mini wsm ?

I started mine with a number of 1" holes and wasn't happy with the heat transfer.
Ended up cutting four sections out and left it looking like this. Much better.
(Please ignore the crud. It's since been cleaned up)

I've built two of them and I cut out the whole bottom and use a foil wrapped round terracotta tray as a diffuser and it works great.

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=113381

Yep, last time I cooked in the mini I cooked two slabs of ribs on the top grate and a butt on the bottom grate. I didn't check for temp variations. I was just concerned that the temp where the ribs were didn't get over 275F. But, I would guess that the top grate would be hotter than the bottom because heat rises.

growit said:

Hey guys I'm about to build two mini wsm. One as a gift for my brother. I was wondering whats the best way to deal with bottom. Drill a bunch of holes,cut out large area's, or cut out the whole bottom. Thanks.

Click to expand...

I made a series of relief cuts from the center point hole to the edge of the circle cut-line. Then I cut along the circle line removing the little wedges as I went. De-burring and sanding the edge is really easy since the material is aluminum. Spend plenty of time sanding it smooth... it makes clean-up much easier, the grease will just wipe away. HERE is the link to my mod page, if you get even one tip it will be worth a look. The best advice is to measure twice, and cut once.