New smokey mountain

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Moonlight Grahm

Newbie
Original poster
Jan 22, 2023
4
0
Hello
New to smoking , been grilling for years first stab at smoking . This smoker was highly recommended so I'm looking for any help on mods I would need, and best methods to heat up smoker , .
Thank you
 
Hi , welcome to the forum from Minnesota! Hopefully the guys with smoky mountains smokers will see this and respond.

You can also put Smokey Mountain Smoker in the forum search box, quite a few responses will come up( don't know about any being about mods?)

Possibly also try starting a new thread in the smoker section of the forum with your question, you might get better responses then in the Roll Call area.
 
Welcome to the forum Grahm and congratulations on the new smoker. The WSM is one of the best. I had an 18.5 WSM and still have my 14.5 WSM.
I would start with getting the 'Menion Method' down first. Try one full chimney starter of unlit charcoal in the charcoal ring and then one third to one half of lit charcoal on top of the unlit coals. Lots of good instructions out there, Google is your friend.
As far as mods go I don't think the WSM needs much. One thing that will really help is to get a second charcoal grate and place it cross way to the original grate and wire them to the charcoal ring. This creates a handy basket to separate ash from un-burnt briquettes. Next, find a stainless pizza pan on Amazon to fit in place of the water bowl for high heat, fast cooks. Be sure to foil your water bowl, inside and out, whenever you use it. Makes clean up much easier. Get to know your cooker before going crazy with modifications. Learning fire management is more important. Like I said, the WSM doesn't need much. Weber certainly got it right with that cooking machine.
One more thing I might add. You don't need meat on the grill to fire it up and play around with temperature control. Just burn some charcoal and have fun.

Once again, welcome and congratulations.
 
Welcome to the forum Grahm and congratulations on the new smoker. The WSM is one of the best. I had an 18.5 WSM and still have my 14.5 WSM.
I would start with getting the 'Menion Method' down first. Try one full chimney starter of unlit charcoal in the charcoal ring and then one third to one half of lit charcoal on top of the unlit coals. Lots of good instructions out there, Google is your friend.
As far as mods go I don't think the WSM needs much. One thing that will really help is to get a second charcoal grate and place it cross way to the original grate and wire them to the charcoal ring. This creates a handy basket to separate ash from un-burnt briquettes. Next, find a stainless pizza pan on Amazon to fit in place of the water bowl for high heat, fast cooks. Be sure to foil your water bowl, inside and out, whenever you use it. Makes clean up much easier. Get to know your cooker before going crazy with modifications. Learning fire management is more important. Like I said, the WSM doesn't need much. Weber certainly got it right with that cooking machine.
One more thing I might add. You don't need meat on the grill to fire it up and play around with temperature control. Just burn some charcoal and have fun.

Once again, welcome and congratulations.
Thank you for the info , any thoughts on using it in cold weather I'm in wisconsin and wondering how it holds up to the cold .
 
I made ribs around Xmas. Air temp was -25f and smoker held steady at 250 the entire cook. The WSM is awesome and holds temp unbelievably good. It’s almost too easy using one. I use the minion method with a couple chunks fruit/ hard wood placed within the basket
 
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I made ribs around Xmas. Air temp was -25f and smoker held steady at 250 the entire cook. The WSM is awesome and holds temp unbelievably good. It’s almost too easy using one. I use the minion method with a couple chunks fruit/ hard wood placed within the basket
Wow that's awesome I read somewhere u may need a thermal blanket for the smoker
 
Hello
New to smoking , been grilling for years first stab at smoking . This smoker was highly recommended so I'm looking for any help on mods I would need, and best methods to heat up smoker , .
Thank you
Hey Grahm, first off welcome to the forums. For the WSM. The first thing I would do is wash the grates with soap and water. It really doesn't need a burn-in because it's porcelain coated so there isn't any mfg. oils or crude to burn off. Second it works great in the winter months. I live in VT and never had any issues. Third I always recommend folks use their new WSM a few times before making any mods. Get to know it and how it works. You may find out you don't need any mods. I've had mine for about 10 years and I haven't added any mods to it. BTW what size did you get?

Chris
 
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The 18
Hey Grahm, first off welcome to the forums. For the WSM. The first thing I would do is wash the grates with soap and water. It really doesn't need a burn-in because it's porcelain coated so there isn't any mfg. oils or crude to burn off. Second it works great in the winter months. I live in VT and never had any issues. Third I always recommend folks use their new WSM a few times before making any mods. Get to know it and how it works. You may find out you don't need any mods. I've had mine for about 10 years and I haven't added any mods to it. BTW what size did you get?

Chris
The 18
 
New WSM's tend to throw some smoke out from where the lid and center section meet, and around the side door. Some people use gaskets to seal these parts up, but I found they seal up pretty well after some smoking sessions. My side door was pretty warped from the factory, so I carefully bent it a little over my leg to help it seal better. Other than that, Chris is right. Just use it and go from there. I only use the water pan when it's very hot outside. Normally I use a clay saucer that I foil, and use that instead as a heat diffuser. Once you figure it out, these things are rock solid.
 
Thank you for the info , any thoughts on using it in cold weather I'm in wisconsin and wondering how it holds up to the cold .
Wind will be your enemy more than cold temperatures. I have never used an insulating blanket, save your money.
 
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