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Thanks to you guys, grills seem to be piling up around me. Found a 18" wsm on letgo for $25 and couldn't pass it up. It is complete and came with a cover. Front door seems very loose fitting. I have some homework to do. I have no idea how to use this thing. I was thinking minion method with water in the pan?  How do the vents like to be set on these?
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$25? That's a steal! Congrats on the score!

I know.  Funny thing is it was on let for close to 2 months listed at 30 and had no takers.  I only noticed it the beginning of this month but didn't get it until now.  I wasn't really looking for one at first.  He had it listed as a smoker grill with no mention of it being a smokey mountain but I could tell from the pictures.  Price dropped to 25 and I noticed it still hadn't sold for a week at that price.  I knew I couldn't live with myself if I didn't get it.

First of all... AWESOME GRAB for 25 Buckeroos!!!  I have the same WSM.

I keep 2 of the 3 bottom vents closed.  The third vent I crack open to 1/2.  I keep the Top Vent wide open.  I use the Minion method and have had great results! I also rely on my Maverick to monitor temps.  Once she settles in around 225 - 250, game on... She will run steady at those temps for HOURS!!!  Last cook was 2 Packers and it held 225 for almost 13 hours.  By then, Beef was done.  My first go with the WSM was with Stubbs.  I wasn't prepared for the run away temps. I normally use KBB.   She hit 325 before I shut down the top vent and bottom vents to get the temps down.  Took about 40 minutes to settle her down.

For the 2nd cook, I had some ceramic Briqs. (From a gasser project years ago)  I foiled the water pan, dropped in the Briqs and foiled over that.  Seemed to keep things calm for the entire cook.  Some swear by water in the pan, and some don't.  No Water = easy clean up...
YMMV

Good luck and awesome score!! 

As far as the door goes... I just deal with it.  I am afraid to pull the trigger on the Cajun bandit door.  Trying to keep $$$ in the kitty for meat. 

Jeff

Check out this site also they have lots of good info on the WSM
http://www.virtualweberbullet.com
Nice score that's a great price


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Great score!!  Phenomenal price!!


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Got a dead ol'lawn mower?

$25!! Dude, congrats!!


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Quote from: Hell Fire Grill on October 27, 2016, 09:47:01 AM
Got a dead ol'lawn mower?

go on...i'm listening

I got ya beat by 2.50, lol. Great deal, congrats.

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Congrats on the pickup, you'll love it. Lots of good advice above. Here's another great read on how to setup on your WSM:
http://amazingribs.com/tips_and_technique/weber_smokey_mountain_setup.html

Thanks guys, I've been reading threads on here and on the above link. Looking forward to trying it out. I did a quick scrape on the inside with a plastic scraper. Just getting rid of the crud but I don't plan on getting it perfect. The outside looks like it just needs the steel wool treatment. Water pan was pretty nasty. I'll give it a wash before using.


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I don't have a grate therm yet. What do you recommend in that and do you run the wire through the top vent or between the lid and body?


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I run my maverick grill and meat probes under the lid.  I do have a dollar store therm I drop in the top vent just to see  what the difference is between the lid temp and grate temp.  I don't want to drill into the lid to install an aftermarket therm.  Thats just me... A little OCD when it comes to that.

Good Luck Man!

Jeff

Maverick 732 is my go to. I run it through the door.

The door would be a good spot on mine. It already lets plenty of air in so it might as well have a wire :-)


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Quote from: HoosierKettle on October 28, 2016, 03:10:21 AM
I don't have a grate therm yet. What do you recommend in that and do you run the wire through the top vent or between the lid and body?


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I have the Cajun Bandit BBQ Sensor Grommets on my 22. Cheap and my 732 probes fit.
http://cajunbandit.com/accessories/

I have a loose fitting door, run the Maverick 732 and have pretty much the same experience as others have noted. 

One thing that helps tremendously is when you set up the charcoal for the minion method. Don't light too many briquettes. Twelve or so should do.  Monitor the temps.  I always keep the top vent wide open.  When the maverick reads 200, that's the time to shut down your vents some.  I usually close all three two thirds of the way closed.  The key is to catch the temps on the way up. You let the temps climb to 300 before you choke them down, you'll be fighting to get it settled in.  I find it's much easier to start choking it on the way up.


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Quote from: captjoe06 on October 28, 2016, 09:59:46 AM
I have a loose fitting door, run the Maverick 732 and have pretty much the same experience as others have noted. 

One thing that helps tremendously is when you set up the charcoal for the minion method. Don't light too many briquettes. Twelve or so should do.  Monitor the temps.  I always keep the top vent wide open.  When the maverick reads 200, that's the time to shut down your vents some.  I usually close all three two thirds of the way closed.  The key is to catch the temps on the way up. You let the temps climb to 300 before you choke them down, you'll be fighting to get it settled in.  I find it's much easier to start choking it on the way up.


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My "lesson" i took away from my 1st 2 cooks....  dont change up the charcoal and only a few briq's to get started and  her settled in.  I used too much lit stubbs and i learned my lesson...  2nd cook was spot on at 225.

Thank you^^ I'll keep that in mind. I cancelled all other plans for tomorrow to devote to trying it out :-)


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Awesome deal. I would get the grommets from Cajun Bandit or drill a hole in it. You paid $25. Have fun with it.


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Cool. Get some pics. What are you going to cook?


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Not sure yet. Just got home from a high school football game so I'll have to do some morning shopping. Thinking ribs but not sure.


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Ribs are a good choice to christen a new smoker.

Well I went to sams and picked up a half of brisket. It's 5 lbs. I'm using kbb hickory and cherry. What I had on hand.
(http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20161029/a23de747762ff7b9dce6fec106b2df4d.jpg)(http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20161029/9cc910ac92b8fefd22efbd410407ea4c.jpg)(http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20161029/615f5fe6c710959621a9ac87fb06bc5d.jpg)


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Do I have any chance of getting this done today?


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Yes, but if you don't have it on yet or just got it on then I wouldn't plan on it for dinner. Do you plan on wrapping?


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First time using this cooker and first time cooking a brisket. Kind of an expensive trial run but I'll be happy if it's at least edible.

Thanks Travis. I was hoping for 7 or 8 tonight but I doubt it. I have a case of beer so I should be ok if it's a long one.


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If you do wrap you can bump up that heat some once you do.


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3 hours in and temps have stayed steady between 230-245. I only used a chimney and a half of charcoal. Looked like I had burned through half roughly. Probably fill it up next time so I won't have to refill. This is a 2005 so it has the shallow water pan.  After 3 hours it was probably less than half full so I refilled that as well. Through a chunk of applewood in.
(http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20161029/02fb21122f3b10fed59cc55e91d9e7fb.jpg)


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Got the beans on. I forgot to take a picture of the beef before I wrapped it. It's at 165. How long in the wrap approx to get to 195?
(http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20161029/c13d87b87e1bfa810da1587c81f7eb53.jpg)(http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20161029/1e7f333836b32724b294f52e35c5be64.jpg)


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Everyone seemed very pleased. It was moist and tender. Didn't have a deep smoke ring but tasted smokey so I can't complain.


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Looks great Hoosier! How long total time at what temp?


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About 7.5 hours at 235-255 temp range. I wrapped the last hour or so.


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Can you guys shut your wsm down when done cooking?  Second time I've used it and shut all vents only to find it slowly burning through my remaining fuel.


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I have no problem getting mine to shut down.


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My top vent seems loose along with my front door. That's all I can tell that's wrong at the moment. That's a deal breaker for me until I can get this figured out. I hate wasting fuel.

Yesterday I had to transfer half hot coals from the wsm to one of the kettles to try and salvage the remaining fuel.


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And most of my damper vent stop tabs are broken off. I can't tell what those are for. Are those necessary?


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   My door needed to be slightly adjusted by hand which is very easy to do then I used nomex gasket for a tight seal through out. Some people buy the cajun bandit SS door so you could go that route, personally this is one accessory I will not waste my money on. For the top vent try a rubber mallet. Good luck.

Mine shuts down nicely.  I reserve the remaining Briqs for future starter coals and fill in when I need them.

Brisket looks good to me!!!

Good Job!

Thank you!  The brisket was a hit and I was very pleased with it being my first one.

I don't want to waste any money on upgrades (yet). I did bend the door a little but will probably play with that. Also probably still the rivet on the top vent and use a nut and bolt to tighten it up once I try re shaping it a little. Currently it's fit and tightness needs work.


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Nice cook.  What a steal.  That will be a great addition to the Weber arsenal.

Whit

I had a nomex gasket on my regular door and it worked great. I now have the Cajun bandit door without a gasket and it's perfect.


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I've used the wsm a few times now and am starting to get comfortable with cooking on it.  One thing I've noticed is since I've installed the lid therm, my temps seem to be easier to control and maintain.  I theorize it's because I don't have the probe cable under the lid holding it up very slightly.  Is this just in my head?  Either way, I will not run a probe cable under the lid anymore.  Also, I think I'm going to install the silicone probe gasket thingy that the new ones come with.  The tighter it runs the better it seems.  Along these same lines, I either need to replace the door latch so the factory door fits tighter or I need a cb door.  I'm leaning towards the cajun bandit route.

I can't give you one negative about any of the CB stuff I have. Some will say it's expensive, but this is how I look at that. I want quality stuff that will last forever. CB items meet that criteria. The only mistake I made when ordering was I tried to used my old door latch. I would suggest using the CB door latch and trying out their grommets that replace one of the bolts that hold the grill grate straps in place.


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Quote from: iCARRY on January 03, 2017, 04:55:11 AM
I can't give you one negative about any of the CB stuff I have. Some will say it's expensive, but this is how I look at that. I want quality stuff that will last forever. CB items meet that criteria. The only mistake I made when ordering was I tried to used my old door latch. I would suggest using the CB door latch and trying out their grommets that replace one of the bolts that hold the grill grate straps in place.


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Thanks man. I will definitely go the Cajun bandit route when the time comes. And I'll get the latch as well. That's a big part of the problem currently so I don't want to use my latch.


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Cb door with latch on the way . Thanks for the nudge.


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Awesome. You won't be disappointed. Did you order the temperature probe grommets?


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No. I might have some stuff in the garage to make one. We'll see, but can't wait for the door.


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Quote from: HoosierKettle on January 03, 2017, 03:29:56 AM
I've used the wsm a few times now and am starting to get comfortable with cooking on it.  One thing I've noticed is since I've installed the lid therm, my temps seem to be easier to control and maintain.  I theorize it's because I don't have the probe cable under the lid holding it up very slightly.  Is this just in my head?  Either way, I will not run a probe cable under the lid anymore.  Also, I think I'm going to install the silicone probe gasket thingy that the new ones come with.  The tighter it runs the better it seems.  Along these same lines, I either need to replace the door latch so the factory door fits tighter or I need a cb door.  I'm leaning towards the cajun bandit route.

It's possible that the wire gap was giving you harder to control airflow. The buildup of gunk between the lid and the midsection also helps control temperatures. It takes a few cooks to build that up.

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New door is a huge improvement. Looks like there is still a couple small gaps. Is it worth trying to bend the door a little or should I leave well enough alone. I am hesitant to start tweaking this heavy gauge door.


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I would leave it alone. Run it and see how it goes.


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Quote from: iCARRY on January 06, 2017, 10:37:50 AM
I would leave it alone. Run it and see how it goes.


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Thanks. Will do. I tried briefly but didn't want to push my luck.

I'm going to do some pork butts tomorrow to test it out.


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Good stuff. Even if it gets hot, pork butts can take the higher temps. What do you think of the quality?


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The door is heavy duty and well made. The latch is great too.


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The compression latch coupled with a solid door is key


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Success!!  The wsm shut down in less than an hour. Only thing different is the new door.

Prior to this cook, the wsm just smoldered its way through all of the unused fuel.


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Good to hear


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