14 " WSM . Small but mighty .

[chopsaw]

Nothing really to see here , but I bought this on a Walmart clearence several years ago . Just don't really use it , so I was thinking about selling it .
I had a small pork cushion I needed to cook , and figured I'd run the WSM . If it didn't turn out or go good , it really didn't matter .
Anyway , the point of this is , this .
Fired it up with a small load of B&B charcoal . When that lit , I added to it . All vents open . After about an hour it hit 250 , so I put the meat on . Just a 2 pound pork cushion .
Temp climbed to 275 . I closed one lower vent , but left the rest open . That thing sat at 275 , steady for the next 5 hours . I had a chunk of hickory in the mix , and threw a handful of pellets in at the end . That was it .
Really impressive .

I think total cook was right at that 5 hour mark .
Put the meat in a corningware dish and shredded .
Be some lunches next week .

I paid $109.00 for it new in the box . I'll be keeping it just for the
fun of it .

 

[yankee2bbq]

Awesome! Pretty much ‘set it and forget it ‘.
LIkE!

 

[BrianGSDTexoma]

Well done.

 

[sandyut]

The 14" WSM was my first smoker. A gift from my wife. I doubt she had any idea where it would lead. I used it for years and learned so much. Nice little smoker for sure!

 

[normanaj]

Nice.

I've had my 14.5" WSM since they intro'd them.Don't use it much these days but I still keep it around as every once in a while I get the hankering to go a little old school.

 

[chopsaw]

Thanks for the comments .
Looking back at my cooks , looks like this is only the 4th time I've cooked on it . I've ran it to dial in temps and such .
I did uncover it last summer , and it was full of water .
So I loaded it up . It hit 350 , and I just let it run to dry out . That was 8 am .
about 6:30 that evening I remembered it and went out to put it away . Damn thing was still running at 350 !! That was a full ring , this time was 10 coals to start and maybe 15 os so added in . Hardly no charcoal used , and still some left in the bottom .
It will get some use this summer for sure .

I get the hankering to go a little old school.

That's exactly where this took me . No therms , no looking . When I started to smell smoke and pork , I knew it was close .

 

[zwiller]

NICE. Oh man does seeing one of those bring back memories (and not good ones). First 5-6 smokes ever were on a WSM KO and never heard of the ring/snake/minion method. I did manage to make edible pulled pork once but the rest was pitched.

 

[Winterrider]

Cute little bugger

 

[gmc2003]

The 14 is supposed to be a miser with charcoal. Nice cook buddy

Point for sure
Chris

 

[Fueling Around]

Never used a WSM.
Trying to downsize so if I brought one home there would be hell to pay...
I've smoked a cushion sized piece of pork on the JJ using a pellet tube.

 

[chopsaw]

seeing one of those bring back memories (and not good ones).

I think some of that comes from to much info and thinking , in general . When I first got this I read a bunch of advice , watched a bunch of videos . Always had trouble with temps being to low .
The times when I just lit it and walked away , it ran the best .
Find where any of them like to run , and that's my cook temp .

Cute little bugger

Ha ! That's how I came up with the goofey title for this thread !

 

[chopsaw]

miser with charcoal.

Sure is . I was overloading it when I first got it , and wasn't giving it enough intake air .
When I stopped over thinking that part , it works great .

Never used a WSM.
Trying to downsize so if I brought one home there would be hell to pay...
I've smoked a cushion sized piece of pork on the JJ using a pellet tube.

My first Kettle was an 18 " one touch . Way back in 1982 . I used to do all kinds of indirect cooking / smoking on that thing .
Baked cakes , breads and pies on it too .
Is that JJ an 18 or 22 ?

 

[normanaj]

I was overloading it when I first got it , and wasn't giving it enough intake air .

Similar issue for me. I would simply dump a full chimney of lit charcoal and then wait for it to settle down and at that point I would already be ready to add more.

Then I did some reading here and started putting the soup can in the middle and building a somewhat orderly pile around the can with a few added smaller wood chunks instead of chips and then adding a half dozen lit coals to the space where the can was.And then a couple of adjustments with the bottom vents and I could more or less walk away from it.

 

[chopsaw]

soup can in the middle

I remember that one as well . Works good .
I made this small chimney for lighting the snake in my 26 . Would work good for starting the 14 .

full chimney of lit charcoal

I was starting with mostly raw charcoal . Took forever to come up to temp , if it ever got there .
Saw the " side light " method on here . Works good , but takes awhile to get going .

 

[Up_In_Smoke]

Sure is . I was overloading it when I first got it , and wasn't giving it enough intake air .
When I stopped over thinking that part , it works great .

I have an 18" WSM, love it.

Harry Soo says to mainly regulate temps by adjusting the top vent.
If you get the top vent closed too far, then close one of the
bottom vents some until the top is about halfway.

Since Harry says to do this, that's what I do.
The man is a wizard with WSM's.

 

[chopsaw]

regulate temps by adjusting the top vent.

Dave Omak always said the same thing , as well as the Weber website .
I've done it on my 26 ,, it works .
My main go to is let it run where it wants . Most of that comes from a consistant load of charcoal to start with and keeping that amount through out the cook . Adding however much on the hour .

 

[Colin1230]

My 14" WSM is my most used smoker hands down. Pork butts, meatloaf and back ribs get done the most. It's the perfect size for two people.

 

[sandyut]

Dave Omak always said the same thing , as well as the Weber website .
I've done it on my 26 ,, it works .
My main go to is let it run where it wants . Most of that comes from a consistant load of charcoal to start with and keeping that amount through out the cook . Adding however much on the hour .

That is how I was taught as well, from both those sources.

 

[Colin1230]

That pulled pork looks tasty, Rich!

I've had good luck with having one bottom vent wide open and directly up wind, the other two closed and the top vent wide open down wind. Seems to run 275 there. I start with the charcoal ring mostly full of charcoal and wood chunks then remove 8-10 briquettes to light in a small Weber chimney starter. When lit, just dump them back in. I don't think I have ever tried adjusting temp with the top vent. That could be really helpful when it is windy. I always use the water pan but dry for poultry when I want higher temp.

 

[normanaj]

It's the perfect size for two people.

This was my reason for buying it. Plus it takes up less room when I store it in the shed.