Thanks for the video! Beginner here, always thought I needed to have a full chimney with the Minion method but your instructions for only lighting a dozen or so in the chimney has been a game changer! As well, your guide re lower vents really allowed me to dial in the temps that I've been looking for... Thanks again! Bjc
Excellent Video! I have the 22.5 inch and it burns really HOT! My method is almost identical to you - I don't completely shut my vents, but pretty close.
Thank you! Yes, best case scenario is to not shut down the vents completely, but I'm still fairly new and learning the wsm still, so the temps get out of hand sometimes for me and I'm forced to shut them all down😅 I also lived in Southern CA at the time of recording this, so the outside heat had a big effect on my temps. But anyways, enjoy your WSM and good luck on your next cook!
Have had my WSM for ten years and finally dialed it in thanks to you. No water and with 15 lbs at 275 I got 8 hours of steady heat. 15 briquettes was perfect..thank you! One question, what is the purpose of the center wood chunk; since it is not ready to put meat on..caused a lot of extra smoke early…
My best advice is to get a fan blower, try a BBQ Guru pit viper or bull. They work well as far as temperature control, and you can set and forget with peace of mind
Great video!! I have the 18 in wsm. I set up charcoal bed like you but mine always runs over 300 F with all dampers closed and even shut lid damper without much effect,,,,I have not done any of the insulation mods. Using water pan I could keep it at 250 F range, but as soon as went dry, temp spiked over 300F. Maybe too many air leaks,,,?? Thanks you for sharing your video. 👏😉
I personally use the snake method on my 22" WSM with all three bottom vents shut to about a pencil once I reach the target temp and the top wide open. Saves a ton of charcoal and if I know I need to cook for 14 hours+, I add a 3rd row to the snake. I do two rows bottom, one row on top usually.
Thanks for the tip! I've never tried the snake method but would love to try it once I get my hands on another wsm! I just moved out of state so I had to leave my cooker behind 😞
@@harpz17x Hey! I never measured it out precisely but I would do two parallell rows inside of the coal ring and then another row on top of them so it touches both "lanes" if that makes sense. Basically lay two rings inside the coal ring, both touching eachother. Then lay another ring on top of those two so those coals touch both rings, the snake effectively burns 3 coals every segment. Make sure to leave a gap at the start and the end of your snake to dump your lit coals as I found accidentally lighting both negatively affects the runtime of your snake. If you are going to add wood, I personally use chunks and place them on the first few sections of the snake as from my experience, most of the smoke is absorbed within the first 30 minutes of cooking. Hope that makes sense and good luck!
I wish I saw this before the 4th 😭. I bought an older WSM off Craigslist and thought since I'm familiar with the kettle this should be a breeze. I wasn't ready for how leaky it was and my temps spiked hard throughout the cook. I'll try setting up like this is the future
Sorry to hear that, I know your next cook will be much better! The first is always the worst 🙂 but congrats on finding a used WSM! I just moved to TN and have been looking for one with no luck so far 😰
Thanks for the great video! Just one question: I always try to make the top vent the LAST one I open. My thinking is that by keeping the top vent closed as much as possible, I'm keeping the meat surrounded by as much smoke as possible. I prioritize the bottom vents for lowering temps. What do you think about my theory? Nonsense or could I be on to something?
Awesome video!!! Thanks so much! Question you dumped the entire bag, but that is probably for 16 hours? How much of the bag would you recommend for 4 hours, around 5 pounds?
4 hours is one 4th of 16 hours. That was a 20 pound bag. Divide a 20 pound bag by 4. So 5 pounds of charcoal. But burn time will always have many variables. Charcoal. temp, humidity etc.
Great video but I was wondering something, do you let the lit charcoal burn the other charcoal before putting the meat on or do you let the charcoal burn the other charcoal while it is cooking.
Great question! I go by temperature, so once the pit is at the desired temp (ex. 225F), I put the meat on. The minion method will slowly burn the coals from the center of the ring outward. So throughout the cook the lit charcoals will slowly ignite the unlit coals. Hope that helps!
I do a similar setup, but you should definitely try using better charcoal like B&B lump or briquettes. It burns cleaner, longer, and even smells better than KBB, also way less ash.
appreciate the tip! I've use B&B pellets in my family's pellet grill but never tried their briquettes or lump. When I run out of KBB i'll give it a shot!
@@AntsBBQCookout No need. There is nothing more consistent than briquettes for long cooks. Same size and shape. Don’t waste your money, your results won’t be better.
Soo first cook on my 22.5 today and it went awful. Waaaay to hot and couldn't control the temos at all. Got up to 400 and couldn't get it down to save my life. Dumped it all and tried again. Same thing happened. All the wood somehow lit on the bottom.
This is old but gold. Just set it up exactly as described and temps have been rock solid so far.
Thanks for the video! Beginner here, always thought I needed to have a full chimney with the Minion method but your instructions for only lighting a dozen or so in the chimney has been a game changer! As well, your guide re lower vents really allowed me to dial in the temps that I've been looking for... Thanks again!
Bjc
Love the tutorial! Straight and to the point, I will definitely start with less lit briquettes during my next cook to keep the temps better in check!
Thank you! Glad you found it helpful 😁 my first cook on the wsm was wrecked because I used too many lit!
One of the best explications of the WSM on UA-cam. Thanks great job
Nicely done! Just got my WSM 18 and will be setting it up for low and slow. Good tutorial for someone who is just starting out.
Glad to hear it! Good luck on your BBQ! Hope it turns out great 👍
Great tutorial! Now all I need to do is get is a Weber Smokey Mountain 😂
Lol how could I have forgotten step 1!
Great tutorial, short sweet but crystal clear. Thanks
No problem, I'm glad it was helpful 😊
Excellent Video!
I have the 22.5 inch and it burns really HOT!
My method is almost identical to you - I don't completely shut my vents, but pretty close.
Thank you! Yes, best case scenario is to not shut down the vents completely, but I'm still fairly new and learning the wsm still, so the temps get out of hand sometimes for me and I'm forced to shut them all down😅 I also lived in Southern CA at the time of recording this, so the outside heat had a big effect on my temps. But anyways, enjoy your WSM and good luck on your next cook!
DOUBLE SALUTE, your video is difinitly on point 👍🏾👋🏽👋🏽👋🏽✌🏾👌🏾 Double SALUTE👍🏾👍🏾👍🏾👍🏾
🙌🙌🙏😁😁💯
Have had my WSM for ten years and finally dialed it in thanks to you. No water and with 15 lbs at 275 I got 8 hours of steady heat. 15 briquettes was perfect..thank you! One question, what is the purpose of the center wood chunk; since it is not ready to put meat on..caused a lot of extra smoke early…
My best advice is to get a fan blower, try a BBQ Guru pit viper or bull. They work well as far as temperature control, and you can set and forget with peace of mind
Great video!!
I have the 18 in wsm. I set up charcoal bed like you but mine always runs over 300 F with all dampers closed and even shut lid damper without much effect,,,,I have not done any of the insulation mods.
Using water pan I could keep it at 250 F range, but as soon as went dry, temp spiked over 300F.
Maybe too many air leaks,,,??
Thanks you for sharing your video.
👏😉
I personally use the snake method on my 22" WSM with all three bottom vents shut to about a pencil once I reach the target temp and the top wide open. Saves a ton of charcoal and if I know I need to cook for 14 hours+, I add a 3rd row to the snake. I do two rows bottom, one row on top usually.
Thanks for the tip! I've never tried the snake method but would love to try it once I get my hands on another wsm! I just moved out of state so I had to leave my cooker behind 😞
Hey, just wondering how many lit coals you use to start off the snake method
@@harpz17x Hey!
I never measured it out precisely but I would do two parallell rows inside of the coal ring and then another row on top of them so it touches both "lanes" if that makes sense. Basically lay two rings inside the coal ring, both touching eachother. Then lay another ring on top of those two so those coals touch both rings, the snake effectively burns 3 coals every segment.
Make sure to leave a gap at the start and the end of your snake to dump your lit coals as I found accidentally lighting both negatively affects the runtime of your snake. If you are going to add wood, I personally use chunks and place them on the first few sections of the snake as from my experience, most of the smoke is absorbed within the first 30 minutes of cooking.
Hope that makes sense and good luck!
With or with out water pan
I wish I saw this before the 4th 😭. I bought an older WSM off Craigslist and thought since I'm familiar with the kettle this should be a breeze. I wasn't ready for how leaky it was and my temps spiked hard throughout the cook. I'll try setting up like this is the future
Sorry to hear that, I know your next cook will be much better! The first is always the worst 🙂 but congrats on finding a used WSM! I just moved to TN and have been looking for one with no luck so far 😰
Thanks for the great video! Just one question: I always try to make the top vent the LAST one I open. My thinking is that by keeping the top vent closed as much as possible, I'm keeping the meat surrounded by as much smoke as possible. I prioritize the bottom vents for lowering temps. What do you think about my theory? Nonsense or could I be on to something?
Great tutorial bud, thanks!
No problem, hope it helped! What are you cooking 👀
Great informative video. Smoke on!
Great video. Thanks!
Np!
Great video!!!!
Thank you!
Does the constant lighting of new coals give off dirty smoke? Or do they get pre heated enough to go straight into proper combustion?
They preheat so no dirty smoke once they fully catch
Interesting video! How long do you let your Weber heat up before you put the meat on?
Thank you, it's been a while since I used the 22. But I think it took about 30 mins to get it close to 225. It is a bit quicker in the 14 inch.
Awesome video!!! Thanks so much! Question you dumped the entire bag, but that is probably for 16 hours? How much of the bag would you recommend for 4 hours, around 5 pounds?
4 hours is one 4th of 16 hours. That was a 20 pound bag. Divide a 20 pound bag by 4. So 5 pounds of charcoal. But burn time will always have many variables. Charcoal. temp, humidity etc.
Great video! You mentioned shutting the top vent if it gets too hot. Do you fully or partially reopen once it reaches the desired temp?
Thank you, start partially and keep opening until it dials in to the right temp and maintains. Good luck!
@@AntsBBQCookout thanks for the advice. I’ll try it!
Great video was that the 18” or the 22”?
This is the 22"!
Great video but I was wondering something, do you let the lit charcoal burn the other charcoal before putting the meat on or do you let the charcoal burn the other charcoal while it is cooking.
Great question! I go by temperature, so once the pit is at the desired temp (ex. 225F), I put the meat on. The minion method will slowly burn the coals from the center of the ring outward. So throughout the cook the lit charcoals will slowly ignite the unlit coals. Hope that helps!
@@AntsBBQCookout thanks for the help
I do a similar setup, but you should definitely try using better charcoal like B&B lump or briquettes. It burns cleaner, longer, and even smells better than KBB, also way less ash.
appreciate the tip! I've use B&B pellets in my family's pellet grill but never tried their briquettes or lump. When I run out of KBB i'll give it a shot!
@@AntsBBQCookout No need. There is nothing more consistent than briquettes for long cooks. Same size and shape. Don’t waste your money, your results won’t be better.
Soo first cook on my 22.5 today and it went awful. Waaaay to hot and couldn't control the temos at all. Got up to 400 and couldn't get it down to save my life. Dumped it all and tried again. Same thing happened. All the wood somehow lit on the bottom.
Any update on the 22 WSM, I’m debating buying the 18 or 22 WSM