Mega WSM - think it will work?

biaviian · Jun 29, 2017

I have an extra middle section of a 22", the Bandit rotisserie and expansion ring. Put all of that together and you have a smoker that towers over the vast majority of people and will require a ladder (I know, not safe). Being that I have two middle sections I can stack them such that I have a temp probe in each section. I will be doing a test run but I am wondering what people think in regards to temp regulation/zones.

2017-06-29 12.31.23.jpg

biaviian
Jun 29, 2017

It is leaning because the ground isn't level.

SmokinAl · Jun 29, 2017

Looks cool!

Your gonna need a step ladder!

Al

noboundaries · Jun 29, 2017

Just pray it doesn't get windy!

Reminds me of the smoker at a bar in Kingsville, TX in the late 70s. They had limited room outside, so they made a vertical smoker out of a big propane tank. Even though it had a door, they needed a 6 or 8 foot ladder to get the meat off the top rack.

Friday night's at that bar were epic! Great food, cold beer, lots of pool tables, and a friendly mix of locals and Navy.

smokinbill1638 · Jun 29, 2017

Hey y'all I'm gonna watch this and see if it works.

browneyesvictim · Jun 29, 2017

Looks like something from NASA.

biaviian · Jun 29, 2017

The wind was a concern for me as well. I have latches to secure all sections, and I can anchor it to the ground if needed and my property is protected from the wind. During Super Storm Sandy houses all around had roofs off, siding missing, etc. and we didn't see any wind unless we looked at the tree tops at the edges of our property. We had two trees fall because the massive amounts of rain made a swamp and they couldn't handle that. We have a just over 8 acres, so I'm happy that it is all protected.

cornman · Jun 29, 2017

I'm with Smokinbill, I want to see how this pans out!

biaviian · Jun 29, 2017

Hopefully, I'll get to try it this weekend. I'm doing a fatty tomorrow and rabbit Saturday so I may put it together just to see how it goes. My goal is it get it figured out in time for a leg of lamb so I can hang it from the top section. I had a lamb butchered today and if they didn't freeze it I'll do a leg on the 4th. I really hope they didn't freeze it.

dward51 · Jun 29, 2017

I predict the temps will vary widely depending on which grate level you are looking at. That's a lot of air column to heat. It may look decent with a test run and no meat, but once you start loading up each grate level with cold meat mass, each level just sucks more energy out of the air column as it rises. As long as you are aware of it and rotate grates throughout the smoke it should work. The other option is load less meat, but then what is the point of having the tower of WSM?

I may be wrong, but this is my prediction.....

biaviian · Jun 29, 2017

dward51 said:
I predict the temps will vary widely depending on which grate level you are looking at. That's a lot of air column to heat. It may look decent with a test run and no meat, but once you start loading up each grate level with cold meat mass, each level just sucks more energy out of the air column as it rises. As long as you are aware of it and rotate grates throughout the smoke it should work. The other option is load less meat, but then what is the point of having the tower of WSM?

I may be wrong, but this is my prediction.....

I agree 100%.

remsr · Jun 30, 2017

I find it a hassle to deal with my WSM 221/2" it does a great job but is still a hassle dealing with the lower rack. 2 more would really be a hassle for me, but that's just me.
There is a temp difference between the top rack and the bottom rack in my WSM, the difference of temps between the top and bottom of that rig might be way different. Diying to here how well it works.

Randy,

kastur troi · Jul 2, 2017

I have something similar... and find it sucks up a lot of charcoal to keep it going. But I have a total of 15 square feet in my WSM (six racks, no water pan). I use a Hunsaker Vortex chamber to help keep the temps stable.

In terms of temp zone, when the first chamber sits at 275, the middle and dome we're at 250. But since I have no water pan, grate temps ranges from 350 at the bottom to 300 at the top grate.

Be sure to add extra vents on top to help with the draw. Otherwise, you will have smoke going backwards through the intake and smothering your fire. I just cut a giant 4" hole where the original vent was.

wsm01.jpg

kastur troi
Jul 2, 2017

biaviian · Jul 2, 2017

I think I found a better use for the extra mid-section. I recently bought a 22.5" kettle so I can turn that into a smoker whenever needed.

biaviian · Jul 2, 2017

Kastur Troi said:
I have something similar... and find it sucks up a lot of charcoal to keep it going. But I have a total of 15 square feet in my WSM (six racks, no water pan). I use a Hunsaker Vortex chamber to help keep the temps stable.

In terms of temp zone, when the first chamber sits at 275, the middle and dome we're at 250. But since I have no water pan, grate temps ranges from 350 at the bottom to 300 at the top grate.

Be sure to add extra vents on top to help with the draw. Otherwise, you will have smoke going backwards through the intake and smothering your fire. I just cut a giant 4" hole where the original vent was.

That is one nice looking smoker!

kastur troi · Jul 2, 2017

Biaviian said:
That is one nice looking smoker!

Thanks!

The Hunsaker claims to do 10-12 hours in a 55 gallon drum with no issues (18 pounds of charcoal). I find with my double stacked 22", I get only 6-7 hours of solid smoking before the charcoal need a refill. I chalk it to the extra volume...

gr8day · Jul 4, 2017

Cooked with a full load of Cowboy Lump and Hickory Chunks in the Hunsaker yesterday, cooking @300 went 10hrs before shutting down, after cleaning out the basket this morning there was still 1/8th of a basket of coals left. So I'm confident I could get 12hrs of cook time on a full load of Lump cooking @300 and probably longer using Briquets.

biaviian · Jul 4, 2017

Gr8day said:
Cooked with a full load of Cowboy Lump and Hickory Chunks in the Hunsaker yesterday, cooking @300 went 10hrs before shutting down, after cleaning out the basket this morning there was still 1/8th of a basket of coals left. So I'm confident I could get 12hrs of cook time on a full load of Lump cooking @300 and probably longer using Briquets.

How easily can you control the temps with the Hunsaker? Do you, or can you, use a DigiQ thing?

gr8day · Jul 4, 2017

Biaviian said:
How easily can you control the temps with the Hunsaker? Do you, or can you, use a DigiQ thing?

Once you get to temp and you set the vents it locks in, no need for a Automatic Temperature Controller, it really is impressive as far as adjusting temps and staying at a particular temp once locked in. Just don't leave the lid open for long periods of time like when you want to wrap, pull the meat close the lid, wrap then put back in. I had a WSM and thought it was easy to control temps but every cook was different with how to set the vents and how stable it would stay, the Hunsaker is consistent.

Yesterdays cook I set the vents when it hit 300, then put the brisket on cooker temp dropped to 260, gave it 30min to se if it would rise back to 300, was taking longer than I liked so I opened the vents a bit when I got to 290 set the vents and it stayed there for the rest of the cook.

biaviian · Jul 4, 2017

Gr8day said:
Once you get to temp and you set the vents it locks in, no need for a Automatic Temperature Controller, it really is impressive as far as adjusting temps and staying at a particular temp once locked in. Just don't leave the lid open for long periods of time like when you want to wrap, pull the meat close the lid, wrap then put back in. I had a WSM and thought it was easy to control temps but every cook was different with how to set the vents and how stable it would stay, the Hunsaker is consistent.

That is very interesting. You see those results in a 22" or what size? I don't see anywhere near 10 hours even at 250, with a controller, in my 22".

gr8day · Jul 4, 2017

I had a highly modded WSM 18.5 with a hanging kit, was originally looking at a Insulated Cabinet Smoker like the Humphrey's battle Box or Backwoods G2 Chubby, after hanging Ribs and poultry I knew I would be better off with a Gateway or Hunsaker. I'm very happy with my choice and the more I cook on it the happier I am about my choice, my first cook on it was the middle of May and I already have a dozen cooks on it.

Mega WSM - think it will work?

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