Weber Smokey Mtn.

  • Some of the links on this forum allow SMF, at no cost to you, to earn a small commission when you click through and make a purchase. Let me know if you have any questions about this.
SMF is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

wmmcdonald7

Newbie
Original poster
Jul 7, 2013
10
10
South Carolina
I'm relatively new to smoking but I've been grilling for years. I bought a Char-Griller Pro gas grill , added a side fire box and started smoking. It worked OK but was hard to regulate temperature. I made several mods as recommended on that grill's forum but was not satisfied. I think the fact I was using the SFB on gas grill was a problem because of the openings in the bottom of the "smoke chamber".

After some research, I purchased a Weber Smokey Mtn. 22.5" VWS. I broke it in yesterday and plan to smoke something this weekend. I expect nothing but good results with this smoker and I welcome any suggestions, recommendations, etc.

I am curious as to how the Maverick 732 is used with this smoker.
 
I think you'll love the WSM. I've only heard good things about it. I built myself a UDS simply to avoid the cost of the WSM but I basically built it to replicate the WSM as much as possible. In terms of the Maverick 732, I have that exact model. To be quite honest, here's what I'd do- see if you can unscrew the thermometer that comes with the WSM. If you can, just stick your probes through that hole! (I'm envisioning a hole no bigger than a screw... obviously if it is some monster hole you don't want to do this...)
 
Lots of folks run their probes through the vents, while others cut a slit in the edge of the main body right where the lid goes. Others still drill holes and put grommets in, or hollow threaded lamp rod with a nut on each end and run the probes through that. Do a little research and you'll find what works for you. In the mean time, running them through the vent will get you thru your first few cooks without risking damage to your probes.
 
you can run the therm under the lid or make a grommet hole. 

with your new smoker i would remove the therm off the lid and dip the tip in boiling water this will let you know how far off the therm is from real temp, then put it back in. (mine reads 10 degrees cold and a replacement i had gotten reads almost 20 degrees cold)

next read up on the minion method for starting your wsm. i like the method but changed it just a hair for myself. instead of starting a chimney and adding a bunch of lit coal to the pile of unlit what i do is i put a paraffin tab in the center of my coals and light it. it winds up only lighting 3-4 coals (which is very difficult to do in a chimney, you have to light at least 12) and then letting the smoker come up to temp like that. what happens is less coals are lit and you get a slower temp rise and a longer burn. 
 
I run my probe under the lid, and will wrap a little bit of foil around the wire where the lid rests on it, so not too much stress is put on the cable. I'm not sure if it is actually effective or not though.
 
SmokingMeatForums.com is reader supported and as an Amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases.

Latest posts

Hot Threads

Clicky