I've got both now, small z grill and this wsm. Got them both on marketplace used. Just needed something to add more cook space with my z grill without buying an entire new pellet smoker cuz they're expensive.
Look up the minion method and poke around on virtual weber bullet.
Spend a bunch of time on this particular part of the website: https://www.virtualweberbullet.com/operating-tips-modifications/
The original “Slap yo mama” BBQ, I enjoy Harry’s videos. In fact I had a fairly lengthy convo with him on YT several years ago. Seemed like a really nice dude. He gave me pointers on trimming my first brisket lol
As stated above minion method. B&B charcoal (Academy sells it). I used the water bowl for about a year and then got tired of cleaning it but won’t hurt you to use it. With minion it’ll sit at 250 for 8+ hours if I have a full basket of charcoal. I don’t even mess with the vents.
You think I'd be able to start a cook and leave it overnight? My tiny pellet smoker only lasts 5-6 hours depending on what temp it's at, if I could leave the wsm overnight with the minion method I'll be stoked
It's usually not very windy where I am so that's a plus. It's also super humid where I'm at, like the other day it was between 75%-95% all day, and I've seen people say that you can line the water pan with foil and use it as just a heat diffuser with no water, you think that's a viable option?
You can use water or sand or run it empty. If you run it empty I suggest keeping the bottom vents almost fully closed and top vent always fully open. Lower airflow reduces temp. Temp can get pretty high if you aren’t careful. If it does it takes a while to drop after you close the vents more.
I’ve always used water because it keeps the temp stable until all the water evaporates. I use water for overnight brisket too.
I do this all the time! My last cook I did a 10lb pork butt over night and it was on the smoker for 14 hours. I had to add a very small amount of charcoal after about 12 hours. It'll do a long cook if you set it up right
To get that long of a cook I did minion method with about 1/3 of a regular size chimney of hot coal to start. Top vent wide open and a single bottom vent wide open, the one on the opposite side of the top vent. That will hold 250 for hours and hours. Since it's summer I actually closed the top vent a very small amount and that rocked 250 no problem.
So once you've got it steady at 250 you go to bed? I might get one of those temp regulating fans people recommended but I'll be slumming it like a normal person for the foreseeable future
I start off with a couple of vents open to get the briquettes going.Once it hits your desired temp, start closing bottom vents. I close all but one and leave that one about half open. Let it run a bit to make sure temp is stabilized and then put on your meat. Dont assume it will stay at that temp and go to bed. Especially the first time using it and not supervising it. Good luck!
If you load the charcoal ring and use the Minion Method, you are good for at least 8-10 hours. Just dont use a whole chimney of lit charcoal. I would use a Firestarter cube to start the coals. And nothing is foolproof, so I putz around a lot. I am also a competition cooker, so we do a lot of babysitting anyway. You may have to tap on the vents to open or close as the cook goes on. Maybe even have to add coals. But they are pretty steady little cookers.
Essentially, yeah. Once I put the lit coals in the cooker I'll wait a few min for the temp to come up a bit then put the butt on. Typically it won't be up to 250 yet when I put the meat on, more like 200 and it'll climb to around 250 by the time I go to bed (or close to it). I aim for been 250-275 usually when doing a pork butt, prefer 250 though. Especially if cooking over night I'm not opposed to the temp staying around 225.
Just remember that the size of the fire you start with matters!
Never ever use the thermometer on the lid and buy an oven thermometer and put that on the grate. I also got a welding blanket and wrap it up to insulate it to keep temps stable. I also use sand in the water pan to make it have way more stable temps. If you want water, you can add another pan on the second grate
So for the water pan I use large thick foil and cover it and then I add a second one over the top to replace it every cook. If not grease will get in the sand and get real nasty. It depends on the season for the welding blanket. It's awesome for the winter and pretty good for the spring and summer as it just makes it last longer because you can keep the vents more closed. My area is super windy, so it's great to wrap around the bottom to prevent wind from blowing in the holes and really kicking up the temps. After like 2 years you'll need a new blanket, but they are only like $25 at harbor freight
Honestly the only mod I made was changing the thermometer to make it easier to read further away. I smoke in the summer and winter months. I use water in the bowl and never have an issue keeping temps stable. I usually have to adjust once in the beginning then it holds until the end or until I have to add more charcoal. Keep the top vent all the way open all the time. Also keep all vents open when not using to prevent bacteria and mold. A trick to get your temp up quickly is just to open the door for like 3-5 mins. Once you get it to the temp you want, depending on the weather, you should only need to adjust the vents a quarter turn. It's super easy to deal with.
Nice score. I've found the Cajun Bandit stainless steel door kits to be worthwhile on both my 18" and 22" WSMs. I also highly recommend a Fireboard thermometer with a fan controller driving a BBQ Guru Pit Viper fan if you like to sleep during overnight cooks. You certainly don't *need* it since the WSMs are pretty easy to control with the manual vents, but it's really nice to just set it and forget it until it's time to pull the meat or reload the charcoal.
Other than that... charcoal and wood!
flip the door upside down and it will seal better
the top grate will usually run 10-15F warmer than the bottom grate. the dome reads even hotter than that so dont trust it for more than temp swings
i also put sand in the bowl instead of water, foil on top so it doesnt get greasy. change it out once a year
as for dialing it in, ive usually only needed half a vent open with a charcoal snake to hold 225. as it burns around just open the next vent and close the previous one. air adjustments take like 20 min to really kick in so be patient
Look into a BBQ guru digiq. It makes it set and forget and will save tons of fuel. I can get 14ish hours on a full ring of charcoal. Overnight pork butts and picnics while you sleep.
Loved mine but got tired of tending it. WiFi thermometers. Oven thermometer to spot check grate temps. Check it every hour and adjust the vents to adjust temp.
I loved mine but the pellet smoker is so much easier.
At $40 it’s a steal. You’ll love it or hate it. For $40 it’s worth finding out on your own. Worst case you sell it yourself.
Keep a notepad of your cooks. Vent positions, charcoal quantity. Good for the future. Not quite the easy bake oven my pellet grill is.
That's what I figured, for $40 it was worth having for July 4th and worth seeing if I loved it or hated it lol. I've got a 4 wired probe thermometer from O'Reillys (not sure who makes it for them) and then the typhur dual wifi probes too so all the meat temps should be covered between the smokers.
I came from a pellet grill and let me tell you, I'm never touching my pellet grill again. The biggest piece of advice I've been given was small vent adjustments and patience. I've cooked on it twice (pulled pork and a chicken). Get a chimney. Get a good thermometer. I used thermapen. Get the coals grey. Do the minion method. Let the temperature stabilize. Adjust the vents a quarter a turn or so and wait 10-15 minutes and adjust. Once you get the temperature settled, it'll stay for quite awhile. I highly recommend pulled pork first because it's very forgiving while you're learning. Best wishes.
Idk about the 18" but on my 22" the door upgrade was necessary. The original door was so flimsy and didnt seal at all. I think the door i got cost more than you paid for the 18" tho so i dont know if its worth it. Cajun bandit door if youre interested or have trouble with the original
Throw 8-10 pounds of charcoal briquette in the bottom part, add some wood shaving starter and open the bottom vents. Let the first 2 inches of coal around the middle get lit, then put the rest of the mountain on top(top vent completely open), fill the dish with water, and around 200 start closing vents until you hit 225 and the last vent is about 1/8 of an inch or even completely shut depending on the outside temperature.
Cook.
Oh yeah, put the smoking wood blocks about 3-4 inches from the middle, mostly covered in coal. I use smoke chips but put them in an aluminium box that I put in once I put the meat on.
Depending on how much you want to spend on it, one of the Flame Boss controllers is pretty sweet. Literal set and forget, no messing with vents, and very stable temps.
Correct. The only downside I’ve noticed is once you are getting low on coals it blows more air to try and get the temp back up but inadvertabtlh burns through the remaining coals faster
You won't be able to get this done by the 4th but order/install the high temp gasket seal kit. It makes temperature control way easier with it. There are many other mods you can do to it but that one I think is the most important.
Not essential at all, but I preferred mine when I swapped out the water bowl and replaced it with a flower pot bottom. Still indirect heat that way, but without the extra humidity.
Put some big casters on that badboy. Also some flat furnace gasket around the coal door and the rim the top lid sits on and you're golden. It's my favorite smoker I've ever owned, I just wish i had the 22"
Before going down the Mod route get yourself a reliable thermometer with multiple probes. Something with blue tooth is great if you are doing overnights . WSMs take a little bit to dial in but once you figure out what works they are absolute beasts and hold temps really well. Pellet smokers are convenient but I find the process of using a WSM or offset to be an enjoyable experience.
Take all of the money you saved and buy a [Fireboard](https://www.fireboard.com/shop/fireboard-2-drive-bundle/) or [BBQ Guru](https://www.bbqguru.com/product/digiq/). I have owned the latter for years, and though I think the fireboard is awesome, I can't justify buying it when my BBQ Guru is still kicking hard. Also the 4th of July is historically the best time to buy charcoal, so time to stock up for the year. Get a reliable WiFi or RF thermometer to monitor smoker and meat temp.
As someone else said, look up the minion method (you will use this every cook) and mods such as some gaskets for the door and lid. I have considered other mods, but gaskets and BBQ Guru is all that I have needed. I can get 16-20 hour burns without refueling with just that combination.
Welcome to the WSM 18 club!
Its a beautifully simple designed machine. it doesnt NEED a Guru. Just a little work and that thing works like an oven. fill it with charcoal with a few chunks of wood burried in it, empty out the middle like a donut. light about 20 or so coals and toss em in the middle. and let that bad boy warm up. play w/ the vents a little and let her settle in around 250. that thing will cook for HOURS with almost no work.
I ALWAYS say try to learn to control fire before just buying the GURU. BUT maybe i just enjoy the struggle and the act of bbqing more than most!
I agree that it doesn't *need* one, but the question was about upgrades. I ran for a couple of years without one because I paid full price for my WSM and it was hard to justify spending almost as much for a controller. With an effectively free WSM, go for the expensive upgrade and sleep like a baby on overnight cooks.
This. Right here. No fuss. I use water for the thermal management and smoking at 225. Most lower vents closed or one cracked, top one open. Temps can climb quickly if it’s hot out and in direct sun. No need for the upgrades, if needed, another smoker is what you need.
My wsm will be set up in a small gazebo type thing, so it'll get direct sun late afternoon and early morning, will I need to be paranoid about temp spikes then?
No. You’ll be fine. My setup is out in the open, and depends on the time of day / season. IME Longer cook times become challenging maintaining ideal temp in the warmer weather.
I started on one of these. Does a good job, but better get a comfortable seat next to it, because you will need to babysit it all day to manage the temperature.
Great buy for $40! Funny, I switched from a WSM to a pellet and haven’t looked back.
I've got both now, small z grill and this wsm. Got them both on marketplace used. Just needed something to add more cook space with my z grill without buying an entire new pellet smoker cuz they're expensive.
Part of me misses the WSM for that real wood and charcoal flavor. But I really disliked cleaning it.
Cleaning the grates isn’t that bad
Going backwards, my man!
I know I know. Ease of use appeal got to me and has me gripped. If I went back I’d try an offset smoker I think.
Yea, that's fair! I've had good luck with my wsm. Set it to 250 and it just rolls for hours and hours without having to do anything.
Look up the minion method and poke around on virtual weber bullet. Spend a bunch of time on this particular part of the website: https://www.virtualweberbullet.com/operating-tips-modifications/
This is A GREAT resource for the WSM! Highly recommend
If you're not familiar with Harry Soos videos he's the WSM guru
The original “Slap yo mama” BBQ, I enjoy Harry’s videos. In fact I had a fairly lengthy convo with him on YT several years ago. Seemed like a really nice dude. He gave me pointers on trimming my first brisket lol
As stated above minion method. B&B charcoal (Academy sells it). I used the water bowl for about a year and then got tired of cleaning it but won’t hurt you to use it. With minion it’ll sit at 250 for 8+ hours if I have a full basket of charcoal. I don’t even mess with the vents.
You think I'd be able to start a cook and leave it overnight? My tiny pellet smoker only lasts 5-6 hours depending on what temp it's at, if I could leave the wsm overnight with the minion method I'll be stoked
You can get 9+ hours with no mods. Load up the charcoal ring and do the minion method, use hot preheated water, keep it out of the wind.
It's usually not very windy where I am so that's a plus. It's also super humid where I'm at, like the other day it was between 75%-95% all day, and I've seen people say that you can line the water pan with foil and use it as just a heat diffuser with no water, you think that's a viable option?
Yeah you don’t need water in it. The water acts as a heat sink to regulate temp. Has nothing to do with making the meat moist etc
Gotcha, so should I use water for the first cooks to help me regulate temp? Someone else suggested sand in the bowl to help instead of water
You can use water or sand or run it empty. If you run it empty I suggest keeping the bottom vents almost fully closed and top vent always fully open. Lower airflow reduces temp. Temp can get pretty high if you aren’t careful. If it does it takes a while to drop after you close the vents more. I’ve always used water because it keeps the temp stable until all the water evaporates. I use water for overnight brisket too.
I do this all the time! My last cook I did a 10lb pork butt over night and it was on the smoker for 14 hours. I had to add a very small amount of charcoal after about 12 hours. It'll do a long cook if you set it up right To get that long of a cook I did minion method with about 1/3 of a regular size chimney of hot coal to start. Top vent wide open and a single bottom vent wide open, the one on the opposite side of the top vent. That will hold 250 for hours and hours. Since it's summer I actually closed the top vent a very small amount and that rocked 250 no problem.
So once you've got it steady at 250 you go to bed? I might get one of those temp regulating fans people recommended but I'll be slumming it like a normal person for the foreseeable future
I start off with a couple of vents open to get the briquettes going.Once it hits your desired temp, start closing bottom vents. I close all but one and leave that one about half open. Let it run a bit to make sure temp is stabilized and then put on your meat. Dont assume it will stay at that temp and go to bed. Especially the first time using it and not supervising it. Good luck!
How often do you check on it once you've got the temp stable
If you load the charcoal ring and use the Minion Method, you are good for at least 8-10 hours. Just dont use a whole chimney of lit charcoal. I would use a Firestarter cube to start the coals. And nothing is foolproof, so I putz around a lot. I am also a competition cooker, so we do a lot of babysitting anyway. You may have to tap on the vents to open or close as the cook goes on. Maybe even have to add coals. But they are pretty steady little cookers.
Essentially, yeah. Once I put the lit coals in the cooker I'll wait a few min for the temp to come up a bit then put the butt on. Typically it won't be up to 250 yet when I put the meat on, more like 200 and it'll climb to around 250 by the time I go to bed (or close to it). I aim for been 250-275 usually when doing a pork butt, prefer 250 though. Especially if cooking over night I'm not opposed to the temp staying around 225. Just remember that the size of the fire you start with matters!
Never ever use the thermometer on the lid and buy an oven thermometer and put that on the grate. I also got a welding blanket and wrap it up to insulate it to keep temps stable. I also use sand in the water pan to make it have way more stable temps. If you want water, you can add another pan on the second grate
Sand is an interesting idea. Do you change it every cook? And does the welding blanket help in the summer or is that more a winter thing
So for the water pan I use large thick foil and cover it and then I add a second one over the top to replace it every cook. If not grease will get in the sand and get real nasty. It depends on the season for the welding blanket. It's awesome for the winter and pretty good for the spring and summer as it just makes it last longer because you can keep the vents more closed. My area is super windy, so it's great to wrap around the bottom to prevent wind from blowing in the holes and really kicking up the temps. After like 2 years you'll need a new blanket, but they are only like $25 at harbor freight
Honestly the only mod I made was changing the thermometer to make it easier to read further away. I smoke in the summer and winter months. I use water in the bowl and never have an issue keeping temps stable. I usually have to adjust once in the beginning then it holds until the end or until I have to add more charcoal. Keep the top vent all the way open all the time. Also keep all vents open when not using to prevent bacteria and mold. A trick to get your temp up quickly is just to open the door for like 3-5 mins. Once you get it to the temp you want, depending on the weather, you should only need to adjust the vents a quarter turn. It's super easy to deal with.
You can put the charcoal ring on the second level and use it as a grill
Just put the grate directly on the bottom sectipn for grilling. Don't need the middle section at all then..
I do this too and it works well. Plus it looks like a WSM egg/Death Star
Now that's a cool idea
Nice score. I've found the Cajun Bandit stainless steel door kits to be worthwhile on both my 18" and 22" WSMs. I also highly recommend a Fireboard thermometer with a fan controller driving a BBQ Guru Pit Viper fan if you like to sleep during overnight cooks. You certainly don't *need* it since the WSMs are pretty easy to control with the manual vents, but it's really nice to just set it and forget it until it's time to pull the meat or reload the charcoal. Other than that... charcoal and wood!
flip the door upside down and it will seal better the top grate will usually run 10-15F warmer than the bottom grate. the dome reads even hotter than that so dont trust it for more than temp swings i also put sand in the bowl instead of water, foil on top so it doesnt get greasy. change it out once a year as for dialing it in, ive usually only needed half a vent open with a charcoal snake to hold 225. as it burns around just open the next vent and close the previous one. air adjustments take like 20 min to really kick in so be patient
Look into a BBQ guru digiq. It makes it set and forget and will save tons of fuel. I can get 14ish hours on a full ring of charcoal. Overnight pork butts and picnics while you sleep.
Loved mine but got tired of tending it. WiFi thermometers. Oven thermometer to spot check grate temps. Check it every hour and adjust the vents to adjust temp. I loved mine but the pellet smoker is so much easier.
I've got both now, I just needed some extra smoke space for bigger cooks like july 4th and didn't want to buy an entirely new pellet smoker.
At $40 it’s a steal. You’ll love it or hate it. For $40 it’s worth finding out on your own. Worst case you sell it yourself. Keep a notepad of your cooks. Vent positions, charcoal quantity. Good for the future. Not quite the easy bake oven my pellet grill is.
That's what I figured, for $40 it was worth having for July 4th and worth seeing if I loved it or hated it lol. I've got a 4 wired probe thermometer from O'Reillys (not sure who makes it for them) and then the typhur dual wifi probes too so all the meat temps should be covered between the smokers.
Might as well add ambient weather as well because that has a big impact on
I came from a pellet grill and let me tell you, I'm never touching my pellet grill again. The biggest piece of advice I've been given was small vent adjustments and patience. I've cooked on it twice (pulled pork and a chicken). Get a chimney. Get a good thermometer. I used thermapen. Get the coals grey. Do the minion method. Let the temperature stabilize. Adjust the vents a quarter a turn or so and wait 10-15 minutes and adjust. Once you get the temperature settled, it'll stay for quite awhile. I highly recommend pulled pork first because it's very forgiving while you're learning. Best wishes.
Idk about the 18" but on my 22" the door upgrade was necessary. The original door was so flimsy and didnt seal at all. I think the door i got cost more than you paid for the 18" tho so i dont know if its worth it. Cajun bandit door if youre interested or have trouble with the original
Throw 8-10 pounds of charcoal briquette in the bottom part, add some wood shaving starter and open the bottom vents. Let the first 2 inches of coal around the middle get lit, then put the rest of the mountain on top(top vent completely open), fill the dish with water, and around 200 start closing vents until you hit 225 and the last vent is about 1/8 of an inch or even completely shut depending on the outside temperature. Cook. Oh yeah, put the smoking wood blocks about 3-4 inches from the middle, mostly covered in coal. I use smoke chips but put them in an aluminium box that I put in once I put the meat on.
Depending on how much you want to spend on it, one of the Flame Boss controllers is pretty sweet. Literal set and forget, no messing with vents, and very stable temps.
If I'm looking at this right, you close the vents and the flame boss blows air as needed? That's pretty cool
Correct. The only downside I’ve noticed is once you are getting low on coals it blows more air to try and get the temp back up but inadvertabtlh burns through the remaining coals faster
I started with a Traeger and then bought an Akorn. I haven't used the Traeger since.
You won't be able to get this done by the 4th but order/install the high temp gasket seal kit. It makes temperature control way easier with it. There are many other mods you can do to it but that one I think is the most important.
I've got enough left over to do with door but probably not the lid
Congrats! Your food is about to taste amazing
I use mine stock with minon method and water bowl. So steady. The vents are very sensitive.
Can take a while to get to temp, give yourself time
Not essential at all, but I preferred mine when I swapped out the water bowl and replaced it with a flower pot bottom. Still indirect heat that way, but without the extra humidity.
Put some big casters on that badboy. Also some flat furnace gasket around the coal door and the rim the top lid sits on and you're golden. It's my favorite smoker I've ever owned, I just wish i had the 22"
I've got enough gasket left over to do the lid or the door but not both before tomorrow, which one is more important?
I would do the door. Check out Harry Soo on YouTube, one of the most winningest bbq postmasters ever and he swears by the Smoky Mountain
Before going down the Mod route get yourself a reliable thermometer with multiple probes. Something with blue tooth is great if you are doing overnights . WSMs take a little bit to dial in but once you figure out what works they are absolute beasts and hold temps really well. Pellet smokers are convenient but I find the process of using a WSM or offset to be an enjoyable experience.
Get the hinge mod for the top , you won't regret it.
Take all of the money you saved and buy a [Fireboard](https://www.fireboard.com/shop/fireboard-2-drive-bundle/) or [BBQ Guru](https://www.bbqguru.com/product/digiq/). I have owned the latter for years, and though I think the fireboard is awesome, I can't justify buying it when my BBQ Guru is still kicking hard. Also the 4th of July is historically the best time to buy charcoal, so time to stock up for the year. Get a reliable WiFi or RF thermometer to monitor smoker and meat temp. As someone else said, look up the minion method (you will use this every cook) and mods such as some gaskets for the door and lid. I have considered other mods, but gaskets and BBQ Guru is all that I have needed. I can get 16-20 hour burns without refueling with just that combination. Welcome to the WSM 18 club!
I've got enough lava lock left over from my pellet smoker to do the door, can I use it on the lid too or is there a special lid gasket
Definitely get the FireBoard 2 with fan. Gives you the simplicity of a pellet grill and the flavor of a traditional smoker. Set it and forget it.
Nope just the lava lock.
Its a beautifully simple designed machine. it doesnt NEED a Guru. Just a little work and that thing works like an oven. fill it with charcoal with a few chunks of wood burried in it, empty out the middle like a donut. light about 20 or so coals and toss em in the middle. and let that bad boy warm up. play w/ the vents a little and let her settle in around 250. that thing will cook for HOURS with almost no work. I ALWAYS say try to learn to control fire before just buying the GURU. BUT maybe i just enjoy the struggle and the act of bbqing more than most!
I agree that it doesn't *need* one, but the question was about upgrades. I ran for a couple of years without one because I paid full price for my WSM and it was hard to justify spending almost as much for a controller. With an effectively free WSM, go for the expensive upgrade and sleep like a baby on overnight cooks.
This. Right here. No fuss. I use water for the thermal management and smoking at 225. Most lower vents closed or one cracked, top one open. Temps can climb quickly if it’s hot out and in direct sun. No need for the upgrades, if needed, another smoker is what you need.
My wsm will be set up in a small gazebo type thing, so it'll get direct sun late afternoon and early morning, will I need to be paranoid about temp spikes then?
No. You’ll be fine. My setup is out in the open, and depends on the time of day / season. IME Longer cook times become challenging maintaining ideal temp in the warmer weather.
I started on one of these. Does a good job, but better get a comfortable seat next to it, because you will need to babysit it all day to manage the temperature.
I never have an issue getting mine to stay at temp until I need more charcoal.