Please clarify. Trying to achieve Wsm 22.5" high temps

I've had my 22.5" WSM for a little over two years and discovered by accident how to get the temp up on the smoker.

I always use the minion method regardless of what I'm cooking and if I fill the coal ring it will last about 18 - 20 hours.

If you are having a little trouble getting the temp up just remove the lid and leave it off for a few minutes and leave all the vents wide open.

After about two or three minutes put the lid back on and after just a few more minutes you will notice that the temp has gone up significantly.

This is known as the chimney effect and it is common with vertical charcoal smokers like the WSM and the Brinkmanns.

Give it a try and let me know what you think!  You could also try using lump charcoal instead of briquettes - it burns hotter and faster.

Good luck,

Bill

Couple of suggestions/ideas:

• Definately start with a full or half ring of charcoal depending on the length of your smoke. Anything 8 hrs. or less 1/2 a ring, over 8 hrs. fill the ring.
• Light a full chimney of charcoal and let it get fully lit. Leave all vents 100% open for hotest chamber temps.
• If you want to go above 300° leave your water pan empty - or if you want really really hot remove the water pan.
• Keep in mind wind will have a larger effect on your temps than cold temperature by itself. I wrap my WSM in a welding blanket on cold windy overnight smokes.

The 22.5" will hold a full 20 lb. bag of charcoal in one full ring - also keep in mind the hotter you burn the faster you burn. I have gotten over 20 hrs. on one bag during warm summer nights, but always can at least get 16 hrs. even on cold winter nights - provided I am running at approx. 225°-250°, which is where I do 90% of my smoking. Even turkey and chicken I do low and slow, then either toss onto a hot grill to crisp or under a broiler in the oven for a few minutes.

Example set up for a 15 lb. brisket:

• fill ring half way with Kingsford blue bag, put 4 or 5 fist sized chunks of flavor wood around outside of ring, fill ring the rest of the way, and top with another 4 or 5 chunks of fist sized wood around the outside.
• get approx. 1/3 to 1/2 a chimney of charcoal lit and dump in a pile on top of the unlit ring, keep it in the middle as much as possible.
• leave the body off for about 5 minutes to let it get some air while it gets  some of the other charcoal going.
• put the body and lid on (with the water pan and grates already in place), with all vents 100% open, watch the lid therm till it gets to 200°.
• at 200° dump two gallons of HOT tap water into the water pan, put lid back on and let it come back up to 200%.
• at 2nd 200° close off two lower dampers fully - leave top vent 100% open, let it run for about 15-20 minutes and see where it settles out at. Depending on weather should be somewhere between 200° and 250'ish° on the lid.
• toss on the meat
• now for the part that gets easier the more familiar you get with your smoker: if the lid therm was at 250° when you tossed the meat on damp the last vent down approx 75%, if it was around 200° you might have to open up one of the other vents approx. 25%. What you are looking to do is get it to settle around 210°-230° on the lid therm - keep in mind it will drop a bit when you toss a big chunk of cold meat on due to added thermal mass.
• Adjust vents approx. 25% at a time, wait 15-20 min. between adjustments, and see where it settles out each time. It is harder to come down in temp than go up in temp., so better to damp it early and bring it up slow rather than let it get hot and not be able to bring it down for a couple of hours.

If you use Kingsford a good thing to do is wait for any of the "picnic" holidays (laborday, 4th of July, ect.) and watch the adds at Home Depot and Lowes. They usually put the two packs of 20 lb. bags on sale for somewhere between $8 and $10. I usually stock up and buy 8 to 10 of the two packs and put them in the back of the garage away from the door.

Once you get a few runs under your belt you will be able to dial in your WSM really easy and it will run low and slow for hours and hours with no input from you.

appwsmsmkr1 said:

This^^ post is a big help!!! Thank you so much!!

Click to expand...

No problem, glad to help.

Feel free to PM me if you have WSM questions - I have had mine for about 4 yrs. now and still love it.