Mike in Roseville
TVWBB Fan
I have had every size over the years and they all have their place. I currently have a 22WSM at home and an 18WSM up at the cabin. My dad and brother both have 18WSMs. They are great cookers!
Worth it?
- Thread starter GwenR
- Start date
Richard Garcia
TVWBB All-Star
I bought my WSM 18" "Classic" new off Amazon in the year 2008 which was delivered here in the country of Costa Rica in perfect condition. Although this WSM has served me well over these last 10 years or so I now primarily use my Weber Performer Deluxe(WPD) fitted with a SlowNSear unit for most of my grilling and smoking needs. I find the WPD fitted with the SlowNSear Unit more convenient due to the propane charcoal ignitor and ample metal table space.
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Luke - ChargerF18
New member
New to the WSM family and smoking. Hoping to be getting a 18.5" WSM in the near future. But, was curious, if you can do 3 BBR on the top rack, could you do 3 BBR on the bottom rack? Or atleast 2 for a total of 5-6. Very excited to get my WSM and start smoking!!I do three slabs of baby back ribs flat in the 18.5" WSM, just trim off the scrawny end bone.
https://www.virtualweberbullet.com/basic-baby-back-ribs/
Luke - ChargerF18
New member
Have any pics or tips on doing 7-8 racks of ribs on the 18.5"? Thanks!!I know this was resolved but I also agree the 18.5” is perfect. Literally the only thing you can’t do easily is lay ribs flat without trimming but that doesn’t bother me. I’m amazed at how often people tout the 22” given how many times I’m also reading about ppl admitting the 22” is too big and heavy to move all the time.
All that aside I can do probably 7-8 racks of ribs on an 18.5” which is insanity for me. I guess some of you might cook for 50 but I don’t like people enough to deal with that
On the bottom grate, you need to keep the ribs inside the diameter of the water pan. The heat coming up and around the edge of the pan will overlook anything beyond the edge of the pan.
https://www.virtualweberbullet.com/pork-rib-selection/#capacity
I like this little Charbroil rack (not available on Amazon right now): https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B001T9N07Q/tvwb-20
Using the Charbroil rack shown above one of our old members Stogie would load up 5 racks of ribs cut in half, and you could do another 5 on the bottom for 10 racks total.
“These are 1/2 racks of loin backs from Sam’s Club. You can fit 7 in the rack itself. Then you can place 2 more on each side and 1 laid across the top. That is 10, 1/2 racks which is 5 full racks of ribs. You can duplicate this on the bottom rack.”
Here’s one of his photos and a link to his page.
www.thebbqguru.net
These are rolled whole baby back slabs. Probably three more on the bottom.
There’s also this rib rack.
You can also consider adding more cooking grates.
www.virtualweberbullet.com
https://www.virtualweberbullet.com/pork-rib-selection/#capacity
I like this little Charbroil rack (not available on Amazon right now): https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B001T9N07Q/tvwb-20
Using the Charbroil rack shown above one of our old members Stogie would load up 5 racks of ribs cut in half, and you could do another 5 on the bottom for 10 racks total.
“These are 1/2 racks of loin backs from Sam’s Club. You can fit 7 in the rack itself. Then you can place 2 more on each side and 1 laid across the top. That is 10, 1/2 racks which is 5 full racks of ribs. You can duplicate this on the bottom rack.”
Here’s one of his photos and a link to his page.
BBQ Equipment - Award Winning BBQ and Family Recipes
Here are some pics of my backyard and the various grills/smokers I use. Currently I have a Weber gasser, 2 Weber Smoky Mountains and a Brinkmann Professional charcoal grill. They all serve their purpose and are used for a specific type of cooking. I also use a Dutch Oven table and the BBQ...
www.thebbqguru.net
These are rolled whole baby back slabs. Probably three more on the bottom.
There’s also this rib rack.
You can also consider adding more cooking grates.
Increasing Cooking Capacity - The Virtual Weber Bullet
Several approaches to increasing cooking capacity are shown for the Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker, including a variety of grate additions and modifications.
www.virtualweberbullet.com
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Silly question, but I assume the water pan is in there which concentrates the heat around the perimeter. So how do you prevent the meat at the circumference from getting overcooked?I do three slabs of baby back ribs flat in the 18.5" WSM, just trim off the scrawny end bone.
https://www.virtualweberbullet.com/basic-baby-back-ribs/
Yes, water pan is in there. The problem you’re suggesting is indeed a problem on the bottom grate, you need to keep meat on the bottom grate within the perimeter of the pan. The effect is not so much on the top grate.
Same ribs after cooking three hours, edges aren’t terribly overcooked.
After cooking.
Jim C in Denver
TVWBB All-Star
Have any pics or tips on doing 7-8 racks of ribs on the 18.5"? Thanks!!
Another high volume rib option for the WSM 18 is to hang the ribs vertically PBC/UDS style.
I took my new Hunsaker hanging rack out for a test drive yesterday. I did three full size St. Louis slabs with good results for the shake down cruise. Six would fit easily and you probably could fit 9 in a pinch.
The ends of the slabs have about 4-5 inches of clearance above the coals. The very bottom ribs get crusty burnt end-ish, and the rest were fine. You could trim the ends or (since there's a lot of hanging space) hang half slabs instead. Next time I might try using my FireDial placed down on the charcoal chamber ring as a difuser plate.
I cooked at 275-285F, no water or pan, no wrap and was done at the four hour mark. It is very simple and convenient to get the hooked slabs in and out of the cooker (combo crescent wrench works great).
Obviously, hanging doesn't work as simple/easy if you want to use water or wrap.
Another high volume rib option for the WSM 18 is to hang the ribs vertically PBC/UDS style.
I took my new Hunsaker hanging rack out for a test drive yesterday. I did three full size St. Louis slabs with good results for the shake down cruise. Six would fit easily and you probably could fit 9 in a pinch.
The ends of the slabs have about 4-5 inches of clearance above the coals. The very bottom ribs get crusty burnt end-ish, and the rest were fine. You could trim the ends or (since there's a lot of hanging space) hang half slabs instead. Next time I might try using my FireDial placed down on the charcoal chamber ring as a difuser plate.
I cooked at 275-285F, no water or pan, no wrap and was done at the four hour mark. It is very simple and convenient to get the hooked slabs in and out of the cooker (combo crescent wrench works great).
Obviously, hanging doesn't work as simple/easy if you want to use water or wrap.
I definitely don't have pics but I know if you use the rib ring as Chris posted that'll get you up to 6 on the top rack alone which then gives space for 2-3 on the lower rack depending how you set it up. If you use the "crappy" $16 weber rib rack, as I use, you can do 4 racks up top (3 uncut 1 cut in half). I'm actually ordering a 2nd soon to try and see if i can get the stability to get a true 5 racks up top. That's still more than i'd even cook but if it fits then it fits.
Timothy F. Lewis
TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
I don’t want to share with that many people!
Hey, get off my lawn!
Hey, get off my lawn!
Kevin L (NKY)
TVWBB Diamond Member
I knew nothing about smokers or smoked foods except I loved the flavors. As every BBQ place had a little different twist to there flavors. So I found this site and was very impressed with Chris's articles and step by step how to's i said I could do this. So I started looking at charcoal grills as all I had cooked on was a gas Weber. Craigslist had several and after reading the fourms I set my sights on a Performer gas assit if possible. I got one washed it up and started cooking, and I tried everything hot fast burgers to low and slow pork butts. Then I wanted to do a smoke while I was cooking other foods, so after reading more about this WSM I was back to Craigslist and found a very good used unit.
The WSM opened up all these new possibilities and trying and testing and learning was so interesting and the food was great, my wife and I would try new smoke and rub combos it was so cool to be able to adjust the smoke level and spices to our and freinds liking.
The WSM is a very forgiving cooker, great for a beginner, and matched with Chris's site, and all of these great folks there is a world of knowledge and recipes, experience levels from many parts of the world mainly and North ,South America. With people using photos to show you the process . And these folks tell you the great and not so great cooks there mistakes so you can avoid them.
This is a great family here for learning and sharing and also making freinds.
Thank you Chris for all you do my hat is off to you.
And thank you for letting join and learn I tell so many about this site.
Now time to make something for lunch.
The WSM opened up all these new possibilities and trying and testing and learning was so interesting and the food was great, my wife and I would try new smoke and rub combos it was so cool to be able to adjust the smoke level and spices to our and freinds liking.
The WSM is a very forgiving cooker, great for a beginner, and matched with Chris's site, and all of these great folks there is a world of knowledge and recipes, experience levels from many parts of the world mainly and North ,South America. With people using photos to show you the process . And these folks tell you the great and not so great cooks there mistakes so you can avoid them.
This is a great family here for learning and sharing and also making freinds.
Thank you Chris for all you do my hat is off to you.
And thank you for letting join and learn I tell so many about this site.
Now time to make something for lunch.