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WSM observations and questions

VA-Dave

VA-Dave

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Greetings Brethren,

I have one cook under my belt on the WSM and I have a couple of questions.

I started out with an 8 lb. bag of lump and lit it using the minion method. All three bottom vents set at 25% open until the temp reached about 180° (top vent wide open) and then I closed two bottom vents with the 3rd set at about 25% open. Temp settled in around 250° (Dome thermometer) and only fluctuated by about ±20° for the duration of a 5 hour cook with a 13 lb. ham and a foiled water pan.

White smoke poured from every crack and crevice of the WSM (the door I expected) for about 30 minutes before there was no visible smoke at all (I didn't use any smoking wood).

Does that time sound right?

When I went to clean it, I was a little surprised at how much charcoal had been burnt for 5 hours. I'm guessing it's because it isn't seasoned and is pulling air in from the joints (lid, barrel, bowl) of the cooker, but was hoping for feedback from others.

I really did my homework here before I even bought it and let me tell you, she is a solid cooker. I was almost bored not having to fiddle around with it during the cook.

I was going to replace the door with the Cajun Bandit SS one, but I'm not sure I need to now.

Dave
 
That will be normal until you get a few cooks on her. She'll need a few cooks to seal up the cracks with some good gunk! Wait...that sounded woodpilish.
 
Thanks Pat.

Does the door eventually seal up also?

Dave
 
What Pat said.
I tweaked my door a little to get it to seal up better.
My WSM still leaks a bit, but it doesn't affect the cooks at all.
 
Dave,
If it doesn't stop leaking, some of the components (usually the center section) might be out of round. If you don't have temp control issues, and if the fire goes out when you close all of the vents, I wouldn't worry about it. If you have issues, measure all of the components and adjust them accordingly. You can tweak the door a little to get it to fit properly too.
When I fire up a WSM, I open all of the bottom vents 100%. As my dome temp approaches my target (usually at about 220) I shut all three vents down to about 1/3, then tweak as necessary to achieve and hold my desired dome temp.
Congratulations on a successful first cook!
 
Harbormaster said:
Dave,
If it doesn't stop leaking, some of the components (usually the center section) might be out of round. If you don't have temp control issues, and if the fire goes out when you close all of the vents, I wouldn't worry about it. If you have issues, measure all of the components and adjust them accordingly. You can tweak the door a little to get it to fit properly too.
When I fire up a WSM, I open all of the bottom vents 100%. As my dome temp approaches my target (usually at about 220) I shut all three vents down to about 1/3, then tweak as necessary to achieve and hold my desired dome temp.
Congratulations on a successful first cook!
Click to expand...

Thanks Clark.

What had me puzzled was that I was controlling the temp with one vent and at one point it was almost completely closed. I started to suspect it was drawing air in from around the joints.

One more question, do you folks ever have to "give it a kick" to prevent ash build up? I didn't this time, but it was only a 5 hour cook.

Thanks for the feedback.

Dave
 
VA-Dave said:
One more question, do you folks ever have to "give it a kick" to prevent ash build up?
Click to expand...
Depends on the fuel you're using I guess.
Natural products (lump, Royal Oak Chefs Select briqs, Rancher briqs, Stubb's briqs) seem to produce significantly less ash reducing the possibility of ash clogging.
I love my WSMs to much to kick them, but if I have temp issues, I'll poke the coals through the access door to knock some of the ash off.
 
Harbormaster said:
I love my WSMs to much to kick them, but if I have temp issues, I'll poke the coals through the access door to knock some of the ash off.
Click to expand...

Oh my gosh, I just noticed your sig, you have 10 WSM's??????????

I am humbled sir.

Dave
 
Harbormaster said:
As my dome temp approaches my target (usually at about 220) I shut all three vents down to about 1/3, then tweak as necessary to achieve and hold my desired dome temp.
Click to expand...

Is there a difference in temp control, if you shut down 2 vents and just use one?
 
VA-Dave said:
One more question, do you folks ever have to "give it a kick" to prevent ash build up?
Click to expand...
I use a scrap of wood to hit the legs every one in a while during a cook.

JS-TX said:
Is there a difference in temp control, if you shut down 2 vents and just use one?
Click to expand...
I generally keep two vents closed and control the temperature with the third vent.
 
JS-TX said:
Is there a difference in temp control, if you shut down 2 vents and just use one?
Click to expand...

Probably only difference is that the charcoal in the area where the vent is open may burn before the coals in the area where the vents are closed. I notice this when I use my Auber. Where the fan is will burn quicker.
 
Cayman1 said:
Probably only difference is that the charcoal in the area where the vent is open may burn before the coals in the area where the vents are closed. I notice this when I use my Auber. Where the fan is will burn quicker.
Click to expand...

Well I've read that a lot of these cabinet smoker guys will light their fire on the opposite side of their ATC, so the fire will burn towards it. I kinda do the same with my WSM. I put a couple starter cubes just off center of my lump stack and let it burn towards my IQ. It seems to work ok.
 
Leaks above your fire level are less of a problem than leaky bottom vents. Be careful adjusting the bottom vents, they bend easier than I think they should. Convection will draw air through leaky bottom vents, and run your temperatures up.

Since I now use an iQue 110, I sealed my other two bottom vents up.

CD
 
At first I struggled to get my temps under control with the WSM, but the more grease that built up inside to create a seal has helped it maintain a consistent burn.

A few observations I have noticed:

* On very hot days the WSM can be difficult to keep at around 225 - 250. Good use of the water pan helps here.
* Always crack open the bottom vents equally - if you have one of the vents closed more than the other the temp seems more complex to control.
* I usually control the top vent first when adjusting temp and then the bottom ones next - some folks leave the top vent open all the time but I have struggled to keep my temp under control there.

On my last cook I made the mistake of throwing some big chunks of wood in there at first and this caused some flare ups which adjusted my temps, as you can see in my cook log at http://www.bbqpad.com/85/ - I think in the future I will break my wood up so there is less concentrated heat on each block.
 
Mine leaks a little smoke around the door and at various spots in the joints, but it is still relatively new (4 cooks). If I am using the IQUE and keeping the bottom vents closed, I can close the top vent and knock the temp down like a rock, so I'm not real concerned about a few small leaks. When I'm not using it, I keep a bungee cord around the door to hold it against the side of the cooker and it seems to be getting better in that regard. The big one uses a lot of fuel compared to the 18.5 I had before.
 
JS-TX said:
Is there a difference in temp control, if you shut down 2 vents and just use one?
Click to expand...

Cayman1 said:
Probably only difference is that the charcoal in the area where the vent is open may burn before the coals in the area where the vents are closed.
Click to expand...

That's how I was going to answer.
Of course, there are times when I have 2 vents closed and the third open jus a little bit.
 
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