Wife bought me a 22.5 now I'm ready to smoke.....


 
C

ChaseW

TVWBB Member
My amazing wife bought me a 22.5 WSM for my birthday. I'm a veteran griller but this is my first venture into smoking. I'm planning on trying a couple of racks of ribs and a couple of whole chickens this weekend. I wanted to do a butt for my first smoke because I know those are more forgiving but I don't have 12-15 hours this weekend free and I don't think I can wait another weekend. My plan is to try and get the WSM to sit between 250-275 and do the ribs with probably a 3-1-1, 3 on grill, 1 in foil then back out of foil and check for doneness every 30-45 minutes. Do you think that will be too much? I will throw the chickens on when I foil the ribs so they finish around the same time. I'm thinking 2-2 1/2 for the chickens. If they take longer than ribs no big deal.

I have a Maverick 733 to use for temp check and another probe thermometer to put in the second bird.

How much charcoal do you think I should load in for a rib/chicken cook? I was thinking 2/3 a basket then a 1/2 a chimney with 2-3 chunks of apple wood. That sound about right?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

I've been reading these forums for a few weeks and am excited to give it a shot!
 
Welcome to the group. I would fully fill the charcoal ring, you can always close all the vents when your done your cook and save the remaining unburnt charcoal the next time. Don't forget to catch your temps on the way up and start adjusting your vents before your set temp.
 
I agree with Bob, better to have left or coals than not enough.
Also, expect the WSM to run a little hot the first few cooks.
 
like your plans especially if you are doing st louis cut spare ribs.....if you are doing baby backs 5 hours at 250-275 might be a little too much time. I would start checking for done around 3.5 hour mark. and just temp the chicken to done at 165 in breast, 170 in thigh and you will be GOLDEN.

Let us know how it goes!
 
Welcome Chase and Happy Birthday...now you and the WSM can celebrate YOUR birthdays each year. Sounds like a great cook, I also agree in putting more fuel in than what you think you will need, not sure how cold your area gets, but colder weather cooks can take more fuel then when it's warm. Welcome to the forum and be sure to post pictures of your first cook.
 
Thanks for the input, I really appreciate it. I grabbed a couple racks of baby backs and a couple of whole chickens today. I think I'm going to shoot for 2 hours on grill then foil the ribs and add the chicken. Cook the ribs in foil for 45 minutes or so, unfoil the ribs and check for doneness after 45 more minutes. I will use the maverick probe in the chicken to let me know when those are done.

When I add the chicken, I should put those on bottom rack right to avoid dripping raw chicken on to ribs correct?

I will start with full ring of charcoal, how many lit coals would you add with minion method? 1/2 chimney?

I will also be adding 3 good size chunks of apple wood and using water in the pan to keep the temp from getting too high.

Thanks again for the help. I'll add pics this weekend when I fire it up.
 
Chase --- Welcome to the club. My wife bought me 'our' 22.5" WSM and we both can't be happier. Me - for obvious reasons. Her - I do a lot of the cooking. Your revised plan/post sounds picture perfect to me. Good luck, have fun, post up your cooks with photos, ask questions, and enjoy eating the tasty mistakes you'll make along the way. :D
 
I know how you guys like pics, here they are. Foods pics to come this weekend.

Question: how airtight do you try and bend door. I can't get rid of small gaps at top. Should I stress about it?
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ChaseW said:
Question: how airtight do you try and bend door. I can't get rid of small gaps at top. Should I stress about it?
Click to expand...


Congrats!!!

No, don't stress over the small gaps in the door. Far and away, it's the weakest part of the entire unit. I replaced mine with the SS version from CajunBandit.com
Even when you first fire it up, you'll get a lot of smoke, everywhere, but it'll settle into TBS (thin blue smoke) and THAT's what you want.
Take a look at this official pic posted by Weber on their Facebook page and that should end your door-stressing issue. lol

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Going by advice, I will fill the charcoal ring full. I think I will also let it go as long as I can after I'm done just to check how long it will roll at temp since it's my first cook on it. How many coals should I start with in chimney to dump in? I was thinking 25-30. That sound about right? I'm trying to keep temp at 250 for the Rib's sake. i'm planning to pull the chicken so I don't care about crisp skin. I may do some chicken and turkey next week at higher temp with no water but we will see how this goes.
 
As has been said, fill the ring with unlit. I find it works better to bury the smoke wood among the charcoal as you're filling it. Try to get the wood more around the outside edge than in the middle. Make a divot or hole in the middle of the charcoal, that's where the lit will go.

Start with a full or near-full chimney of charcoal. Don't pour it into the cooker until the coal on the top is fully burning. By the time those top coals are ready, you'll be down to about a half or two-thirds of a chimney which is just fine. Sometimes it helps to give the chimney a shake to get the coals going a little quicker.

When it's ready, (wearing thick gloves!) pour it into the divot you made ealier. Then assemble the cooker. The temperature will come up pretty quickly so be ready to start closing the bottom vents as it comes up. I usually start closing up a little as it passes through 150-175. Once it gets close to your target temp, force yourself to only make small adjustments at about 20-30 minutes apart. Otherwise you'll drive yourself nuts chasing temperatures around. I then will wait for about an hour to let the cooker 'settle in' and to get all that cold unlit charcoal good and warmed up (not burning yet, but sort of pre-heated) that way you won't get the 'funky smoke' on your ribs.

Then put your ribs in and have yourself a coldie! The birthday boy deserves one.

Russ
 
Well , it looks like everything's been covered so far and I hope you have a good first cook. So , I'm just curious....are you a water in the pan fan or a clay saucer user?
 
Russ, thanks for the advice, that's what I'll plan on doing.

Frank H, I plan on using water since it's the first cook and I know it will run a little hot. If I were just doing chickens and not ribs, and if I weren't going to just pull the chickens, I would probably go empty pan and cook at a higher temp. I will try water for the first few cooks and see from there.

I did have one more question. The chickens I bought are kind of small- in the 3 pound range. I am going to brine them in salt and sugar. I've seen Brine times anywhere from 3 hours to 12 hours. What do you guys suggest for chickens on the small side? I was thinking I may put them in brine around 7-8 in the morning an brine for 4 hours or so then air dry in Fridge before rubbing and putting them on grill around 2. I didn't want to overbrine a small bird.
Does that sound about right? Any opinions? I"ve read a million rib and chicken threads so that was the only thing I am just going back and forth on.

I will post plenty of pics tomorrow night after cooking the ribs and chickens.

Thank all of you for all the help!
 
 
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