Alexa RnQ
is One Chatty Farker
- Joined
- Sep 12, 2007
For what it's worth, we've cooked on (and won with) WSMs that came directly out of the box at the contest. The porcelain is non-porous, so seasoning isn't an issue. You will find that the WSM's joints are a little leakier until gunk builds up, but it's not a major problem.
Hats off to you cooking in the snow! The one issue with the WSM is its lack of insulation; any wind will steal the little bubble of heat that develops around it. If you'd like to try a jacket for it instead of walling off the gazebo, the big hardware stores carry rolls of stuff that's essentially bubblewrap coated with mylar on both sides. Cheap, lightweight, easy to trim into a cylinder just the right height to shield your cooker (cut generously enough so that it doesn't wrap tight to the sides of the cooker, to avoid scorching/melting). You can even buy stick-on velcro to keep the edges of the jacket secured to itself.
Congratulations on your new cooker! You're going to love that thing. Hundreds of cooks and two full sets of them later, we still do.
Hats off to you cooking in the snow! The one issue with the WSM is its lack of insulation; any wind will steal the little bubble of heat that develops around it. If you'd like to try a jacket for it instead of walling off the gazebo, the big hardware stores carry rolls of stuff that's essentially bubblewrap coated with mylar on both sides. Cheap, lightweight, easy to trim into a cylinder just the right height to shield your cooker (cut generously enough so that it doesn't wrap tight to the sides of the cooker, to avoid scorching/melting). You can even buy stick-on velcro to keep the edges of the jacket secured to itself.
Congratulations on your new cooker! You're going to love that thing. Hundreds of cooks and two full sets of them later, we still do.