First Smoke This Weekend...gotta minute?

hinkbot said:

Bought a WSM a few weeks ago on sale for a pretty good price.  decided i needed to use it at least once before the year is up and this saturday is the day.  i've decided to smoke a brisket and a boston butt (hopefully get both around 6-7 lbs).  it looks like the temperature will be just above freezing on saturday, and just want

-how long should the smoke go for?  i figure around 10 hours for both (1.5lb a hour right?) yes

-on average, how many bags of charcoal would i expect to go through?  will i need more than 1 on a warm day, and will need more than 1 this Saturday?  I would have several bags on hand, but the WSM doesn't use a lot of fuel.

-how much charcoal should i heat up since it's colder, more than 20? at least Yes, depending on the temp

-from what i've read, people seem t recommend the minion method.  anything i need to watch out for doing this on a colder day?

-how long to take the smoker to get up to heat? If it's cold, it may take awhile for the smoker get up to temp

-boil the water ahead of time, or just use warm tap water? Boiling would be better

thanks for the help!

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