David Stanton
TVWBB Member
I just got my cooker about a month ago, and love it. Friday evening, I put about 40lbs of butt on the WSM, my biggest cook so far. It went well.
I mounded the charcoal ring until the coals were almost falling downhill, with two-fisted-sized chunks of wild black cherry and hickory (one each) buried down low. I had a smaller chunk of each burning on top of the coals in the chimney starter, and threw on a 6"x2" oak stick on top for good measure after I dumped the lit on the pile. Brinkmann pan full of warm water with 1" freeboard.
I didn't use enough lit (20 or so) on top with all that cold meat, so it took an hour and a half to come up to temp. I probably started shutting the lower vents too soon, also, for that amount of meat. Still, I was over 200 degrees by 9pm. (Pit temp monitored with Maverick ET-7 probe through the top vent.) I went to bed around 1am, with the temp around 235, two vents closed and one open about 65%. I woke up at 8:30 Saturday morning, had my coffee, read the paper, then checked the cooker at 9:30. It was a tad low at 215, but the smallest butt (it was on the top rack) was reading 197, so I took it off and foiled it for dinner (lunch for you Yankees). I moved the next-smallest butt from the bottom to the top, leaving the big boy (13 lbs) on the bottom.
Once I got the butts rearranged and the lid back on, the temps came up some, to around 235 degrees, but I wanted it higher. I needed that next-smallest butt to come off around noon to be coolered and sent on a road trip, and it was only at 182 degrees.
I opened all lower vents, took a metal rod and stirred the coals. I'm sure I'm not the first to do it this way, but I do it through the vents, not the access door. A metal rod will go through a vent hole, thence through one of the holes in the charcoal ring. It only takes a poke through each vent, not a real stir. Just a tunnel through the coals to let more air in. Later on, when the coals really die down, it takes more stirring.
As the temp came up, I shut two of the vents down again, one at 250 and the next at 260. It went to 275, but came back down and stabilized around 260 with two vents closed and one open all the way. That was perfect, and the next-biggest butt came off right at noon, at 199 degrees.
Now I had the two biggest butts left, the second-biggest one that had been on the top from the beginning, and the big boy that I now moved to the top as well. I didn't care when the second-biggest one came off, as it was destined for the freezer. The big 13-pounder, though, was going with me that evening to my poker game. It was only at 174 after 15 hours, but that was perfect. I got the lid off and on quickly enough that the temp didn't spike, and closed the open vent down about 50% to get the temp below 240.
It was only a couple of hours until the 9-pounder came off at 199 degrees, and the big boy was alone on the top grate at 184 degrees internal.
I had to stir the coals a couple of times between 2 pm and 5 pm. At 5 pm, the butt was at 194 degrees and the fire was around 235. I wanted to hurry things up a bit, so I stirred the coals again (still without looking). I knew the fire was dying when my stirring made the pit temp drop. I'd already decided not to add more charcoal, so I just let it burn. The pit temp dropped steadily to 200 degrees by 6:30, and I pulled the big butt at 195. It stayed above 192 degrees for more than two hours. It turned out to be the best one, excepting the untried frozen one. Perfect texture, very little internal fat.
So, with the new Kingsford, the WSM stayed above 200 degrees for 21.5 hours, with several hours of 260-degree-plus cooking. The charcoal was mounded to overflowing, but it worked. The ash bowl was full afterwards.
The butt that came off early (after about twelve hours) pulled well, but was a bit fatty. I got rave reviews on the one that came off at 15 hours, but didn't actually sample it myself. The third one is still in the freezer. The big boy, the 13-lb poker night butt that cooked for 21.5 hours, that was moist and tender, not fatty at all.
The new K works for me.
D
I mounded the charcoal ring until the coals were almost falling downhill, with two-fisted-sized chunks of wild black cherry and hickory (one each) buried down low. I had a smaller chunk of each burning on top of the coals in the chimney starter, and threw on a 6"x2" oak stick on top for good measure after I dumped the lit on the pile. Brinkmann pan full of warm water with 1" freeboard.
I didn't use enough lit (20 or so) on top with all that cold meat, so it took an hour and a half to come up to temp. I probably started shutting the lower vents too soon, also, for that amount of meat. Still, I was over 200 degrees by 9pm. (Pit temp monitored with Maverick ET-7 probe through the top vent.) I went to bed around 1am, with the temp around 235, two vents closed and one open about 65%. I woke up at 8:30 Saturday morning, had my coffee, read the paper, then checked the cooker at 9:30. It was a tad low at 215, but the smallest butt (it was on the top rack) was reading 197, so I took it off and foiled it for dinner (lunch for you Yankees). I moved the next-smallest butt from the bottom to the top, leaving the big boy (13 lbs) on the bottom.
Once I got the butts rearranged and the lid back on, the temps came up some, to around 235 degrees, but I wanted it higher. I needed that next-smallest butt to come off around noon to be coolered and sent on a road trip, and it was only at 182 degrees.
I opened all lower vents, took a metal rod and stirred the coals. I'm sure I'm not the first to do it this way, but I do it through the vents, not the access door. A metal rod will go through a vent hole, thence through one of the holes in the charcoal ring. It only takes a poke through each vent, not a real stir. Just a tunnel through the coals to let more air in. Later on, when the coals really die down, it takes more stirring.
As the temp came up, I shut two of the vents down again, one at 250 and the next at 260. It went to 275, but came back down and stabilized around 260 with two vents closed and one open all the way. That was perfect, and the next-biggest butt came off right at noon, at 199 degrees.
Now I had the two biggest butts left, the second-biggest one that had been on the top from the beginning, and the big boy that I now moved to the top as well. I didn't care when the second-biggest one came off, as it was destined for the freezer. The big 13-pounder, though, was going with me that evening to my poker game. It was only at 174 after 15 hours, but that was perfect. I got the lid off and on quickly enough that the temp didn't spike, and closed the open vent down about 50% to get the temp below 240.
It was only a couple of hours until the 9-pounder came off at 199 degrees, and the big boy was alone on the top grate at 184 degrees internal.
I had to stir the coals a couple of times between 2 pm and 5 pm. At 5 pm, the butt was at 194 degrees and the fire was around 235. I wanted to hurry things up a bit, so I stirred the coals again (still without looking). I knew the fire was dying when my stirring made the pit temp drop. I'd already decided not to add more charcoal, so I just let it burn. The pit temp dropped steadily to 200 degrees by 6:30, and I pulled the big butt at 195. It stayed above 192 degrees for more than two hours. It turned out to be the best one, excepting the untried frozen one. Perfect texture, very little internal fat.
So, with the new Kingsford, the WSM stayed above 200 degrees for 21.5 hours, with several hours of 260-degree-plus cooking. The charcoal was mounded to overflowing, but it worked. The ash bowl was full afterwards.
The butt that came off early (after about twelve hours) pulled well, but was a bit fatty. I got rave reviews on the one that came off at 15 hours, but didn't actually sample it myself. The third one is still in the freezer. The big boy, the 13-lb poker night butt that cooked for 21.5 hours, that was moist and tender, not fatty at all.
The new K works for me.
D