Picked up a used WSM 18!

[fendersrule]

Scored it for $150. It was used maybe 4-6 times. Deep cleaned and polished it and got her ready to roll.

I picked up a chimney chute for $5 as well, and you can see some of the stuff I'm going to use for the first smoke in the back ground (B&B oak briquettes, hickory and cherry chunks).

I like stuff on the smokier side. Probably will do 6-8 chunks, maybe 3 hickory and 5-6 or so cherry?

Will do the low and slow 250F method. Probably will start it up tomorrow evening at 9PM or so, then kinda hang around and get comfortable with it until midnight, then go to sleep and wake up the next day....:)

Will foil line and fill up the water pan.

 

[Colin1230]

Great score! I think you are going to eat well. Meatloaf or over the top chili would be good first cooks. Then a pork butt, gotta do a butt.

 

[fendersrule]

Great score! I think you are going to eat well. Meatloaf or over the top chili would be good first cooks. Then a pork butt, gotta do a butt.

Haha, I typed all that, but didn't say what I was going to smoke! I have a pork butt in the fridge that's dying to get used.

Do I have a lot of balls using this smoker overnight on the first smoke?

 

[DRKsmoking]

Nice score with that , and glad Colin mentioned the meat,
I thought that is a lot of wood smoke to just coat the inside of the smoker, lol

And over night is not for me. Just not that comfortable. I don't even use my house oven
timer and leave the house for hours . But that is me. Just a nervous Nelly I guess.

I just picked up a 14 at a good price and used it a couple times , and I love it
compared to my Propane/charcoal vertical which I really love, but it is more like an oven

David

 

[bill ace 350]

Haha, I typed all that, but didn't say what I was going to smoke! I have a pork butt in the fridge that's dying to get used.

Do I have a lot of balls using this smoker overnight on the first smoke?

Sounds like a nice score!

I don't think lots of balls are required for overnight smoking....

 

[Smokin Okie]

Nice score with that , and glad Colin mentioned the meat,
I thought that is a lot of wood smoke to just coat the inside of the smoker, lol

And over night is not for me. Just not that comfortable. I don't even use my house oven
timer and leave the house for hours . But that is me. Just a nervous Nelly I guess.

I just picked up a 14 at a good price and used it a couple times , and I love it
compared to my Propane/charcoal vertical which I really love, but it is more like an oven

David

Same here, it means no sleep for me. Can't rest easy with a fire going in anything.

And maybe its just me, but my first cook on a WSM would not be overnight. Maybe a 4 hour rib cook would be a better trial run.

 

[mr mac]

Nice smoker! It was my first foray into the charcoal world from propane.

 

[Smokin Okie]

This forum is the authority on WSM's.

The Virtual Weber Bullet

 

[Smoke-Chem BBQ]

I do a few overnight cooks a year with my 18" WSM, but it took me awhile to get sufficiently familiar with it to do so.

When I do, I sleep on the couch in the sunroom adjacent to the deck with the smoker, so I'm only a few feet away from it. And I'll either set max/min temp alarms on the remote thermometer to wake me when things go out of spec, or more typically, just set an alarm to wake me every 2 1/2-3 hours so I can check on things. Something is going to need spritzed or mopped or turned or wrapped or whatever every couple of hours anyway, so an all-night unattended smoke just isn't going to happen.

 

[fendersrule]

I do a few overnight cooks a year with my 18" WSM, but it took me awhile to get sufficiently familiar with it to do so.

When I do, I sleep on the couch in the sunroom adjacent to the deck with the smoker, so I'm only a few feet away from it. And I'll either set max/min temp alarms on the remote thermometer to wake me when things go out of spec, or more typically, just set an alarm to wake me every 2 1/2-3 hours so I can check on things. Something is going to need spritzed or mopped or turned or wrapped or whatever every couple of hours anyway, so an all-night unattended smoke just isn't going to happen.

Personally, I don't do anything to pork butts for the first 7-8 hours.

On my pellet grill, I only cook them over night, otherwise there would be too much waiting.

My schedule has always been:

Throw butt on at midnight.
wake up at 7-8 and check. Wrap by 9.
finish by 11-12
Feed neighbors by 2-3.

Lots of people do overnights in a WSM.

 

[JLeonard]

Nice score and cleaned up nice! Look forward to the trial cook and your thoughts.

Jim

 

[normanaj]

One thing I will add is if you're going to go to sleep get yourself at a minimum a quality dual probe thermometer with a hi/lo temp alarm,one for food temp and the other for chamber temp. This will save you much frustration.

 

[fendersrule]

Yea, I have a thermal DOT and I may have another off the shelf one. Problem is that the alarm will be outside.

One of these days I'll probably get a Wifi controller. Problem is that I'll be sleeping inside and not outside, haha. :)

It will get down in the mid 20s tonight. The time I start the cook will be about 27-28. I'm thinking it should stay consistant. Not using lump either.

I'll be doing the Harry Soo method of burring about 8 chunks and the modified minion of using my starter in the center.

Definitely will use a water pan. I don't expect to get much temp instability to lose sleep over, but I may be wrong?

 

[Cabo]

Please let us know how it goes. I have not done an overnighter with the WSM (yet). Did them a lot with my old propane smoker.

 

[fendersrule]

I decided to not do overnight, but to start at 5PM or so just to be present during the smoke.

It very much is a set it and forget it thing, even being 28F outside with some wind. I didn't touch the smoker very much at all. I had to run it nearly wide open 90% of the time.

I don't have any "finish" pictures, but here's a pic of during:

The smokiness is 100% there and is EXACTLY what I was looking for when it came to replacing my pellet grill. Nice rich smoke taste. I brought some to my offset friend and he said the flavor is damn close to an offset and that he was going to build one himself. He's surprised that I didn't have to tend to it as much.

I used 8 chunks and was worried that it was too much, but it was just right for my taste profile.

Get it up to temp, then just let it ride by itself.

I also found the dome temp guage to be pretty close/accurate enough to the grate temp.

 

[fendersrule]

For X-mas, I asked for a wifi setup that can alarm me for both the grill and the meat. With that, I would feel very comfortable going to sleep.

 

[kelbro]

Get a DigiQ ans sleep like a baby!