Set and forget on the 14.5 WSM

[HankB]

I'm happy to report better performance using my little smoker when firing it with lump. Today I smoked some mixed nuts and ran the cooker with Cowboy lump and some hickory, apple and mesquite mixed in for flavor. When I closed it up, I left one bottom vent open. Ten minutes later the lid thermometer was approaching 200 so I put the nuts in. The cooker then stayed over 200°F for about 5 hours with practically no fiddling. At about 1 1/2 hours in, I added a couple more chunks of smoking wood and knocked the ash off the coals. I did not put water in the bowl but we're getting plenty from the sky.  We're getting more than a drizzle. When the nuts were done, temperature was holding so I put some butternut squash in there to smoke that too. The temperature was falling off as that was finishing (deemed done enough, anyway.)

This is not spectacular performance compared to the bigger cookers but IMO entirely satisfactory in the 14.5 WSM. What I particularly like is that it held a reasonable smoking temperature with one bowl vent open for about 5 hours.

[G$]

How many cooks do you have on it Hank?

[HankB]

How many cooks do you have on it Hank?

Three now. First two were both Pepper Stout Beef and now miscellaneous stuff.

After I took the squash off I stirred what remained of the coals and it is back up to 245°.

[Weber MD]

I dig it.  Can't wait to get mine.

[mike.stavlund]

Oh, man, I saw those photos on Facebook, and was wondering what vegetable you were smoking.  I've got two butternut squashes in the kitchen that are dying to be smoked.  I just need to convince my wife that I need a little WSM to do the job...

[Bbqmiller]

Nice write up Hank. I do agree lump is best in these cookers due to limited space underneath the grate for ash. The vents do set up quite high so it isn't a huge issue for ling cooks. I may fire up mine this weekend - thinking about some ribs.

[saxart]

How many cooks do you have on it Hank?

Three now. First two were both Pepper Stout Beef and now miscellaneous stuff.

After I took the squash off I stirred what remained of the coals and it is back up to 245°.

We should have a cook off to see who can keep their WSM going for the longest duration on one continual cook. 

LOL