bit of a struggle to keep temps down to around 250. I was not using a charcoal ring or vent cover can at the time. On my second cook I used 10 briquettes and through various vent manipulation adjustments found it easier to maintain temps around 250. However I was still adjusting the vents more frequently than I felt I should have had to. The charcoal ring did seem to help keep temps stable but that's also me talking from little experience. On my third cook I dropped the number of lit coals down to 8 and while it took a bit longer to reach temps between 240 and 250 I had to do a lot less vent adjustment to keep them there. I noticed that by using 8 lit coals and keeping the top vent about 3/4 open and the bottom about 1/8 to 1/4 open the temps will settle between 240 and 250, usually between 243 and 246. However I'm smoking a chuck roast today for pulled beef and for the first 1 hour and a half the temps where around 244 but just dropped to and stabilized between 225 and 230. I think some of that may have to do with the fact that I have the top vent around 1/2 open while the bottom vent is about 1/8 open. It did jump up to 235 but seems to be only because I added a few shards of wood a few minutes ago. Perhaps, the top vent 1/2 open and the bottom 1/8 open is a sweet spot for my smoker.
Now for all of my cooks I start with 8 lit coals but am wondering if I cut that down to 6 would it be easier for me to keep stable temps between 230 and 240. Ideally I would like to keep the top vent completely or mostly open as is typically recommended for the WSM but I don't think I would be able to have it settle in at 230 to 240 with 8 lit coals if I did, 6 maybe? Or would it be better to stay with 8 lit coals and just fine tuning my vent settings a bit more?
When you use the doughnut Minion method do you take out all of the briquettes in the middle so you can see the charcoal grate or do you leave a few at the bottom and lay the lit coals on top? I've experimented with both and I feel like my temps are more stable when I have a few unlit coals underneath. Does anybody here simply fill the charcoal basket up and spread the hot coals over it? I'm using smallish shards (not chips) and chunks of wood chopped with a hatchet off of small "logs" of cherry. This stuff is not smooth and even like split firewood logs but more like thick branches and other oddly shaped pieces. It did come from a local wood supplier but it's been minimally processed and I don't have a electric miter saw to cut it up nice and evenly. Do you pack pieces of wood under the coals or do you lay them on top. I've been trying to place them somewhat diagonally so that a portion of the wood is above the coals and a portion beneath. I wasn't sure if simply burying them at the bottom would help them ignite and smolder early enough in the smoke. Since the Mini is in use right now I'm not able to take pics of how my charcoal setup looks.
I only have 1 ET732 so I know what the temps are at my first cooking grate which is about 4.5" down from the lip. The other I lay on the steamer insert indentation and below that at the bottom of the pan sitting on a Weber 7440 charcoal grate is a 9" Noridcware aluminum pie tin wrapped in tin foil. I'm not sure exactly how wide is my lip but I used a 5 gallon bucket to trace the circle, the diameter was approximately 12". Does anybody know what the average temp difference is between the two grates, I'm assuming mostly everybody's cooking grates are around the same location.
Currently I have the ET732 wires coming out of the top vent but has anybody done the notch in the lid? Would it be worth it? Especially seeing how I want to get a second ET732 for the lower cooking grate and it would keep the wires out of the way of anything on the top grate. I don't have an angle grinder (yet) or a Dremel but wouldn't mind spending the money on a Dremel if it did the job cleanly.
Sorry for the wall of text. Thanks again for your help.
I wanted to ask at what temp does your Mini WSM prefer to settle at or what is a range that you find easy to control? Secondly what method of lighting your charcoal do you prefer to use to reach those temperatures?
On my first SJS Mini WSM cook I used 12 lit KBB briquettes to initiate the doughnut Minion method. I remember the Mini shooting up to around 275 and it being a bit of a struggle to keep temps down to around 250. I was not using a charcoal ring or vent cover can at the time. On my second cook I used 10 briquettes and through various vent manipulation adjustments found it easier to maintain temps around 250. However I was still adjusting the vents more frequently than I felt I should have had to. The charcoal ring did seem to help keep temps stable but that's also me talking from little experience. On my third cook I dropped the number of lit coals down to 8 and while it took a bit longer to reach temps between 240 and 250 I had to do a lot less vent adjustment to keep them there. I noticed that by using 8 lit coals and keeping the top vent about 3/4 open and the bottom about 1/8 to 1/4 open the temps will settle between 240 and 250, usually between 243 and 246. However I'm smoking a chuck roast today for pulled beef and for the first 1 hour and a half the temps where around 244 but just dropped to and stabilized between 225 and 230. I think some of that may have to do with the fact that I have the top vent around 1/2 open while the bottom vent is about 1/8 open. It did jump up to 235 but seems to be only because I added a few shards of wood a few minutes ago. Perhaps, the top vent 1/2 open and the bottom 1/8 open is a sweet spot for my smoker.
Now for all of my cooks I start with 8 lit coals but am wondering if I cut that down to 6 would it be easier for me to keep stable temps between 230 and 240. Ideally I would like to keep the top vent completely or mostly open as is typically recommended for the WSM but I don't think I would be able to have it settle in at 230 to 240 with 8 lit coals if I did, 6 maybe? Or would it be better to stay with 8 lit coals and just fine tuning my vent settings a bit more?
When you use the doughnut Minion method do you take out all of the briquettes in the middle so you can see the charcoal grate or do you leave a few at the bottom and lay the lit coals on top? I've experimented with both and I feel like my temps are more stable when I have a few unlit coals underneath. Does anybody here simply fill the charcoal basket up and spread the hot coals over it? I'm using smallish shards (not chips) and chunks of wood chopped with a hatchet off of small "logs" of cherry. This stuff is not smooth and even like split firewood logs but more like thick branches and other oddly shaped pieces. It did come from a local wood supplier but it's been minimally processed and I don't have a electric miter saw to cut it up nice and evenly. Do you pack pieces of wood under the coals or do you lay them on top. I've been trying to place them somewhat diagonally so that a portion of the wood is above the coals and a portion beneath. I wasn't sure if simply burying them at the bottom would help them ignite and smolder early enough in the smoke. Since the Mini is in use right now I'm not able to take pics of how my charcoal setup looks.
I only have 1 ET732 so I know what the temps are at my first cooking grate which is about 4.5" down from the lip. The other I lay on the steamer insert indentation and below that at the bottom of the pan sitting on a Weber 7440 charcoal grate is a 9" Noridcware aluminum pie tin wrapped in tin foil. I'm not sure exactly how wide is my lip but I used a 5 gallon bucket to trace the circle, the diameter was approximately 12". Does anybody know what the average temp difference is between the two grates, I'm assuming mostly everybody's cooking grates are around the same location.
Currently I have the ET732 wires coming out of the top vent but has anybody done the notch in the lid? Would it be worth it? Especially seeing how I want to get a second ET732 for the lower cooking grate and it would keep the wires out of the way of anything on the top grate. I don't have an angle grinder (yet) or a Dremel but wouldn't mind spending the money on a Dremel if it did the job cleanly.
Sorry for the wall of text. Thanks again for your help.
