How to set up Weber Smokey Mountain for grilling 

@@kurtisclayton7888 thanks eh! If you keep the lid ever so slightly ajar then it will get screaming hot. It takes at least 30mins to get grilling hot. Always keep that in mind.

Grill to your hearts content, bbq friend

you can also grill with coals at the bottom and use the second tier grate. Let me know which distance is better as too close to fire is tough but too far is not hot enough

You're very welcome! Thanks very much for watching! Have a great day.

You're welcome. Really glad this worked out for you. Loved that char-grilled flavour.

Thanks gang lolol Glad you enjoyed it. Please consider subscribing. More content on the way.

"crappy tire" made me chuckle...as soon as I heard that, I realized yup...he's a Canuck! LOL

Thanks for watching!! Grill on, friend!

You're welcome Alex. The weber smokey mountain does it all. Worth the buy

Right on! Thanks for watching and enjoy the delicious food!!

Eventually I will still get a regular bbq. But for now, bringing the charcoal up in the WSM does the trick.

You're welcome. Thanks for watching! When I'm grilling burgers veggies etc, I only fill 1 side of the charcoal ring. This way you can pull stuff away from the heat, OR put it onto the hot side. Also, once you lid it, you will notice after about 10mins your temp will drop. Don't worry, it's all the convection process and the size of the vents at the bottom etc. Temp will come back up next time you remove lid to flip burgers etc. You can also put the light sliiiightly off kilter/slightly off centre so there is a little gap. Temp will frigging sky rocket so be careful.

You're welcome. Thanks very much for watching! Hope you and your family are ok during quarantine.

Thanks James! I appreciate the feedback

Thanks for watching and commenting. Good luck with your next smoker/bbq

Hey glad you liked it!

You will get much higher heat-on-meat using the bottom. I prefer not to for safety (and my back, leaning over). But both grill positions work great. Isn't this smoker the best??

You're welcome.

Yes!! Thanks very much. I am thinking of getting a chimney, if I ever take my WSM somewhere not near an electrical outlet. But the element will work for minion method as well :) Thx for watching and subscribing. Helps a lot. Thanks for joining me on my bbq learning journey!!

David, Always willing to support a fellow RU-vidr! And hey bro...we’re all learning every day from one another! Cheers 🍻

Right on Mike. I have seen that method recently as well. I like the chimney. Need to pick one up

Is that the Death Star mode? You basically convert it into a portable smokey Joe.

Right on, eh? You can definitely hit even higher temps placing the rack right on the fire ring. Hope that steak was delicious!!!

@@lifeOfBarneyMusic yummy 😋

Set it up for smoking, not grilling. Go buy some charcoal. Get the charcoal going with a heating element like this video or with a charcoal chimney. Put it back together once the charcoal gets going. Bottom vents open approx 30%. Top vent open 100%. And just let it do its thing. No meat, no water in the water pan. Just see how it performs. Make sure you tighten all nuts and bolts if you are getting a used one. Let it smoke away for a day with nothing on it and just watch/practice getting the intended temp. $25CAD for a big bag of charcoal to practice with. A brand new WSM 18" with bottom vents at 30% and top vent 100%, with the water pan in (water in or not) SHOULD sit between 250-300F depending on how hot you let the coals get before assembling. Google "t-roy cooks minion method youtube".

Thanks for watching and thanks for the feedback. I am going to do a video on how to make it easier to get the charcoal grate in and out

Bricks! Smart Right on, friend! Give it a shot and let me know how it worked out for you!

You're welcome. Thank you for watching. Funny you say you are now considering getting a second WSM. I just picked up a gently used WSM for my dad, it is sitting in my garage... maybe I should just keep it so I can have more capacity as well. HAH!

@@lifeOfBarneyMusic I’d keep that second one in a heartbeat. I’ll be looking on Craig’s list or marketplace for a nice used 2nd one as well. Quite often people don’t take the time to learn all about a product and don’t realize what they have.

Glad you enjoyed that. Thanks for watching. I'm down past London.

You're welcome. Thanks for watching!!

What no way. Small world!!!! Part of me wishes I got the 22.5" WSM

@@lifeOfBarneyMusic well listen I buy and sell BBQ all the time...like candy...you can usually get a decent buck for a used one and trade up...there are no bullets on Kijiji right now so you’d have the local market cornered...LOL...I am happy with what I have now, but I have one more purchase...a Yoder offset...I think the Wichita

@@jeffmutter2286 never heard of that but I'm sure it's a fun model to use :) Oh I wouldn't trade up. I would use it as a 2nd bbq so I can do two bbq youtube videos at a time LOL

Hey thanks for watching, eh? So here are my thoughts. The WSM isn't designed to be a grill. So when you set it up for grilling the only draw back is the vents at the bottom are too small to full in a sufficient volume of oxygen to *sustain* the higher temps. In general, burgers veggies etc it's fine. Extended grilling like multiple rounds of burgers or wings etc, put the lid ever so slightly off kilter, leaving a small crack open. And you watch that temp sky rocket back up within a minute. I touch base on this in my upcoming smokey salsa video, dropping later this week. Please consider subscribing, and keep on smoking in the backyard, friend!

Not at all. I've had my WSM now for 3 years approx. And no damage. Everything is still in great working order except 1 of the bottom vents is stuck and I need to repair.

Never. Not once. Not even a little. Zero.

Great suggestions. Where can you buy that 403 type of grate? Never had any issues with grease fires on the WSM. Then again I empty the bottom regularly.

Well that was easy lol Thanks very much for watching

Mainly it's because my backyard was never leveled by my builder, but yeah it definitively helps for the vents

I should also note! In the video it is a little deceiveing. The block are just leftover paver stones from my driveway. They're only about 4 inches thick, not a foot. However, it made a difference in leveling the WSM, and the extra 4" height does mean I don't have to lean down as far to adjust the vents, or to get access to the grills. Highly recommend.

I agree I have seen the WSM in person at ACE hardware and played around with it! I hate the whole taking it apart and bending down to adjust the vents, but I’m sure it’s better than a kettle for smoking!

Hey there Marcelo. Thx for watching. How much of the charcoal are you letting ignite prior to assembling? And what position of "openess" are you setting your vents? I am assuming you have your charcoal down at the bottom as well? It is neither not enough lit charcoal to begin, or blocked airflow. Or... your thermometer may be giving off a wrong reading. There's an amazon link (canada) for the thermo pro thermometer I use where you can clip it right to the grill and get your true grill temp. Lastly... really sorry for the delayed reply. I am not getting comment notifications for some reason. Write me back here and we can continue troubleshooting.

@@lifeOfBarneyMusic I think I figured why my temps were too low. I wasn't putting enough charcoal in the basket. I was dumping half a chimney of lit coals into the basket with only about another full chimney of unlit coals. Recently I tried using a whole bag of coals and my temps were off the roof, I'll keep you posted with future cooks.

@@Marcelo-py2yz yes this is a crucial point. Too little fire means not enough heat convection, not enough heat convection means not enough oxygen getting sucked in the bottom vents to ignite more charcoal. Look up T-Roy cooks how to light weber smokey mountain. Excellent tutorial!! Also look up "how to use minion method"

@@Marcelo-py2yz refer to the 6minute 15second mark of this video

Sure can!! And I do all the time. I personally grill with the lid on. Only taking it off for 30 to 60 seconds at a time to flip burgers, roll corn, move peppers around, etc etc and get the lid back on asap.

It is made by Far West. But there is no style/model info on the tag. You like it eh? I love this sweater! Fall and Spring it is perfect.

I bet you will be fine if you put the grate on top of the water pan. Give it a try

I've hit about 325F, but you need to ensure MORE of the charcoal has started to burn, before assembling. Can't only have a small circle of hot coals. Need probably a good 20minutes AFTER removing the heating element (or after dropping a full lit chimney), with the WSM still disassembled. Must start with enough heat to keep the air/oxygen flowing through bottom vents fast enough, after you assemble. But yeah... 325F or so all vents 100% open.

@@lifeOfBarneyMusic How far would the middle rack then be from the coals ?, and what would its temperature be ? , with either lump or briquets ?. I am also going to check out your other videos and see what you noticed in the taste test between the 2 . Thank you for this video .

@@WISHBONEL7 you know what, I haven't done the taste test video yet. However I have tried it. Lump tastes... better? I don't know how to explain "why,", but with briquettes, I can "taste" that I used briquettes. It isn't bad. Just different. And so much better with respect to even burning throughout your longer smokes. Thanks very much for watching, by the way! Regarding the lower rack, tough question... it goes the opposite way, IF you have the water pan in. Because it deflects heat to the sides. I think virtual weber bullet .com says from his experiment, in smoking configuration WITH water pan in.... top rack 10-15F lower than thermometer on the lid. Second rack 10-15F lower than top rack. Now... if you remove the water pan, I would assume the temperature goes the other way. Hotter because closer to the coals by 6 inches or so. Also, if you scroll back all the way to my first bbq video where I do blade roast sliders, I talk about vent position for smooth 250F operation. Learn to lock that temp in on your WSM and go from there. Also... Google virtual weber bullet. That guy's web page is fantastic and a great resource.

@@lifeOfBarneyMusic I like my pork spare ribs cooked direct , hot and fast , and I was looking for a way of doing that , while beimg able to get even. heat across the cooking grate .

I love this thing. Thanks for watching!!

@@lifeOfBarneyMusic so excited to pick up my smokey mountain today before the hurricane hits! 🌀

@@stevemasterson7776 grilling up a storm

Thanks for watching! Learning is awesome. Right on!

Hey friend! Hurts my back and squatting down or leaning down or over the WSM at that height is unsafe. But mostly cause it hurts my back.

@@lifeOfBarneyMusic I got back problems too :(

Right on, man! I like how they have the option to switch grill height. Thanks for watching! Hope you're having a great day!!!

Not at all, my man. Keep your charcoal to one side like I say in the video and you're golden. Very popular and effective method of grilling on the WSM.

Sure did! Thanks very much for watching all 101 of them. ❤❤❤