Charlie L
TVWBB Super Fan
This weekend I finally had time to assemble and fire up my new gear most notably my 18.5 WSM:
FRIDAY NIGHT:
Assembly was easy and went together quick. I happen to notice that the top grate could easily slip off one of the four tabs if not placed carefully. I checked the site here and saw that this is not an isolated incident so I didn't sweat it too much.
SATURDAY:
I started to do a quick seasoning Cook on Saturday: Full Ring of Lump allowed to burn with all vents open. Added some apple wood after an hour or so to build up some more smoke.
While WSM was doing that "seasoning" burn , I prepped the first actual cook: 2 slabs of STL Spares and a dozen chicken thighs. I was temped to do a butt, but I thought a long cook for the maiden voyage.
This was when I noticed that the grate problem was worse then anticipated: The center section was way out of round. The Lid would barely fit on and had to be forced on the sides and had a significant gap on the front and back (if you consider the door opening the front).
Called weber and explained the issue and within 60 seconds the rep had a confirmation number for a replacement center section being sent over. Their legendary customer service lived up to its reputation again.
Since the meat was already prepped I moved forward with the plans for the first cook. I would move forward with out of round issue until the replacement part arrives.
Took the trimming scraps and threw them in the smoker to build up some grease towards the end of the seasoning burn. Once the fire went out and the smoker cooled I threw on the cover and called it a day.
SUNDAY:
Today was the day. First meat on the new smoker. Everyone here knows that the pitmaster's worst enemies are cold and wind.
Temp with wind chill: -2 degrees
Wind: NW at 34 MPH
Short of a torrential downpour this was close to the worst conditions for BBQ, but I pushed forward.
Knowing that most new cookers run hot anyway (up to 50 degrees hotter according to weber), I felt that would help fight the cold a bit.
The WSM was in front of a fence and between my kettle and my gas grill so there was some wind blockage but not a ton. I have a pitmaster iq 110 so that would help fight the wind a bit.
I got the IQ for Christmas to do longer cooks on my kettle and used it two times on the kettle it worked ok, but I knew that it was more suited to the WSM so I was psyched to use the new set up.
The plan was 4-5 hours of cooking time at 275 copying BBQ with franklin's youtube video for ribs and harry soo's plan for the chicken (90 minutes at 275 on the lower grate):
2 hours with ribs on top grate,
Spray with Applejuice/apple cider vinegar, lightly sauce let set for 15 minutes
foil and cook for an addl two hours.
Added chicken right after foiling the ribs.
Since this wasn't a long cook I didn't go too crazy with the fuel load: 2/3's of a ring of unlit trader joes briquettes and 15 lit to start spread across (First mistake).
Since I was doing a small load I used the upside down chimney method with a starter cube (Second mistake) as the cold and wind was too much for the starter cube to overcome and I had to light a second cube just to get some ashing over.
Based on my experience using the IQ with my kettle I tried letting the unit get up to temp using the vents wide open without the IQ (Third Mistake)
The temp was coming up very slow and after 45 minutes or so I wasn't even close to 200 yet so I connected the ID and cranked it to "max blow". The pitmaster started stoking the fire and within 20-30 minutes I was at 250 and climbing. Closed the other two bottom vents, put the pitmaster at my set temp and put the meat on.
The pitmaster kept the temp very solid at between 260 and 270 with zero adjustment from me for the first two hours the meat was on. I gave it an extra 10-15 minutes since the temp was about 10 degrees below the target temp. Sauced, and foiled as directed and back on the smoker. Chicken went on bottom grate.
With a full grate of chicken over a foiled empty water pan The lower grate was running about 235 but the top was still around 260. Took the ribs off after two hours in foil as prescribed and then put the chicken on the top grate to reached finish temp while the ribs rested.
Moment of truth:
The ribs were super tender and tasted excellent. I know Fall off the bone is too tender for true pros and maybe ninety minutes in the foil would have been better but tasted really good. The recipe was for full spares and I was doing STL's so the smaller racks probably cooked faster. Good note for future cooks.
The Chicken stayed on for a bit longer due to lower temps but came out very good as well. Skin wasn't crispy but I could have finished over higher heat if I wanted to, but I just didn't feel like ramping up smoker or firing up kettle with more coals or removing water pan as I was wrapping up at this point.
The things I would have changed (ie: learned):
More Coals to start, even if i'm doing a short cook, use more lit and more unlit in the ring and more lit
to start to get to temp faster. I should have done half a chimney or so get it rolling.
I've been debating getting a mapp or propane torch to start my coals. I think this would have made things easier as the starter cubes which usually work well struggled a bit with the wind and cold.
I should have used the pitmaster iq from the start to assist is getting to temp. It did a great job of stabilizing temps once I turned it on.
I may look into more of a wind break in the future too.
All that being said this was a great cook and a huge success for the first smoke in very tricky conditions.
The best part, is that the only guest I was cooking for, was my new Vacuum Sealer:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00LUGK5XA/tvwb-20
Not having hungry guests and a scheduled dinner time meant there was no pressure to get food done timely.
I now have BBQ in the freezer that can be ready in minutes simply boiling some water. Being able to make 5 or 6 meals that can keep for months makes the cost, time, and effort totally worth it to do bigger cooks each time I fire up the smoker.
FRIDAY NIGHT:
Assembly was easy and went together quick. I happen to notice that the top grate could easily slip off one of the four tabs if not placed carefully. I checked the site here and saw that this is not an isolated incident so I didn't sweat it too much.
SATURDAY:
I started to do a quick seasoning Cook on Saturday: Full Ring of Lump allowed to burn with all vents open. Added some apple wood after an hour or so to build up some more smoke.
While WSM was doing that "seasoning" burn , I prepped the first actual cook: 2 slabs of STL Spares and a dozen chicken thighs. I was temped to do a butt, but I thought a long cook for the maiden voyage.
This was when I noticed that the grate problem was worse then anticipated: The center section was way out of round. The Lid would barely fit on and had to be forced on the sides and had a significant gap on the front and back (if you consider the door opening the front).
Called weber and explained the issue and within 60 seconds the rep had a confirmation number for a replacement center section being sent over. Their legendary customer service lived up to its reputation again.
Since the meat was already prepped I moved forward with the plans for the first cook. I would move forward with out of round issue until the replacement part arrives.
Took the trimming scraps and threw them in the smoker to build up some grease towards the end of the seasoning burn. Once the fire went out and the smoker cooled I threw on the cover and called it a day.
SUNDAY:
Today was the day. First meat on the new smoker. Everyone here knows that the pitmaster's worst enemies are cold and wind.
Temp with wind chill: -2 degrees
Wind: NW at 34 MPH
Short of a torrential downpour this was close to the worst conditions for BBQ, but I pushed forward.
Knowing that most new cookers run hot anyway (up to 50 degrees hotter according to weber), I felt that would help fight the cold a bit.
The WSM was in front of a fence and between my kettle and my gas grill so there was some wind blockage but not a ton. I have a pitmaster iq 110 so that would help fight the wind a bit.
I got the IQ for Christmas to do longer cooks on my kettle and used it two times on the kettle it worked ok, but I knew that it was more suited to the WSM so I was psyched to use the new set up.
The plan was 4-5 hours of cooking time at 275 copying BBQ with franklin's youtube video for ribs and harry soo's plan for the chicken (90 minutes at 275 on the lower grate):
2 hours with ribs on top grate,
Spray with Applejuice/apple cider vinegar, lightly sauce let set for 15 minutes
foil and cook for an addl two hours.
Added chicken right after foiling the ribs.
Since this wasn't a long cook I didn't go too crazy with the fuel load: 2/3's of a ring of unlit trader joes briquettes and 15 lit to start spread across (First mistake).
Since I was doing a small load I used the upside down chimney method with a starter cube (Second mistake) as the cold and wind was too much for the starter cube to overcome and I had to light a second cube just to get some ashing over.
Based on my experience using the IQ with my kettle I tried letting the unit get up to temp using the vents wide open without the IQ (Third Mistake)
The temp was coming up very slow and after 45 minutes or so I wasn't even close to 200 yet so I connected the ID and cranked it to "max blow". The pitmaster started stoking the fire and within 20-30 minutes I was at 250 and climbing. Closed the other two bottom vents, put the pitmaster at my set temp and put the meat on.
The pitmaster kept the temp very solid at between 260 and 270 with zero adjustment from me for the first two hours the meat was on. I gave it an extra 10-15 minutes since the temp was about 10 degrees below the target temp. Sauced, and foiled as directed and back on the smoker. Chicken went on bottom grate.
With a full grate of chicken over a foiled empty water pan The lower grate was running about 235 but the top was still around 260. Took the ribs off after two hours in foil as prescribed and then put the chicken on the top grate to reached finish temp while the ribs rested.
Moment of truth:
The ribs were super tender and tasted excellent. I know Fall off the bone is too tender for true pros and maybe ninety minutes in the foil would have been better but tasted really good. The recipe was for full spares and I was doing STL's so the smaller racks probably cooked faster. Good note for future cooks.
The Chicken stayed on for a bit longer due to lower temps but came out very good as well. Skin wasn't crispy but I could have finished over higher heat if I wanted to, but I just didn't feel like ramping up smoker or firing up kettle with more coals or removing water pan as I was wrapping up at this point.
The things I would have changed (ie: learned):
More Coals to start, even if i'm doing a short cook, use more lit and more unlit in the ring and more lit
to start to get to temp faster. I should have done half a chimney or so get it rolling.
I've been debating getting a mapp or propane torch to start my coals. I think this would have made things easier as the starter cubes which usually work well struggled a bit with the wind and cold.
I should have used the pitmaster iq from the start to assist is getting to temp. It did a great job of stabilizing temps once I turned it on.
I may look into more of a wind break in the future too.
All that being said this was a great cook and a huge success for the first smoke in very tricky conditions.
The best part, is that the only guest I was cooking for, was my new Vacuum Sealer:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00LUGK5XA/tvwb-20
Not having hungry guests and a scheduled dinner time meant there was no pressure to get food done timely.
I now have BBQ in the freezer that can be ready in minutes simply boiling some water. Being able to make 5 or 6 meals that can keep for months makes the cost, time, and effort totally worth it to do bigger cooks each time I fire up the smoker.
