WSM quick question

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hdsmoke

Smoking Fanatic
Original poster
Aug 20, 2009
300
10
Ohio
I recently acquired a new 18.5" WSM and i have a quick question regarding what to do with the left over charcoal after a smoke. Can you just leave it in the sharcoal ring? Will it draw moisture? If you take it out, what do you do with it to limit the mess? One last question, in the manual it says to leave at least one intake and the exhaust open to make sure no mold forms inside. I have been doing that, but seems like that would make your charcoal draw damp if you are leaving it in.

Anyone with experience on this? Oh yeah, obviously, i plan on leaving this outside with the cover on when not in use. Its too handy to have it on my deck and not have to move it back and forth from patio to garage.

Thanks!
 
Leftover lump I have from a previous smoke I use to light the chimney starter for the next smoke.

As for the mold, I use it so much I dont really worry about it.
 
If you're not going to use it often, I would stick with the manual on leaving the dampers open, especially if you live in damp weather like conditions. As for the leftover stuff, I do what Jim said in his post above me. I always re-use what is leftover. That stuff ain't cheap. Of course if you roll like that then toss it & use a new batch everytime. Have fun with your new toy. I am!!!
 
I personally don't leave any vents open when it is not in use. I usually fill the charcoal ring completely even when I am doing a short smoke and close all the vents to choke out the fire and save the charcoal when the food is done. I have let partially used charcoal sit in the WSM for about a month with no problems with moisture or mold. When I am ready to use it again I just shake the ring around to get all the spent ashes off the charcoal and lift up the charcoal grate and dump the ashes. Then just fill the rest of the charcoal ring back up with wood and charcoal.
 
Thats what i was looking for. I have done a couple quick smokes on this thing 2-3 hours each, and i started with a full ring...and i still have 2/3 ring left. I cant believe how efficient it is. So i have too much left to just throw in the chimney to start. So, i will just continue to keep using that and light fresh lump each time.
 
IMHO I would just throw out the charcoal after use. I have read numerous posts and some books that say charcoal is used to clean and purify things. (this makes sense to me when I read it.) It is porus and will pick up odor's and moisture. I wouldn't want a 10 - 25 dollar piece of meat ruined with in an effort to save .75c to a doller's worth of charcoal. Soon you will learn how much fuel to use to get you thru your cook. Also it's nice to know how long you could smoke given the fire you built if you let it go after removing the food??
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Meantime I would just leave it there or throw it in a separate bag and save it for the next time. As far as leaving vents open.. I would be worried about wasps and yellow jackets, something we have a lot of here in Oklahoma. They are building nests right now and just about anything will work if it keeps them out of the rain.

Keep a good log of how much charcoal you use and eventually you will be able to put in the right amount of charcoal for the number of hours that you need.

I have been keeping notes on my 22.5 - I actually count the pieces of charcoal
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I think I will be able to get to a point where I know that x amount of charcoal will run about x amount of hours.
 
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