Howdy all WSM owners !!!

22.5" WSM with a Cajun Bandit WSM stacker kit..... I named this one Darth Bacon

14" WSM - I use this one to smoke fish for my wife

Love these WSM's......

18.5 WSM.  

I use a Thermoworks billows and it works great.

Very.

Have a 18. Sadly doesn't get much use since  getting a char griller 980.

Started my first cook on the WSM using the Billows. So far, so good. Initially overshot the set temp by 13* then settled back to 225* over the next 15 minutes and now rock solid at 225*.  Cooking 2 St. Louis style ribs.

WSM with Smoke X and Billows is awesome. Ran for 3 hours at 225* and then bumped it to 250* for 2 hours, never missed a beat. A couple of spikes after removing the lid spray with apple juice on the ribs but it settled right back to the set temp Started with about 1/2 a ring of Kingsford Pro and a 1/2 chimney of lit coals with 3 chunks of cherry wood, I'd guess I could have gone 2 hours more if needed. Ribs tasted great. I don't know why I didn't do this a long time ago, makes it almost too easy.

Started cooking on a WSM. Have a 22.5 and a 14er. Got the 14er on Craigslist for $90.

WSM 22" here with Cajun Bandit door and a bigger thermo.  few pics b/c why not!

I’ve been very happy with my 22 inch WSM.

Only exception is the crappy thermometer on the lid. First one was off by 20 degrees, the warranty replacement ended up being off by 50 degrees after a few months. Now using a cheap digital thermometer with four thermocouples. Use three for the meat. Lay the other one on the grate for accurate smoker temp monitoring.

Done 60 pounds of butts multiple times.

I've had the 18 inch for right at 10 years. Cooked lots of good stuff over the years.

18.5 for 6 years now...I do want a 22.  But I really want an offset.  Working towards the offset first.  

I used thermometers for a few years.  Thermoworks smoke.  Work great...but they're just a distraction now.  I don't need to keep track of the temperature in the smoker...I know that with a full load of charcoal in normal temps I will get about 11 hours of solid 250ºF...it'll sometimes make it to 225 or 275...but honestly, it doesn't matter.  I've never had a brisket/ribs/pork butt/chicken/meat loaf/brats/etc cooked between those temperatures taste bad.  You wouldn't even notice the difference.  

I used to fret over a 10º swing in temperatures in the beginning.  It simply doesn't matter.  At all.  I do check final temps with an instant read on briskets and sometimes butts.  Anything else I generally just go by look/feel.  

I run it with water as it was designed to be and I leave all the dampers wide open all the time.  Cooks great que.

agree on temps mostly.  I used to worry more, now if it runs over 225 and under 280 I'm okay with it.  mine likes to hover at 235 or so if it's not too windy.

I tend to run with just a little water and bottom vents almost closed or mine gets to friggin hot.

I’ve had my wsm for 11 years and it’s still going strong.  I’ll need to get a new charcoal grate soon, but otherwise she looks good.

Smoked a pork shoulder yesterday. Last weekend I did 2 chickens and a brisket flat.

Had my 22" for about 12 years and it's awesome. For reliability, it's the best. Once it's tuned, I can set it and forget it for at least 6-8 hours.  Recently added the stainless steel hing kit for the lid. Bought the gasket kit but haven't installed it yet.

I dont have it but the hinge kit is a great add.  The lid gets greasy so it'll stain patios.  I usually open my Weber Genesis grill and set my lid on that. It works but not exactly ideal.

Did a brisket for the family over mothers day weekend.  Salt and black pepper only.  Hickory and oak chunks for smoke wood.  

I've switched to a mixture of hardwood lump and briquettes.  Briquettes on the bottom for the later parts of the smoke and hardwood lump on top for probably the first 4-5 hours of the smoke.

I dumped the half a chimney starter of lump coals on at 0400.  Meat on at 0430.  Went back to bed.  

Took the boys out dirt biking in the morning.  I didn't even touch the smoker until 1030 and the pit temp was at 256ºF.  That was 6 hours and the bark was looking good, internal was 160-167º.  Wrapped it with butcher paper and stuffed it back in.  

I then did a bunch of yard work and got ready for family to come over for dinner, fire, and fishing in the back yard.  

Checked it again around 4 and the pit temp was at 227ºF and it would have gone another 45 minutes to an hour if I let it go completely out. I added a bit of charcoal as it was going to need another hour and a half or so to get to temp.  

12 hours at cooking temp and I essentially never touched the smoker other than to tend to the meat.  Brisket had great smoke flavor, bark was delicious, point was perfect, flat was a bit dry(I've always preferred the point) but perfectly tender.  Family loved it.  Making brisket grilled cheese with the left overs tonight.  Family favorite.

nice!  where di you leave your vents?  I always have to sort of watch mine until it hits 225 or so then close vents.  mine likes to sit in the 235 range once its leveled.

I need to gather the guts to try brisket again.  I've only tried a couple times and never gotten it to "very good".

I love my 18" WSM!  With a BBQ Guru temp control fan, I can keep that thing spot on 225 degrees for 10+ hours.  Set and forget.  I've upgraded mine with a better door, castor wheels, gasket seals, and a lid hinge.  It's now a cadillac of WSMs...lol.  I have been running only KBB briquets but I plan to give Jealous Devil lump a go this weekend.

Mine likes to sit right around 250 with the vents wide open.  If it's super warm outside, I'll shut them down a bit...but generally I just let it rip wide open the entire smoke.  

That cook, the maximum pit temp was 282ºF, average temp was 249ºF.  I didn't reset the minimum so it was set at whatever the outside temp was when I put the probe in the pit.  I bet the minimum was when I checked it towards the end.

I have a pit boss pellet smoker now, and while it does ok, I dont feel like it gets good smoke. Ive looked at building an UDS vs just getting a WSM, would it be advantageous for better outcomes?

Been running a 22" WSM for 13 years. I've cooked it all of that thing and I know it like the back of my hand. Recently moved into horizontal offsets. First one, and Old Country Brazos. 1/4" thick steel throughout, really like it. "Any day now" my Workhorse Pits 1975T should arrive. Been waiting about a year for that one. The horizontal offsets do make better smoked food, but still, the ease with which the WSM smokes a brisket all night while I sleep has me forever questioning my shift to an offset...

Love my 22 WSM.  After a few years the thermometer started acting funky. Weber replaced it under warranty.

The “new” one lasted a few smokes then died. It would read over 200 degrees when it was 60 and no fire going. No way to calibrate like other thermometers.

Ended up with a digital thermometer with 4 probes. I use one on the grate, and put the other 3 in the meats. This is a big improvement over the stock thermometer and much easier than constantly sticking the handheld thermometer into the meat to check them.

I’ve had 60 pounds of pork butts at a time on there.  Briskets, whole chickens, and turkey breasts too.