Mini WSM Appreciation Thread

Howdy All;

Getting set to move South for the Winter...

For those of you that mentioned your courious about the thicker pot...

I have a 1/8" on each side of the regular SJ cooking grates so the bolt heads are on the inside with a thin washer for the grates to rest upon.
The Craycort Grill set-up consists of a ring that holds 2 halves of the grate.
The ring itself will fit to the bottom minus about an inch. I choose to NOT use it as I'm not sure how much it will expand so it sit on the bench while the 2 halves work and just fit just fine in the bottom of the pot.

Not having a camera and being the owner of the World's dumbest phone (on purpose, don't need the extra charges), .... handicaps me so I hope that my written explanations suffice if not ask questions and I'll try to answer so the fog lifts...

hank

getting ready to build mine tomorrow. Are you all using stainless steel hardware for the grate holders? If so, does HD have SS hardware? Also, are there other step by steps other than the virtualweberbullet site?

Thanks

Nice camera you got there IQ!

IrondeQuer said:

The end result...

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sparky66 said:

getting ready to build mine tomorrow. Are you all using stainless steel hardware for the grate holders? If so, does HD have SS hardware? Also, are there other step by steps other than the virtualweberbullet site?

Thanks

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HD should have SS hardware,also Lowes and Ace hardware will have it.

I would guess if you searched here you would get a lot of hits.

1911Ron said:

HD should have SS hardware,also Lowes and Ace hardware will have it.

I would guess if you searched here you would get a lot of hits.

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Thanks...yeah, I just googled it...duh. I know they are really easy to make.

tbutts said:

I just love this little cooker it has been getting a lot of use lately.
View attachment 71144View attachment 71145

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Forget the WSM mini. I want some info and more pictures of that yellow alien in the corner. Yellow was my favorite when I was a kid. Maybe I should paint my WSM Mini yellow.

I'm getting ready to build mine and am wondering what most people find to be effective when cutting out the tamale pot bottom. Cutting out one big hole or drilling multiple holes? Also, clay pot or other?

Thanks

I cut mine out. This gives you the option to use the steamer insert as a difuser, which will allow you to get higher heats. Or you can put a grate in place and put a terracotta saucer on the grate which will help keep a lower temperature.

I have run my mini with the terracotta saucer and with the tamale insert. I prefer the tamale insert and just have a pie tin for a drip pan and control the temperatures via the dampers.

sparky66 said:

I'm getting ready to build mine and am wondering what most people find to be effective when cutting out the tamale pot bottom. Cutting out one big hole or drilling multiple holes? Also, clay pot or other?

Thanks

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I drilled a 1/2 inch hole and then used my jigsaw with a metal blade and it took about 30 seconds / Seriously :clap2::shocked::thumb:

I just love this little cooker it has been getting a lot of use lately.

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Forget the WSM mini. I want some info and more pictures of that yellow alien in the corner. Yellow was my favorite when I was a kid. Maybe I should paint my WSM Mini yellow.

The yellow cooker in the corner is smokezilla. A 120 gallon propane tank I built last year. It has 3 sliding shelves plus a shelf for a heat diverter and charcoal basket in the bottom My UDS is bride of smokezilla and the mini is spawn of smokezilla.

tbutts said:

<br />
<br />
Forget the WSM mini. I want some info and more pictures of that yellow alien in the corner. Yellow was my favorite when I was a kid. Maybe I should paint my WSM Mini yellow.
View attachment 71277
The yellow cooker in the corner is smokezilla. A 120 gallon propane tank I built last year. It has 3 sliding shelves plus a shelf for a heat diverter and charcoal basket in the bottom My UDS is bride of smokezilla and the mini is spawn of smokezilla.

Click to expand...

The paint job is black and gold for my Missouri tigers.

sparky66 said:

I'm getting ready to build mine and am wondering what most people find to be effective when cutting out the tamale pot bottom. Cutting out one big hole or drilling multiple holes? Also, clay pot or other?

Thanks

Click to expand...

I cut out the bottom with some wiss snips and sized an expanded metal charcoal basket to just fit the hole allowing mounding of charcoal in the ring. I never had used a clay saucer in my WSM but my mini WSM with clay saucer convinced me to convert.

My Weber Smoke'r' Joe mini WSM

Here's my build. Finished it a few weeks ago, just now getting to posting the pix. I opted to cut out the lid and attach it to the bottom of the tamale pot. Glad I did that, because the day after my first smoke (2 racks of ribs... delish!), I picked up a CL 16 gallon steel drum . The mini w/ the lid attached rests perfectly on top of it. Extended mUDS?

It was a fun build, and definitely worth it.

I have been smoking on one of these little guys and they are truly amazing. I am very new to smoking, only four smokes ever and the last two were on this little guy and the other two on a Brinkmann electric (Don't shoot me for using electric, I didn't know any better! LOL) While my pastrami turned into leather and the spare ribs were too fall off the bone tender, it wasn't the smokers fault. It was all due to my huge learning curve on smoking low and slow vs. grilling meat hot and fast.

These things are so darn cheap too! Amazing how you can make a little smoker for that price. Anyone else think that you could probably make barbecue as good on this thing as you could a $2000 large smoker?

Anywho, here a picture of mine. I added one of the Weber kettle grille utensil holders to the side and I only had to reshape it to fit the smaller circumference of the the tamale pot. I currently don't have a lower rack, only the one that is about 3 1/2" from the top of the pot. My question is though, if I rest a grate on top of the 12" terra cotta saucer, will the saucer radiate a lot of heat to the meat on the lower grate compared to the top grate? Seems like it being so close to the terra cotta would make it cook a whole lot faster. Anyone had problems with this happening and the meat cooking too fast down low when cooking exactly the same cuts? I guess this wouldn't be a problem if your cooking a chicken and a pork butt, but I don't usually mix cuts like that.

My pot only has holes drilled in it exactly like the steamer insert has that comes with the pot, not the entire bottom cut out, and my saucer is sitting on that elevated about 1/2" off the bottom holes with a little wire stand.



BTW, the smoker temp gauge is from a Masterbuilt smoker that was on display at Bass Pro. I asked the guy if they had any extra therms and he unscrewed it and gave it to me. He said the displays always end up getting chunked or sent back to the manufacturer when they quit selling them so take it for free. Thought that was nice, and hopefully the therms that come with Masterbuilt's square smokers are accurate and reliable.

The handle on the lower vent is a handle off of a cheap Harbor Freight side grinder that I botched for this. It was only $20 and I've had it forever, and if I ever need to use one I can just take the handle off my Makita since it fits the threads. No reason to ever use the cheap one though when you have a nice Makita on hand. The cheap handle fit right into the hole I drilled so there was no need for a bolt on the backside, and pretty nice since the handle was the metal flange and threads already on it, no mods required.

here is mine

I built this one for my buddy for his first grill/smoker. I was going to just use the drum but then I thought what the heck, cut out the bottom and that way he has to bring the whole thing, and he can use it as a grill or smoker. I painted it black and lime green to match his Jeep. He loves it and now wants me to add another grate so there will be 2

davefan360 said:

I built this one for my buddy for his first grill/smoker. I was going to just use the drum but then I thought what the heck, cut out the bottom and that way he has to bring the whole thing, and he can use it as a grill or smoker. I painted it black and lime green to match his Jeep. He loves it and now wants me to add another grate so there will be 2

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I was looking to make a mini uds, but I couldn't find a small barrel so I switched gears to a mini wsm. Looks like you just combined both of those ideas. Lookin' good!

Here's mine.

Best thread ever!

Best thread ever!

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Hear, hear!

Here's my Smoken Homer: