Sorry for the delay! Been crazy around here.
Anyway, my Christmas Eve smoke was another, how do I say...adventure. The day itself started screwed up with half an inch of ice on the driveway and the roads. Got a few calls threatening to cancel due to weather. I'm looking at $174.83, worth of standing rib roast on the counter, and I can't even figure out if everyone is coming for dinner!
I was stoked to try out my new windscreen barrel. After getting my old lady's SUV unstuck and into the garage, and the ice cleared off the driveway, I brushed, and salt and peppered my meat. I have diligently studied the 'cold and rain' section of the website and to head off any low temp. problems, I lit a full Weber chimney and a smaller after-market chimney and got'em glowing good. It was raining by now, and just extremely cold and damp. But I had faith in my barrel!
Got everything set, lits in, unlits on top, assemble....position my windscreen....wait a bit...temp. at 300...looking good....get meat ready....temp. drops and stays at 225!!!! Oh I was pissed.
I move the barrel a little here and a little there. I open the door and move the coals. I did everything I could! I couldn't fit any more coals in there and they were glowing. When I blocked the wind or put the access door on it seemed like they were just getting too cold!
I put the meat on for to get some smoke flavor at least for a while. Cherry wood btw. Got great smoke. As the guests arrived, I sure looked like I knew what I was doing!
Anyway, to make a long story short, I pulled the **** thing in the garage, messed with positioning the barrel and left the access door completely off. Then finaly I got the temp up to 350!
Now I am going to say some words that thought I would never hear myself say, and I am praying that many of you have said, and hope that in return that I get some kind of support from my WSM Brothers (and Sisters, if you are out there): At one point I said to myself, 'this is the last time I am EVER using this dam@ smoker! It sucks!'
Luckily the appetizers held the crowd over and after 5 hours, I finally got a 135 internal temp., not quite in the center, but some of us like it rare! So, I pulled it, rested it, and the rest is the Christmas Past!
It was **** good. Perfection, you might say, for my first prime rib. But to me, it's not just the end result, it is the journey of getting there! And this journey sucked!
So, I look a little around the forum earlier and I found a bunch of posts about the same issue. A ton of hot, lit, coals, and low temps! So, who out there has the answers to this problem. The wind is a factor, and a delicate one at that. I learned this past cook that the wind was not my enemy, it was the solution, because I couldn't get my coals hot enough until I took the access door off and let the wind make my goals dance!
**** this is a freaking science!
So, check these pics out if you like.
http://s918.photobucket.com/al...nding%20Rib%20Roast/
Jeff