Question for 22.5 WSM owners

[Big Grouch]

Thinking about giving my 18.5 WSM to my daughter and son in law, replacing it with a 22.5, hopefully an end of season sale. Will I go through a lot more charcoal than the 18.5 if I'm doing smaller cooks? The 18.5 is fine for most of what I do, but occasionally I will do bigger cooks if I had the room. Thank you.

 

[clifish]

I don't have a WSM but aren't they pretty efficient on the charcoals? How much more could it use and would it really put a dent in the wallet in the long run?

 

[SmokinAl]

I had all 3 sizes & I ended up selling the smaller ones. I kept the 22 for several years & just sold it recently. The 22 does use a bit more fuel, but if possible I think I would keep both.
Al

 

[gmc2003]

Like Al said, your heating up a larger volume of space. So your gonna use more charcoal. I have a 22" WSM sitting in my garage that hasn't been used in at least a year or more. Since it's just the wife and I the 26" kettle has more then enough room, and I can get 6+ hours from one Weber chimney starters worth of briquettes. The trick with the 22" WSM is to shut it down when your meat comes off the grate. That way you can reuse the unburnt/partially burnt briquettes.

Chris

 

[JWFokker]

It will use noticeably more. The 22 is not just larger diameter but also taller. The cook chamber volume is almost double that of the 18.

 

[yankee2bbq]

Thinking about giving my 18.5 WSM to my daughter and son in law, replacing it with a 22.5, hopefully an end of season sale. Will I go through a lot more charcoal than the 18.5 if I'm doing smaller cooks? The 18.5 is fine for most of what I do, but occasionally I will do bigger cooks if I had the room. Thank you.

What a great gift to your daughter and son in law.
I had the 18.5 and traded up for the 22.5. Why? For a ever growing family and get-togethers. I like my 22.5 because of all the room for food to smoke. It does use more fuel, but like gmc2003 said, just shut vents to save charcoal.

 

[SlowmotionQue]

It will use more, but a couple of things to take into consideration.

1. Charcoal is cheap. Especially if it's the typical charcoal used in WSMs, namely Kingsford Blue bag. It sells for about 50-55 cents per pound. Even if you use 5lbs more of it, it works out to about $2.50-$2.75 more to cook on a larger smoker vs a considerably smaller one. 10lbs more of it would cost about $5.00 more in fuel for the convenience of not having to cook on a smaller smoker.

2. You don't have to run a full load of charcoal in it for shorter cooks, if you're really being thrifty.

 

[Hockeydudde]

Agreed with the other posters, it's minor. But my 22 doesn't seal as well as my 18. On my old 18 that I have to my sister if I shut the lid and vent, next morning the charcoal looked exactly as I left it. It all got saved. In my 22, the lid and intake damper fit isn't as tight. There is definite charcoal consumption as it cools. Maybe 25% of what was left burned up.

Edit: I misread the OP. Missed that this was about WSM. I was writing about kettles. Sorry.

 

[noboundaries]

My 22.5" WSM is gathering dust. Nowadays, I do small, short (<8 hours) smokes in my 22.5" Kettle. Spatched turkeys, ribs of any kind, chuckies, all chicken ( whole or parted), pork loins, tri tips, etc all go in the Kettle for the full smoke or grill.

Packer briskets, butts/shoulders, and multiples (2 turkeys), plus any long smokes all used to go in my WSM. I'd buy charcoal on sale in bulk so I didn't pay much attention to the cost per use. I did in the past, but price increases during and since lockdown have me using the VERY fuel efficient Kettle more than the WSM.

An overnight smoke in the WSM would use about 12-15 lbs of briquette charcoal, even more if Kingsford was used. I can use 1/3rd as much in the Kettle for several hours, then wrap and finish in the oven, including a rest. No discernable change in flavor.

I love that WSM and will use it when needed, but I've been able to stretch my 525 lbs of Royal Oak purchased in 2019 at 19 cents per pound to the present. I still have 108 lbs left (7 bags).

 

[SlowmotionQue]

My 22.5" WSM is gathering dust. Nowadays, I do small, short (<8 hours) smokes in my 22.5" Kettle. Spatched turkeys, ribs of any kind, chuckies, all chicken ( whole or parted), pork loins, tri tips, etc all go in the Kettle for the full smoke or grill.

Packer briskets, butts/shoulders, and multiples (2 turkeys), plus any long smokes all used to go in my WSM. I'd buy charcoal on sale in bulk so I didn't pay much attention to the cost per use. I did in the past, but price increases during and since lockdown have me using the VERY fuel efficient Kettle more than the WSM.

An overnight smoke in the WSM would use about 12-15 lbs of briquette charcoal, even more if Kingsford was used. I can use 1/3rd as much in the Kettle for several hours, then wrap and finish in the oven, including a rest. No discernable change in flavor.

I love that WSM and will use it when needed, but I've been able to stretch my 525 lbs of Royal Oak purchased in 2019 at 19 cents per pound to the present. I still have 108 lbs left (7 bags).

We’re still talking chicken feed.

19 cents back then is 22 cents now.

Kingsford sells for about 50-55 cents per pound today.

Charcoal is cheap. So cheap that 12-15lbs of it would run about $6.00-$7.50.

Just me, but considering the size advantage I’d hardly let the additional fuel consumption of the 22.5 be of concern vs the 18.5.

 

[bakerman]

I have cut the amount of charcoal in my WSM 22.5 for shorter smokes. I did 2 tri-tips with 1/2 of the ring filled. Cooked fine for 2 hours. But I agree with the concept of charcoal is cheap (Kingsford) but lump charcoal is not .

 

[JckDanls 07]

Its kinda like buying a truck... and then worry about fuel mileage ...

 

[SmokingUPnorth]

I had the 22” WSM along with my 22” kettle. I found myself using my kettle more often the the WSM. I ended up selling the WSM and adding a 26” kettle to replace it. I love the 26” kettle for bigger smokes. But me personally I just count the 22” and 26” kettle easier overall especially when it came to setting up, taking down and cleaning.

 

[bill1]

I think the "cooking price" needs to be considered relative to the meal price. If cost concerns made you you pass up steak to buy a 7# pork butt for under $15, it seems reasonable to want to control your fuel costs to some fraction of that $15. But if you're cooking $100 worth of meat, I agree it's a bit silly to quibble over a couple extra bucks for the fuel.

And of course cooking price includes the cooker costs as well as the fuel costs. If you just bought a $3000 rig at age 70 to use once a month for 5 years, well that works out to $50 per cook for just the equipment. I then wouldn't worry too much about either the meat price or the charcoal price.

 

[SlowmotionQue]

I have cut the amount of charcoal in my WSM 22.5 for shorter smokes. I did 2 tri-tips with 1/2 of the ring filled. Cooked fine for 2 hours. But I agree with the concept of charcoal is cheap (Kingsford) but lump charcoal is not .

True, good lump charcoal isn't cheap.

But, then you wind up right back where you were.

While good lump charcoal isn't cheap, you might stand a good chance of getting more uses, ie cooks out of a given amount of it.

Previously ignited lump, which may have cost more initially, might be easier to re light and re use than previously ignited briquettes which were cheaper to purchase initially.

At the end of the day, sure the 22.5 ends up using more fuel because it's a larger pit.

But everything is a trade off.

Is it worth it to have the additional space and not have to worry about getting creative with trying to make do with a smaller pit, knowing that the additional space is going to result in more fuel use?

Well, it just might be. Especially if the cost of the fuel isn't that great and markedly different otherwise, to begin with.