Help - Extending smoke duration in WSM?

[hyphen]

So, I'm planning on smoking my first boston butt (8lbs). I've been smoking ribs and small butts (in the 3-4lbs range) on my Weber Kettle to decent success, I just hate having to baby sit it to make sure temps don't fluctuate too much. In comes the WSM.

I've read here and other places that using sand in the water pan will extend the life of the coals. I guess my question is, how long would a WSM 18 go on a single load of coals? I'm assuming that this smoke will take about 14-16 hours. Would sand or an empty pan be of any benefit? Also, is this little guy reliable enough to leave unattended overnight?

Thanks for any input. I'm planning on starting this up late Friday night so I can have some pulled pork tacos, nachos and sliders ready for Saturday night.

 

[SmokinAl]

My 22 will go over 20 hours on one load of charcoal & I use lava rock & water in the pan.
Just fill the charcoal ring up as full as you can get it with a mix of charcoal & wood chunks.
Then start 10-12 briquettes & put them in the middle of the pile. Let the smoker come up to around 200 degrees, then shut 2 of the bottom vents & leave the 3rd one open about 1/2" & see where the temp levels off at. Also leave the top vent open all the way. You may need to make a couple of adjustments, but it should hold steady all night long.
Al

 

[hyphen]

Sounds good, thanks Al.

 

[gmc2003]

Al's given sound advise. With a 18" you may not need 10-12 coals to get her going. I'm thinking half that would probably due.

Chris

 

[hyphen]

Al's given sound advise. With a 18" you may not need 10-12 coals to get her going. I'm thinking half that would probably due.

Chris

Yeah I figured as much. I gave it a quick test run the other night with about 10 coals give or take and a couple chunks of apple wood and nothing in the water pan and it ran pretty hot. With all 3 dampers almost completely shut the temp on my digi thermometer was around 275. BTW, that dome thermometer is incredibly inaccurate past 250F. The dome read 275 when my digi had a reading of 325+