BBQ Guru on a mini WSM?

suie · Sep 14, 2013

Hi! Just found a Smokey Joe silver on Craigslist for only $10, so I'm going to build a mini WSM. I'm wondering if it would be worthwhile to hook up my DigiQ BBQ Guru to it? It's been sitting in a closet gathering dust since I stopped using the CharGriller for smoking. Would it be a useful addition for the mini, or completely overkill? I assume I'd want to downsize fan to the smallest size, but since I have the unit already....

What do you all think?

dward51 · Sep 14, 2013

Like you said.... "since I have the unit already" and you are already thinking about buying the Smokey Joe either way, I would give it a try.

You should be able to close the fan damper to just a tiny slit even if you have a 10cfm fan on your Guru. I say try it.

JckDanls 07 · Sep 14, 2013

yup.. give it a try... If I'm not mistaken somebody has already tried it and it worked fine.... let us know how it worked as I have a mini as well....

suie · Sep 15, 2013

Sounds good,I will give it a try. The fan I have is 25cfm so I may order the 10 or the 4. Thanks!!

dirtsailor2003 · Sep 15, 2013

Yep Keith used his partyQ on the mini and said it worked great. Keith where'd ya go??? I've really had no problems running my mini without one. I have thought about getting the partyQ just to have another gadget. I would recommend adding (2) 3/4" inlets with ball valves to the side of the silver. I would also recommend cutting out the whole bottom of the tamale pot. Make a charcoal basket out of the charcoal grate and some expanded metal. You can make the basket 3 1/4" tall.

suie · Sep 15, 2013

Thanks Chase! If I didn't already have the guru I probably wouldn't bother,but it should be fun. I was just going to cut a lot of holes in the tamale pot, why remove the entire bottom? What do you use for a diffuser, then?

dward51 · Sep 15, 2013

If you are going to buy an additional fan, I would go with the 5cfm model. That 25cfm you have is way overkill.

dirtsailor2003 · Sep 15, 2013

Sometimes I don't use a diffuser. When I do I put it at the level of the steamer tray. Sometimes I just use the steamer tray as the diffuser. I have several threads showing my build and the mods I have made. Having the full bottom cut out allows for more charcoal and I feel it burns better. Another thing that I did was to attach the lid of the tamale pot to the bottom of the pot. Gives a nice lip to seat the pot to the Smokey joe.

webowabo · Sep 15, 2013

Keith uses the "babysitter" all the time with his. Lol.. babysitter. I believe he primarily does it on the real low and slow cooks..

fwismoker · Sep 15, 2013

dirtsailor2003 said:
Yep Keith used his partyQ on the mini and said it worked great. Keith where'd ya go??? I've really had no problems running my mini without one. I have thought about getting the partyQ just to have another gadget. I would recommend adding (2) 3/4" inlets with ball valves to the side of the silver. I would also recommend cutting out the whole bottom of the tamale pot. Make a charcoal basket out of the charcoal grate and some expanded metal. You can make the basket 3 1/4" tall.

Yes i have lots of experience with either the Party Q or IQ on the mini. They work incredibly well. Here are some olive oil and jerk dry St Louis ribs from yesterday. Set it for 250 and went 3.5 hours.

P1010363.JPG

fwismoker
Sep 15, 2013

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fwismoker
Sep 15, 2013

P1010370.JPG

fwismoker
Sep 15, 2013

suie · Sep 15, 2013

dward51 said:
If you are going to buy an additional fan, I would go with the 5cfm model. That 25cfm you have is way overkill.

Thanks! Yeah, I bet it would just be on for a second or two then shut off...lol

dirtsailor2003 said:
Sometimes I don't use a diffuser. When I do I put it at the level of the steamer tray. Sometimes I just use the steamer tray as the diffuser. I have several threads showing my build and the mods I have made. Having the full bottom cut out allows for more charcoal and I feel it burns better. Another thing that I did was to attach the lid of the tamale pot to the bottom of the pot. Gives a nice lip to seat the pot to the Smokey joe.

Ah, I wasn't thinking about room for charcoal, good point. I will definitely look over all your threads before I start building.

FWIsmoker said:
Yes i have lots of experience with either the Party Q or IQ on the mini. They work incredibly well. Here are some olive oil and jerk dry St Louis ribs from yesterday. Set it for 250 and went 3.5 hours.

P1010363.JPG

fwismoker

Sep 15, 2013

Awesome, this is very helpful to see the placement of the bulkhead adapter.Did you start with a Smokey Joe gold or silver?

(oh and sweet looking ribs, too!) :)

fwismoker · Sep 15, 2013

Suie said:
Thanks! Yeah, I bet it would just be on for a second or two then shut off...lol

Ah, I wasn't thinking about room for charcoal, good point. I will definitely look over all your threads before I start building.

Awesome, this is very helpful to see the placement of the bulkhead adapter.Did you start with a Smokey Joe gold or silver?

(oh and sweet looking ribs, too!) :)

Thanks, It's the gold. That is a 3/4 " adapter that BBQ Guru sells, i've found it's really versatile. That adapter screws into the Joe hole (the other hole can be capped or foil taped over) and of course screws into 3/4" ball valves as well.

pyrate · Sep 15, 2013

I use an auger on my wsm for overnight smokes
Love it

Sent from my A500 using Tapatalk 2

suie · Sep 15, 2013

Well my Craigslist source dried up. I shouldn't have told him I was going to build a smoker with it, now he wants to keep it.

Anyway, I'm going to move forward with this, it will be a good winter project. I love my Good One smoker, but have been looking for something that is better on fuel.

Thanks for all the advice, definitely got a plan now. I'll post pics once I get going.

suie · Sep 19, 2013

I'm starting to gather all the items needed and had a question about the wire to use for making the charcoal basket. The only wire I could find in Lowe's is galvanized. Will that be a problem? This is for attaching the expanded metal to the charcoal rack.

fwismoker · Sep 19, 2013

Suie said:
I'm starting to gather all the items needed and had a question about the wire to use for making the charcoal basket. The only wire I could find in Lowe's is galvanized. Will that be a problem? This is for attaching the expanded metal to the charcoal rack.

NO NO... Use the Joe's charcoal grate and wrap/tie expanded steel around it. It only needs to be 3 "s high, I did it in 2 sections. Lowes has a 12" sheet of expanded metal in the metal works section. I used rebar wire for ties. If you want a picture of my basket just let me know.

suie · Sep 19, 2013

Rebar wire...I'll look for that, thanks!!

cody0707 · Sep 19, 2013

I use a IQ 110 on mine. Have a look: http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/149251/my-mini-wsm-build-with-iq-110

bama bbq · Sep 19, 2013

I use a SJS and simply use a tuna can with holes in it to allow the ash to fall around the can as the cook proceeds -- no ATC. I did cut the entire bottom out of the pot. I use a pie pan with a terra cotta clay flower pot saucer for a diffuser. Here's a pork butt:

IMG_1522.JPG

bama bbq
May 7, 2013

I ran a "ring of fire" or "snake":

IMG_1523.JPG

bama bbq
Sep 19, 2013

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bama bbq
Sep 19, 2013

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bama bbq
Sep 19, 2013

suie · Sep 19, 2013

Bama BBQ said:
I use a SJS and simply use a tuna can with holes in it to allow the ash to fall around the can as the cook proceeds. I did cut the entire bottom out of the pot. I use a pie pan with a terra cotta clay flower pot saucer for a diffuser. Here's a pork butt:

IMG_1522.JPG

bama bbq

May 7, 2013

Mmm, that looks great! I ended up getting a SJ gold, just because it'll be easier to hook up the Guru. Yours looks like it's burning, great, though. And you've got some nice stay-cool handles on your pot too. Did it come that way, or did you add those?

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