Long start up time on WSM

[Mattyt7]

I’m trying to figure out why it’s taking so long for the thick white smoke and charcoal start up smell to clear on my 18” WSM, usually 2+ hours after adding the lit coals to the unlit (minion method).

Here’s my typical process: get about 8-15 coals (embers from Home Depot) going in a large chimney starter. Meanwhile, I’ve got charcoal with a few wood chunks mixed in the charcoal ring with a dimple in the middle. After about 15 mins in the starter, I add the lit coals to the unlit in the dimple. I then assemble the cooker (no water, just foil the bowl) all vents open top and bottom. Once the temp gets to about 200 I shut all the bottom vents down to about 25% or less. From that point, I leave it alone and wait for the white smoke and “igniting charcoal” smell to dissipate. . . And wait . . . And wait. The temp usually continues to rise up to around 275+, even though I’m aiming for more like 239-250. Some where around 2 hours after first adding the lit charcoal I finally add the meat, even though smoke isn’t as thin as I would like and there still is a hint of the bad smell.

Some background: this is a new WSM I got for Christmas and I’ve used it about a half dozen times or so and I have installed gaskets around the top of the middle section and the door. The middle section is slightly out of round and I can see smoke leak around the edge of the lid (before and after the gasket). No smoke from the bottom of the middle section but I assume it leaks some. I’m new to using charcoal, so I’m learning as I go along with everything I’ve read on this site.

Any ideas are much appreciated!

 

[gmc2003]

Sounds like your doing it correctly. A couple of questions/thoughts come to mind.

1. Are you relying on the dome therm or an external for the smoker temps?
2. I have the 22" and only use 6 to 8 completely ashed over briquettes to start. 15 on an 18 may be to many.
3. When your burying the wood chunks are they close to the dimple?
4. Where do you live?

My 22" likes to run in the 250/260* range. I basically start it the same way you do, but I start shutting down the vents when I'm about 30* from my target temp. I'll let it stabilize and then make adjustments(usually takes about 15 mins) to hone in on my target. Some days one vent is completely closed and the other two are partially open(about a pencil width) and other days two vents are completely closed down with the third partially open. It never takes two hours. Maybe 45 mins. to an hour at most. The top vent is always open. As for leakage, you'll get that until you have a few smokes on the WSM. It will season up and seal itself with use. If the mid-section is leaking you can always give it a lite bear hug and reshape it(be careful not to overshoot).

 

[Mattyt7]

I have the iGrill that I run with it, though the dome temp is usually pretty close to my therm temp.

I tried using more like 8 lit coals the first couple go’s, but tried a few more each of the last couple tries without much change. The one thing is, with the large chimney starter it’s seems difficult to light so few briquettes. So not all of them are fully covered in ash. Maybe half are 100% while the other half has just one side covered. Could that be part of the problem?

 

[Mattyt7]

To answer your other questions, I try to mix the wood fairly evenly so one piece might be pretty close to the dimple. And I live in SoCal, so not at high altitude or anything.

 

[noboundaries]

You're doing everything right except your bottom vent control on startup. Waiting to 200F before shutting down the bottom vents allows too much heat to build, that's why it's hitting 275F+.

For 225F, no more than 8 hot Ridge/Embers briquettes in the dimple. Top vent full open botton vents BARELY opened, like 1/16th inch. The heat rises much slower due to less air flow, is easier to control, preheats the wood, and will give hints of blue by 90 mins, if not sooner.

When I'm aiming for a 150F jerky smoke, I set my bottom vents closed and only use 4 hot briquettes in the dimple to start my chamber.

Give the lower vent change a try.

 

[Mattyt7]

You're doing everything right except your bottom vent control on startup. Waiting to 200F before shutting down the bottom vents allows too much heat to build, that's why it's hitting 275F+.

For 225F, no more than 8 hot Ridge/Embers briquettes in the dimple. Top vent full open botton vents BARELY opened, like 1/16th inch. The heat rises much slower due to less air flow, is easier to control, preheats the wood, and will give hints of blue by 90 mins, if not sooner.

When I'm aiming for a 150F jerky smoke, I set my bottom vents closed and only use 4 hot briquettes in the dimple to start my chamber.

Give the lower vent change a try.

I’ll give it a shot! Thanks for the advice.

 

[fuzz415]

ihave a 22"WSM - im usually 45-1.5 hours to temp depending on wind. i will usually throw meat on when the temp gets to 250.

also, keep a few things in mind, temps are goingto be pretty high becuase no water pan. this is signficant.

also per an earlier post - 8- 10 completely lit briquettes. remember that as wood smolders or even catchs fire it will smoke white. wood will tend to light when it is on top. henry soo, recommends buring the wood chunks to assist in smoldering.

last point ill make, if you have figureed out ur time (2 hours). i would try all the above adjustments and then i would simply just put the meat on when you get ur temp and its about 1-1.5 hours. if you meat gets a LITTLE of SOME white smoke, its not the end of the world. after an hour all the thick nasty white smoke is essentially gone, you are just getting residual.

 

[HowlingDog]

This is more or less what I do when I fire up the WSM:
View media item 554369
I add the lit coals in the middle, although I usually make a small pit. I have read where some will put in a can with both ends removed, pour charcoal all around, dump in the lit coals in the can, then pull the can out. I think I need to try that.

It takes about an hour for things to clear enough for me to put on the goodies. Also, I have noticed when I adjust the bottom vents, it takes 10-15 minutes for the WSM to settle into the new temp. I tend to be a little impatient and I have to keep reminding myself to slow down, take my time, it will be fine just let the smoker do its thing!

 

[Mattyt7]

So I finally got a chance to put noboundaries’ advice to use, I’ve got some baby backs on as we speak. Starting with the bottom vents only slightly cracked open definitely helped keep the temps under control (it’s been cruising around 235 the whole time and never got above 245 ) but it took about an hour and a half or so to get to temp. An hour after adding 8 lit coals it was only at 190, so I opened them up a bit more to get closer to 225 before putting the meat on.

To get to temp quicker should I try a few more lit coals to start, or open the vents wider at the beginning?

 

[noboundaries]

I like the control of the barely cracked vents. If the smoke looked good at 190F, load the meat. That's what I do. The temp will drop a little, but taking the lid off fuels the fire with air. It will recover quickly and continue to climb, countering the heat sink of the meat.

I don't like chasing temps and found using more hot coals can cause that. But you can give it a try, say starting with 10 hot coals. It might work.

 

[Mattyt7]

At 190, the white smoke was still rolling, but starting to fade a little bit. My thought with using a couple extra coals but keeping the bottom vents just slightly cracked, is that it should reach a steady temp a little faster. And from what I’ve noticed so far, it seems the best smelling and looking smoke comes once it’s been at a steady temp for a while.

Does my logic sound reasonable?

 

[noboundaries]

Give it a try. There's no one way that works, except what works for you. My processes have changed, often due to using different charcoals. You're in the ballpark of finding your own process. You've got a good feel for controlling the temp.

On fellow uses a small propane torch in one of the vents to come up to temp in 30 mins. I've never tried it. Use the search feature. You'll find his threads.