LARRY RUINED IT

[Puff1]

That's great SC. I wish my neighborhood did that.

 

[Unity]

you must bring those mango trees with you. will they fare well in Kansas?? 8)

Fare well is probably a good way to put it.

Your chevy-red cooker is awesome!

--John 8)
(Looks really good with smoke coming out of it. )

 

[Finney]

That thing looks great.

 

[Nick Prochilo]

Nice rig SC!

 

[Captain Morgan]

I love that last pic with the smoke coming out!!!

 

[Greg Rempe]

How fast does the charcoal come under control after you close the door and adjust the vents? I guess I don't see why the MM isn't suggested for this cooker...can you explain a bit more on the fire up process and adjustment deals...thanks!!!

 

[wittdog]

Oh man that is a thing of art....I know you'll be enjoying it. Very Nice Pit

 

[SteerCrazy]

How fast does the charcoal come under control after you close the door and adjust the vents? I guess I don't see why the MM isn't suggested for this cooker...can you explain a bit more on the fire up process and adjustment deals...thanks!!!

It is suggested to start to add 2 lit chimneys of coals. I had a difficult time bringing up the temps because of the 7 gallons of water I had in the water pan. I made the mistake of putting the coals directly under the water pan so basically I was trying to heat the water and that was delaying the temp. I added 2 more chimneys, lit, I spread it on each side of the grate. that brought the temps up about 220* and I went to bed.

Regarding the MM, it takes some time to get the top box up to temps but once it's up there it stays there. It would take some time to get the temps up if you have a bunch of unlit coals and have some lit coals slowly lighting the unlit coals.

Once the cooker got up to temps it stayed between 225* - 240* when the coals were getting low my temps still held. I lit 2 more chimneys and threw in those lit coals. 2 chimneys kept the upper box hot for 4 hours.

I did 1/2 lump 1/2 charcoal. Lump burns hotter and can overheat the upper box.

I took for granted the ease of the WSM and the MM. But for my next cook I will start it 2 hours before I decide to throw anything on the pit. That way the water will be warm and the box will have some kind of stable heat to it.

I'll start with maybe 3 chimneys to get it up to temps. Let it burn for 2 hours, throw the food on, check the temps, light up another chimney, maybe 2, then hit the hay for 4 hours.

Once the temps were up I closed the bottom dampers 1/2 and the top stacks I had 1/2 closed.

If the cooker got too hot I closed the dampers about 1/2 way, too cold I opened it all up. still learning about the top stacks. Could I keep those 100% open the whole time? I spose you can, never used a smoker with top stacks and don't know how the adjustment of those affect your temps.

For my first time though, the food was done in time and turned out fantastic. I think that if this was my first time using a smoker I would be totally lost. Using the WSM for 5 years really helped me understand how the temps fluctuate and how to adjust them.

Still all a learning curve

 

[SteerCrazy]

That's great SC. I wish my neighborhood did that.

yeah, its a good way to meet your neighbors other than just giving them the courtesy wave as they drive by.

 

[Unity]

Still all a learning curve

But you're having a really great time.

--John 8)

 

[Greg Rempe]

Steer...your WSM has a top stack!

 

[SteerCrazy]

Steer...your WSM has a top stack!

yeah, and I kept that open the whole time! I guess I can just leave the two top stacks open the whole time as well, heck, I don't know :roll:

Still all a learning curve

But you're having a really great time.

--John 8)

yes I am.........I threw a few wood chunks in there when people started showing up to eat, just for the affect

 

[john pen]

regarding the water tray...Does the water just sit in the v/deep section ?

 

[SteerCrazy]

regarding the water tray...Does the water just sit in the v/deep section ?

Yes, the nice thing is you can balance the smoker with the front tongue crank thingie (yes I said that) to balance it out and prevent the water from having too much forward and not enough back in case your on a hill or your driveway is sloped.

you cannot remove the water pan but does have the drain valve in case you have extra water when your cook is done.

 

[Greg Rempe]

Did you get the auto water feed deal?

 

[SteerCrazy]

Did you get the auto water feed deal?

No auto water feed........I didn't need to refill this thing, it's alotta dang water I don't know if the large ones have the auto water feed because of the size. Jay didn't mention anything about it. Maybe the small and mediums have them.

 

[SteerCrazy]

How fast does the charcoal come under control after you close the door and adjust the vents? I guess I don't see why the MM isn't suggested for this cooker...can you explain a bit more on the fire up process and adjustment deals...thanks!!!

Greg, I was talkin with some other Spicewine owners of that size and what some guys do is once the cooker gets up to temp and it's time to refuel, they will put unlit coals on the backside of the lit coals to get those to lite slower. Some guys do it this way, some guys dont.

Because of the size of the cooker it takes about 2 hours to get it up to temps. Plus with 8 gallon water pan it would take longer to get it up to temps if you started with the MM.

I'm going to fire it up again this weekend. I'll start the fire and get it up to temps then when it's time to refuel I'll throw unlit coals on the backside of the lit.

I'll let ya know

 

[DaleP]

I have the small SW and I dont start it as the directions say. It took over 2 hours to get up to temp with a full water pan going straight by the directions. In fact I only use a small amount of water in the pan, and I use 2 chimneys of lit coals to get it up to temp "takes 30-40 minutes" and then add meat. We add more water after the temps get up plus if it gets a little too hot, we use cold water to steady temps. Works like a charm. It seems like more trouble but everything cooks way faster in the SW then what the bullet took. I can cook butts in less than 8 hours which to me seems unreal since It always took at least 15-20 hours on my WSM.

I want to get a medium but the small works great for us right now since getting the Primo Jr. we are set. We are going to sell the Beast of a pull behind and buy a box trailer or something other than 2 pickups full of stuff we are doing now.

 

[Pigs On The Wing BBQ]

Is this a cace of working smarter? Than harder? I think so. Good thinking Dale!

 

[SteerCrazy]

I have the small SW and I dont start it as the directions say. It took over 2 hours to get up to temp with a full water pan going straight by the directions. In fact I only use a small amount of water in the pan, and I use 2 chimneys of lit coals to get it up to temp "takes 30-40 minutes" and then add meat. We add more water after the temps get up plus if it gets a little too hot, we use cold water to steady temps. Works like a charm. It seems like more trouble but everything cooks way faster in the SW then what the bullet took. I can cook butts in less than 8 hours which to me seems unreal since It always took at least 15-20 hours on my WSM.

I want to get a medium but the small works great for us right now since getting the Primo Jr. we are set. We are going to sell the Beast of a pull behind and buy a box trailer or something other than 2 pickups full of stuff we are doing now.

good point Dale and thanks for the info. You are right, and with the large SW it's 8 gallons of water Takes 2 hours to get her to temps and by that time you've burned through most of the coals.

I'll fill maybe 3 gallons next time and see what happens. As far as cooking times, I find that butts take me 12-13 hours. I keep the internal temp between 225* and 235*. The gauge on the door is 30* +/- 2 degrees difference than 2nd from the top grate temp.

Ribs are the usual 5 hours for me and the nice thing is that if it gets too hot I can open the door a wee bit and let some of that heat escape and get it back down to where I want it.

When you divert from the WSM you don't realize how much tinkering you gotta do to keep the temps where you want them. The WSM is truly a set and forget!