Super Mini-WSM build with different pot for more height.

fwismoker · Sep 3, 2014

Here's a pic of leftover coals from a cook. All of the leftover will be easily used. I simply lift the basket and shake out all of the ash.

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fwismoker
Jan 20, 2014

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fwismoker
Jan 20, 2014

After shaking the most burnt coals along with partial burnt chunks will be my starting fuel of the next cook. I line it up most burnt to least burnt, then fill in with new. It never takes much!

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fwismoker
Jan 20, 2014

This gives me a hot clean start with TBS from the get go every cook and every bit of old is used up. I light the pre burnt coals and it burns evenly from one side to the other.

Here is another example but this is in my Jimmy (Jumbo Mini) I really piled my small bits of leftover up tightly into one spot, I did a hot 300* plus cook for maybe an hour and then seared. The cook didn't even eat into the new charcoal.

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fwismoker
Sep 3, 2014

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fwismoker
Sep 3, 2014

addertooth · Sep 3, 2014

FWIsmoker,

Yes, the mini can be awesome for preserving coals. In my case, I am attempting to burn off all my coals to divine and adjust burn patterns Preserving my coals is not the goal (for right now). When I want to recycle coals, I dump them in my fire-starter chimney, give it a couple shakes, the ashes fall out and the good coals are separated. The good usable coals are dumped back into the mini base, and all ashes in the mini base are removed at the same time.

fwismoker · Sep 3, 2014

Addertooth said:
FWIsmoker,

Yes, the mini can be awesome for preserving coals. In my case, I am attempting to burn off all my coals to divine and adjust burn patterns Preserving my coals is not the goal (for right now). When I want to recycle coals, I dump them in my fire-starter chimney, give it a couple shakes, the ashes fall out and the good coals are separated. The good usable coals are dumped back into the mini base, and all ashes in the mini base are removed at the same time.

Just letting you know from experience makes things simple and give you the cleanest burn. You evidently don't mind spending money on the mini so i'd HIGHLY suggest going down to Lowes and picking up a $10 piece of expanded metal.

You can still watch burn patterns all you like and still burn off all your coals.

Don't my pictures show you the burn patterns? I've done the side to side burn probably 200 cooks and I get no surprises, it still burns side to side 100% of the time. Just trying to help.

jarjarchef · Sep 3, 2014

Very nice info. I like the willingness to try new things.

Have you tried the moving of the shelve screws yet? If so any issues with gunk? The gasket material you used. I have not seen or heard of it before. Where would I start to look for it? Is it food safe/grade? Is it flexable?

Great job. Keep looking forward!

Jeramy

addertooth · Sep 3, 2014

FWIsmoker,

As you learn how I work, you will learn I always hedge my bets. A local Sutherlands is going out of business. The have expanded metal sheet (2 feet by 4 feet) for $15. I bought it. But I always like to play with my toys, and try odd concepts with it. I may end up making a basket; the material is already on hand, so it isn't an issue of spending the money.

JarJarChef,

Lava Lock is available on Ebay and Amazon. It is specifically made for Grills and Smokers. It is Nomex and available with and without adhesive backing. It is available in a variety of widths and thickness. It is very flexible in the thin dimension, and can turn a wider radius in the thicker dimension. You can search those sites for "nomex gasket", "lava lock" and "BBQ gasket". All of those searches should turn up product. I would say the name of the specific vendor, but someone has told me to avoid making postings which sound too much like a third-party advertisement.

fwismoker · Sep 3, 2014

Addertooth said:
FWIsmoker,

As you learn how I work, you will learn I always hedge my bets. A local Sutherlands is going out of business. The have expanded metal sheet (2 feet by 4 feet) for $15. Ugh, it's 10 at Lowes. I bought it. But I always like to play with my toys, and try odd concepts with it. I may end up making a basket; the material is already on hand, so it isn't an issue of spending the money.

At least you have it though

addertooth · Sep 3, 2014

At my local Lowes, the ten dollar sheet is 1 foot by 3 foot; less than half the size of the Sutherland sheet. I like keeping extra fabrication material around for other projects.

dirtsailor2003 · Sep 3, 2014

I always get a clean full burnout, when I load just enough fuel into my Mini. The only problem is for the most part I get lazy and over fill it. The nice thing is like Keith has mentioned what you haven't burnt you can use again.

Prior to having the charcoal basket there was no way to get a complete burn. Trust me I tried.

My longest burn to date is 16 hours. Using the ash guard, and the charcoal basket heaped full. Started by lighting one side with my torch like I always do now. Nothing but ash left when it was done. No special air blowers, no other aids. Mini held constant temp like a champ.

fwismoker · Sep 3, 2014

Addertooth said:
At my local Lowes, the ten dollar sheet is 1 foot by 3 foot; less than half the size of the Sutherland sheet. I like keeping extra fabrication material around for other projects.

Your 2x4 sheet is definitely a better price overall. This is what all the Lowes carries in their metal works area which is more than enough for the mini considering it can only be 3"'s tall...Basically you cut two 3" strips and have half of it left over.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_168753-3767...earch=expanded+steel&productId=3051815&rpp=32

pc farmer · Sep 3, 2014

dirtsailor2003 said:
I always get a clean full burnout, when I load just enough fuel into my Mini. The only problem is for the most part I get lazy and over fill it. The nice thing is like Keith has mentioned what you haven't burnt you can use again.

Prior to having the charcoal basket there was no way to get a complete burn. Trust me I tried.

My longest burn to date is 16 hours. Using the ash guard, and the charcoal basket heaped full. Started by lighting one side with my torch like I always do now. Nothing but ash left when it was done. No special air blowers, no other aids. Mini held constant temp like a champ.

Looks like I have more work to do. My longest burn was 10 hours, but I had some fuel left.

fwismoker · Sep 3, 2014

c farmer said:
Looks like I have more work to do. My longest burn was 10 hours, but I had some fuel left.

It depends on the temp, no way you're gonna get a 16 hour burn @ 300* plus like you were cooking on that cook for a while. You could probably get there @ 250ish.

pc farmer · Sep 3, 2014

Yea, i had it set at 280 when i went to bed. I am sure it went higher as it burnt in to the high spot in the basket. Gonna try a long 225 cook to see what I can get.

Maybe a packer cook.

fwismoker · Sep 3, 2014

c farmer said:
Yea, i had it set at 280 when i went to bed. I am sure it went higher as it burnt in to the high spot in the basket. Gonna try a long 225 cook to see what I can get.

Maybe a packer cook.

When you took the pot off it shot up to like 325 didn't it?

pc farmer · Sep 3, 2014

FWIsmoker said:
When you took the pot off it shot up to like 325 didn't it?

Not on that cook. I didn't lift the pot. I already had learned that lesson.

dirtsailor2003 · Sep 3, 2014

FWIsmoker said:
It depends on the temp, no way you're gonna get a 16 hour burn @ 300* plus like you were cooking on that cook for a while. You could probably get there @ 250ish.

The last long burn was running 270-280.

One thing to mention was that it was 80 degrees outside. The longest smoke I've had during the winter 30 degrees outside was 12 hours, same pit temps, full burn. I probably could have got another couple hours has I used Keith's patented insulation sleeve.

jarjarchef · Sep 4, 2014

Thank you for the direction.

addertooth · Sep 4, 2014

No problem JarJarChef

bgmddy · Oct 3, 2014

Edit: I posted this erroneously. Thought I was commenting on someone's plans to make a manifold for his pistmasterIQ. Sorry!

My IQ setup is really simple; just a single 1" hose barb w/ conduit nuts inside and out. The barb gets kinda hot, but I only push the IQ hose on about 1/2" and haven't seen any damage yet.

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bgmddy
Oct 3, 2014

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bgmddy
Oct 3, 2014

bgmddy · Oct 13, 2014

Addertooth said:
The Pizza stone is the 13 inch "Nordic Ware" Pizza Stone Set from Target (less than $17). It is about 3/8 inch thick and appears to be ceramic. It leaves about a 1/2 inch gap around it's outer edge for convective air and smoke flow. I used this exact same stone in my other mini build. It is supported by the heads of 6 pan-head 1/4-20 bolts. I have had no problems with cracking on my other mini build, it is much sturdier than the classical flower pot base. It is also more vertically compressed, which save more of the pot space for meat!

I use the tempered glass turntable from a broken microwave for a diffuser. It's 12" in diameter (15/16" gap around the outside).

Your build is complex and expensive, but VERY nice!

addertooth · Oct 13, 2014

Thanks BGMDDY,

One of these days I will toy with it some more.

Super Mini-WSM build with different pot for more height.

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