Wife surprised me with a WSM 18.5 for Christmas

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raleighsmoker

Newbie
Original poster
Dec 26, 2014
16
11
I was definitely surprised this Christmas with a new WSM 18.5.  I've been talking about getting one for several  months now, but been putting it off.  My wife works at the family hardware and ordered one for me.  This will be my first time moving away from gas to charcoal and looking forward to it.

Question:  is it okay to use a WSM on a wooden deck?  I was thinking maybe I need to buy some kind of tiles and create a heat/fire barrier, but thought I would ask some of you that are more experienced.  I live in a townhome and not a good place to create a patio, which is what I would prefer.
 
I do not own a WSM but believe you should protect your deck with a heat barrier.  What can it hurt?  Welcome to the forum, the search bar at the page can be your best friend.  Have a problem/question just search for the answer.  You can always post a question and someone will be along shortly to help you out.

Richard
 
3x5 hardiboard is suitable, and highly paintable which helps for cleaning, consider high temp paint or cement stain for the architecturally bent people. Maybe even a design. I have used specially made for purpose mats that I got at Lowes, but the hardiboard is cheaper and lasts longer. The mats had hand holds that were nice but ultimately seperated at the layers after 10+ years.
 
Glad you joined the group. The search bar at the top of any page is your best friend.
About anything you wanna know about smoking/grilling/curing/brining/cutting or slicing
and the list goes on has probably been posted. Remember to post a QVIEW of your smokes.
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Post it and you will probably get 10 replies with 11 different answers. That is
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Happy smoken.
David
 
3x5 hardiboard is suitable, and highly paintable which helps for cleaning, consider high temp paint or cement stain for the architecturally bent people. Maybe even a design. I have used specially made for purpose mats that I got at Lowes, but the hardiboard is cheaper and lasts longer. The mats had hand holds that were nice but ultimately seperated at the layers after 10+ years.
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Welcome  to SMF RS and were glad to have you aboard so join in, share your experiences, have some fun and don’t forget to post our favorite………

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Happy smoking

Joe
 
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  Good morning and welcome to the forum, from a overcast and gloomy day here in East Texas. Lots of great people with tons of information on just about  everything.  

Gary
 
Welcome! That's a great wife you have! It's a good idea to put something down under your WSM. A good option would be a metal hot water heater pan. The heat isn't super bad. The pan will collect anything that will drop out. Also the pans are easy to move. Lined with foil easy to remove the WSM and clean. Good luck season that smoker up and start smoking!
 
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You may want to check with your insurance company. Ours here says that putting a grill on a wooden surface without proper protection is a no no.

Alan
 
welcome.  I am a newbie myself kind of.  Just got a WSM about 2 weeks ago, a Christmas gift (to myself... with of course prior wife approval)

While others on here are way more experienced, I will say I did tons (and tons) of research including on this board and it lead me to the WSM.  I think you will absolutely love it. 

To answer your actual question, it does have a heat shield and I don't think it gets that hot BUT if it was me, personally I would buy like 4 12" square paver stones or patio tiles (or whatever size you need) like you mentioned, and at least place that on the deck and then the smoker on top of that.  Couldn't hurt and it might actually look like of nice.
 
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Thanks guys for the welcome comments.  I had been looking at this forum for a number of months hoping to join one day as a true smoker.  I'll head over to Lowe's this afternoon and look around at some options.  I'm hoping to smoke my first Boston Butt on Tuesday.
 
 
Thanks guys for the welcome comments.  I had been looking at this forum for a number of months hoping to join one day as a true smoker.  I'll head over to Lowe's this afternoon and look around at some options.  I'm hoping to smoke my first Boston Butt on Tuesday.
I am not to pump one store over another, especially since I really like Lowes, but at least where I live (central Ohio) I have found home depot has a lot more smoking / grilling accessories etc.  The main one was 4-5 different types of wood (Lowes only had hickory), including 2 sizes of bags (in the chunks I mean, not the chips - you will want chunks) - a smaller $8.00 or so bag and a much larger $20 bag. 

I think you meant for the tiles etc but just saying your other items may be more plentiful at home depot if that is even an option.
 
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