Michael Park
New member
I have Low & Slow by Gary Wiviott. I think it is well written. I like the tone, and I would like to follow the program exactly as written, but I'm having some difficulty.
Regarding his K.I.S.S. method for lighting the fire, he calls for 3.5 chimney starters full of lump charcoal and 6 chunks of smoke wood. The problem is, my 18" WSM only holds 2.5 chimney starters full of lump charcoal, and to get 2.5 chimneys of lump charcoal into the smoker, I have to press down on the middle section so that the water bowl smushes down the lump and I can barely get the smoker put together.
Also, I've read that many people have trouble exceeding 275 in their WSM with the water bowl full. The lid thermometer on mine was fully pegged at 350+ for the entire cook following the directions in the book as closely as physically possible. My Chicken Mojo Criollo was tremendously overdone and over smoked. It tasted like ashtray chicken. Completely inedible.
I suspect that the larger water bowl on my WSM is not accounted for in Low & Slow. This is perplexing, because the copyright was updated in 2015. Shouldn't the bowl be the same size? Also, maybe the chimney starter is larger than it was when Gary wrote Low & Slow.
What should I do?
1. Try again using one fully lit chimney of lump on top of an unlit chimney full of lump for a total of two chimneys of lump charcoal in the charcoal chamber.
2. Try again using one fully lit chimney of briquettes on top of an unlit chimney full of briquettes for a total of two chimneys of briquettes in the charcoal chamber.
or
3. Take Gary up on his instructions to light my next fire with his book if I'm not going to follow the program as written.
Regarding his K.I.S.S. method for lighting the fire, he calls for 3.5 chimney starters full of lump charcoal and 6 chunks of smoke wood. The problem is, my 18" WSM only holds 2.5 chimney starters full of lump charcoal, and to get 2.5 chimneys of lump charcoal into the smoker, I have to press down on the middle section so that the water bowl smushes down the lump and I can barely get the smoker put together.
Also, I've read that many people have trouble exceeding 275 in their WSM with the water bowl full. The lid thermometer on mine was fully pegged at 350+ for the entire cook following the directions in the book as closely as physically possible. My Chicken Mojo Criollo was tremendously overdone and over smoked. It tasted like ashtray chicken. Completely inedible.
I suspect that the larger water bowl on my WSM is not accounted for in Low & Slow. This is perplexing, because the copyright was updated in 2015. Shouldn't the bowl be the same size? Also, maybe the chimney starter is larger than it was when Gary wrote Low & Slow.
What should I do?
1. Try again using one fully lit chimney of lump on top of an unlit chimney full of lump for a total of two chimneys of lump charcoal in the charcoal chamber.
2. Try again using one fully lit chimney of briquettes on top of an unlit chimney full of briquettes for a total of two chimneys of briquettes in the charcoal chamber.
or
3. Take Gary up on his instructions to light my next fire with his book if I'm not going to follow the program as written.