So I got a WSM...

[Grimas 669]

I just bought some high temp gasket tape off amazon for $15 and put it around my existing door... Tape

[Sam Lin 3550]

Posted this on the old board, but this is after the first use of my Cajun Bandit door, showing the coverage and how little it leaks. This was stock latch, no gasket. I burned about 1/3 less charcoal for the same cook. I bought a scratch and dent from their site, $29 shipped.

[Hank_Hill 18785]

Oh wow.

[Baboontyme 2809]

That's nice. I'm sure the tape would work, too. But then you can't open the door to add charcoal or just check on shit. I think I'm gonna get me one. 

[Hank_Hill 18785]

11 minutes ago, Baboontyme said:

That's nice. I'm sure the tape would work, too. But then you can't open the door to add charcoal or just check on shit. I think I'm gonna get me one. 

Think you apply it under the door just like a gasket kit.

[dcbc 14464]

15 hours ago, Baboontyme said:

I mean fuck it, go for it....worst that happens you put the bowl back in right? Let us know how it goes. 

Cajun bandit door looks intriguing. Maybe I'll get drunk and order it one night. https://www.cajunbandit.com/Stainless-Steel-Smoker-Door-With-Latch-Fits-18-5-p/18dlb08.htm

Bowl stays in regardless.  14" clay pot base fits in the bowl.  Foil the bowl as usual.  No need to add water.

[dad 557]

Does a little leakage through the door perimeter really noticeably affect temperatures within the smoker? That's so hard to believe. 

Edit: Nevermind, I see someone on here said they used about 1/3 less charcoal. I guess it helps more with efficiency over a long smoke than it does with affecting the temperatures at the meat. 

Edited April 26, 2018 by dad

[TornACL 7698]

Helps with efficiency and I wonder if it helps with the smoke ring / smoke flavor

[Grimas 669]

14 hours ago, Hank_Hill said:

Think you apply it under the door just like a gasket kit.

Bingo!  I bought a roll of the tape rather than the gasket kit as I can use the remaining tape on another smoker...

[baboso 6054]

Cajun Bandit door and latch are definitely worth the money.  If you have an 18, look at the larger fire ring they make also.  Really extends the range of time you can hold temps.

[dcbc 14464]

I think a Cajun Bandit Door and latch are in my future.  I get about 12 hours out of mine before temps start to drop and I need to refuel.

I'm going to try the clay pot bases tonight.  I bought a 14" and 12" base, wrapped them in foil, and set the smaller one inside the larger one in the bowl.  Then I foiled the boil.

I also got an extra charcoal grate so I can lay them in a crisscross pattern, which keeps the charcoal/wood from slipping through the grates too quickly.  Hoping that gets me a bit more time off a bag of charcoal.

[immortal13 4059]

I just bought the gasket kit and lid hinge on ebay for around $70 bucks. The cajun bandit door will be my next accessory.

[dcbc 14464]

Experiment with clay pot bases done.  Pretty happy with the result.  Held 240 F all night with one vent open a pencil width.   Probably could have held it lower, but 240 was fine with me.  A lot less fluctuation than with water getting it dialed in.  I checked it at 6 a.m., wrapped the brisket and added fuel so I could get some sleep.  Brisket was done in 12 hours.  Pics to follow (have had it in the warmer and taking it to a party this afternoon).

[immortal13 4059]

My brisket turned out a little tough, the flat anyway. I smoked it(9 lb) between 215 and 235 for about 11 hours. Pulled it off around 188° because my dinner guests were showing up. The ribs turned out great, but I was disappointed in the brisket. Any ideas?

[PantsTent 2002]

1 hour ago, immortal13 said:

My brisket turned out a little tough, the flat anyway. I smoked it(9 lb) between 215 and 235 for about 11 hours. Pulled it off around 188° because my dinner guests were showing up. The ribs turned out great, but I was disappointed in the brisket. Any ideas?

Just needed more time.  I don't know if any brisket will be tender at 188F.

[Baboontyme 2809]

You pulled it at 188? Yes I have an idea. 

[immortal13 4059]

Ok thanks. Admittedly I am a brisket smoking rookie. I just ran out of time I guess.

 

 

Goddammit that sounded aggyish

[Baboontyme 2809]

To Champ's (and many others) point in the brisket thread...it's not done until it probes like warm butter. I pulled my last one too early and I was getting 205/6/7 readings but it wasn't probing right. You have to worry about feel for doneness much more so than temp readings. 

[Hank_Hill 18785]

Yea I’ve had a lot pulling 209-210 the last few times

[dcbc 14464]

Mine have been pretty consistent in being ready at 209 for whatever reason.  Today's pulled at 212.  People at the party where we served left no leftovers.

 

[Baboontyme 2809]

Well done. Is that flat only? Hard to tell. 

[Tommy El Gato 10]

On 4/28/2018 at 2:48 PM, dcbc said:

I'm going to try the clay pot bases tonight.  I bought a 14" and 12" base, wrapped them in foil, and set the smaller one inside the larger one in the bowl.  Then I foiled the boil.

The clay bases work great.  No need to wrap them in foil, just cover the bowl and start cooking.   

[dad 557]

On 4/28/2018 at 2:48 PM, dcbc said:

...

I also got an extra charcoal grate so I can lay them in a crisscross pattern, which keeps the charcoal/wood from slipping through the grates too quickly.  Hoping that gets me a bit more time off a bag of charcoal.

I did the same a while back and it works very well for those very reasons.

[dcbc 14464]

11 hours ago, Baboontyme said:

Well done. Is that flat only? Hard to tell. 

Thanks.  It's a full packer.  I cooked it to take to a party.  We were running late and I snapped that picture right before taking it out to serve.  Not the best shot.  I separated the point from the flat while slicing to have more slices.  Most times, I leave it intact, but I really liked the way this one turned out. 

[Baboontyme 2809]

No I meant in the picture. I can tell the slices on the right are lean but now that I'm more sober pretty sure the slices on the left are from the point. 

[dcbc 14464]

5 hours ago, Baboontyme said:

No I meant in the picture. I can tell the slices on the right are lean but now that I'm more sober pretty sure the slices on the left are from the point. 

I think I cut out about a third of the pan in that picture and whatever parts of the brisket were in it.

[dcbc 14464]

Gave away most of the brisket last weekend.  So I'm doing another one tonight.  Grabbed some big beef plate ribs, too.  Going to try to get them on between 11 and midnight tonight.

[dcbc 14464]

 

[immortal13 4059]

I could almost take a bite right now.

[thunderlounge 7812]

Lowe’s had bags of Stubbs on sale here last weekend. Limit of 6, so that’s what I picked up. No idea when i’ll be able to use it, but it’s ready when I am.

 

[dcbc 14464]

14 hours later, and everything came off at the same time.  Rested and tossed them in a warm oven for later.  Brisket pics to follow. 

Beef ribs looked amazing.  Not sure what happened to the bark in that one spot, but I'm sure it's my fault.

Edited May 5, 2018 by dcbc

[Landomatic 3813]

1 hour ago, dcbc said:

Not sure what happened to the bark in that one spot, but I'm sure it's my fault.

Just guessing here, but probably the spot where you picked a piece off and ate it?

[immortal13 4059]

4 hours ago, Landomatic said:

Just guessing here, but probably the spot where you picked a piece off and ate it?

Or a big rat

[dcbc 14464]

Why not both?

Having image upload issues.

Edited May 6, 2018 by dcbc

[immortal13 4059]

This site is the worst for uploading pics.....just fucking ridiculous 

[Baboontyme 2809]

tinypic.com y'all

[dcbc 14464]

IMGBB lets me copy google image links.  Wasn't working earlier for some reason.

 

[immortal13 4059]

That brisket looks fantastic, man. Pos reps

[dcbc 14464]

4 minutes ago, immortal13 said:

That brisket looks fantastic, man. Pos reps

Thanks.  I usually buy the choice packers from WalMart.  This one was pretrimmed, which always worries me.  But it was really tasty.

[baboso 6054]

Brisket does not look DAF.

[dcbc 14464]

6 hours ago, baboso said:

Brisket does not look DAF.

Thanks.  At first, the ribs looked a bit dry, but somehow were not.  Still think they could have used another hour on the cooker. 

[krevo 142]

On 4/25/2018 at 6:03 PM, dcbc said:

So nobody is using clay pot bases or sand in the water bowl?

I've been back and forth on this for 5 years.  First I just used water and pressure washed my pan after a cook.   Then I started foiling and adding water.  Then I switched to playground sand (which quickly started to harden and fuse to my pan)  The clay pot base thing just seemed heavy and made it harder to wrap in foil.  

I'm now back to just doing overnight briskets with water in the pan and higher heat cooks (poultry, beef ribs, butts) with no water.   My 22 will run in the 275 range with no water and stays below 250 with water.

[krevo 142]

On 4/25/2018 at 7:34 PM, Baboontyme said:

I mean fuck it, go for it....worst that happens you put the bowl back in right? Let us know how it goes. 

Cajun bandit door looks intriguing. Maybe I'll get drunk and order it one night. https://www.cajunbandit.com/Stainless-Steel-Smoker-Door-With-Latch-Fits-18-5-p/18dlb08.htm

My WSM door was bent in the box and I immediately bought the CB door.   I used the WSM latch until the plastic melted and the nut came out.   You can get the Cajun Bandit compression latch on Amazon for 22 bucks if you google cajun bandit compression latch.  Made by Southco Inc and will be the first link you see.  

 

You can also buy a door gasket kit and Unknown BBQs hinge for the lid on Amazon.  Hinge is hands down the best upgrade you can get for a WSM.   It's nice being able to just tilt the lid back and have it stay in place while you spritz, mop, etc.

Edited May 7, 2018 by krevo

[immortal13 4059]

1 hour ago, krevo said:

My WSM door was bent in the box and I immediately bought the CB door.   I used the WSM latch until the plastic melted and the nut came out.   You can get the Cajun Bandit compression latch on Amazon for 22 bucks if you google cajun bandit compression latch.  Made by Southco Inc and will be the first link you see.  

 

You can also buy a door gasket kit and Unknown BBQs hinge for the lid on Amazon.  Hinge is hands down the best upgrade you can get for a WSM.   It's nice being able to just tilt the lid back and have it stay in place while you spritz, mop, etc.

I just bought a gasket kit and the hinge on ebay for ~75 bucks. I haven't installed yet but the hinge looks of excellent quality ...very heavy duty. I've only had my 18" WSM for about a month and finding a good spot to set the lid down is a pain in the ass. 

 

Did my 3rd brisket over the weekend and used a little more patience this time and pulled it at 202° and only after probing with almost no resistance in several spots. Turned out fantastic.

[Grimas 669]

I did a brisket this weekend and pulled it at 204 and I must have overlooked it as it felt like it was going to fall in half when I pulled it off and when I cut into the fatty end 2 hours later, it basically fell apart  like pulled pork... still tasted fantastic but we were eating chopped beef rather than slices... it hung around 200 the last hour (fire was dying but still had 235ish at the top rack) but I never tested the meat for "softness" at that point and was just waiting on the probe to get to 204...

[thunderlounge 7812]

1 hour ago, Grimas said:

and was just waiting on the probe to get to 204...

And that’s where things went wrong.

[dcbc 14464]

I've been back and forth on this for 5 years.  First I just used water and pressure washed my pan after a cook.   Then I started foiling and adding water.  Then I switched to playground sand (which quickly started to harden and fuse to my pan)  The clay pot base thing just seemed heavy and made it harder to wrap in foil.  

I'm now back to just doing overnight briskets with water in the pan and higher heat cooks (poultry, beef ribs, butts) with no water.   My 22 will run in the 275 range with no water and stays below 250 with water.

I just did my second brisket with a pair of clay pot bases and foiled bowl. Ran at 225 with little to no effort on my part. Prefer it to water since I don't have to refill or fill in the first place.

[krevo 142]

10 hours ago, dcbc said:

16 hours ago, krevo said:

I've been back and forth on this for 5 years.  First I just used water and pressure washed my pan after a cook.   Then I started foiling and adding water.  Then I switched to playground sand (which quickly started to harden and fuse to my pan)  The clay pot base thing just seemed heavy and made it harder to wrap in foil.  

I'm now back to just doing overnight briskets with water in the pan and higher heat cooks (poultry, beef ribs, butts) with no water.   My 22 will run in the 275 range with no water and stays below 250 with water.

I just did my second brisket with a pair of clay pot bases and foiled bowl. Ran at 225 with little to no effort on my part. Prefer it to water since I don't have to refill or fill in the first place.

What size cooker do you have though?  My 22 is old, out of round and runs hot.  The only time I'm a 225 even with sand or water is during the first hour.  I tried the clay pot bases once and ended up with grease in the pan anyhow so I scrapped the idea.  

Edited May 8, 2018 by krevo

[dcbc 14464]

5 minutes ago, krevo said:

What size cooker do you have though?  My 22 is old, out of round and runs hot.  The only time I'm a 225 even with sand or water is during the first hour.  I tried the clay pot bases once and ended up with grease in the pan anyhow so I scrapped the idea.  

Mine is a relatively new 22" WSM.  It's probably slightly out of round and I accidentilly dropped the mid section before this session.  No apparent damage. 

The one thing I did differently this time was to cook the food on the lower grate, which runs cooler than the top grate.  On the top grate, it will run just under 240 pretty consistently. 

I still foil the bowl with the clay pots in it to make for an easier cleanup.

Edited May 8, 2018 by dcbc

[Baboontyme 2809]

Can we talk about something here? It was mentioned in the old thread and apparently I was not alone so I am going to willingly open myself up to ridicule again to help out my WSM homies that may have not had this realization yet. For like a decade, I was foiling the bowl. Not the top of the bowl. The bowl itself. Don't foil the bowl. Put the foil over the top of the bowl. 

 

Yeah yeah, username checks out.