Hey ...thanks a mil for posting about this. I'm about to season my new 18.5
WSM, which I've been wanting for a looong time. I can't imagine how sad you felt when you came home to find out that something went wrong. I would also think that the unit should've been designed to be able to run with vents full open, dry bowl, and not damage the unit ...I'd give Weber a call and discuss it with them.
As for the Soo recommendation on covering the bowl with foil ...I found the instructions online too and found the foil covering piece to be a little confusing. For example, if you cover the bowl with foil flat across the top, then grease will drip down on it and run over the side into the coals ...a fire hazard I would think. And why cover the bowl in the first place? He's got you doing the first hot run with no meat in the BBQ, so why not just let it get hot? I foiled the inside of my bowl yesterday at noon, filled with hot water, then ran a full-on load of briquettes (Kingsford Competition) ...vents wide open, and a couple of chunks of (unknown type) freezer-burned beef from our chest freezer (grease source for seasoning). My
WSM, in about 45 F (or slightly cooler - Alaska), heated to only about 275 F peak ...I figured it would get hotter, but it didn't. I installed a Cajun Bandit (I think) Nomex gasket for the lid and the Cajun Bandit door while the BBQ was new and unused (best gluing) though, so mine probably has less air infiltration than others at this point. It ran steady clear until we went to bed at 8pm (we get up at 4am), maintaining 250-275 all along. Boy is this thing easier than trying to do low and slow with a
Weber kettle!!!! Very happy so far ...gonna do a hot run tonight, then a greaser run tomorrow, then cook for the first time this coming weekend... ought to be a party ...the septic pumping guy is coming over on Saturday ...I wonder what ribs and poo smells like together in the backyard? Yechh.....
Brian