Maiden Voyage with WSM


 
B

Brian.Leblanc

New member
All,

I just ordered my WSM this week and assembled it last night. We're having guests over for dinner on Saturday and I'm taking the risk of using the WSM for the first time. I am planning on cooking chicken and ribs. I already purchased the baby back ribs from a local butcher and I'll get the chicken tomorrow. My plan is to cook the chicken with a basic dry rub (McCormick Montreal Chicken Rub) and no brine. I plan on cooking the ribs using a dry rub (McCormick pork rub) as well. I don't plan on using a sauce prior to serving so that people can use whichever sauce they want. I've put together the following for instructions and a timetable based on the recipies on this site. We have guests coming with young kids so I don't want us standing around the smoker waiting until 7:00 for this to be finished. Previous experience cooking for groups has taught me to err on the side of having things ready early. I'm targeting 4:00 p.m. hoping that it won't be any later than 5:30 if something goes wrong. I was hoping you'd give your thoughts on my combined steps for ribs and chicken to make sure I haven't miscalculated or missed anything.

night before:

open ribs, remove membrane, lightly add rub, cover in plastic and refrigerate

morning:

10:45 - start chimney starter with 25 briquettes, add unlit charcoal and smoking wood (apple & hickory) to WSM - half full should be enough, foil water bowl, remove chicken from refrigerator and add olive oil and rub

11:00 - fill water bowl, add lit charcoal to WSM using minion method, insert thermometer in side of WSM, fully assemble WSM

top vent 100% open throughout, bottom vents should be 100% open until lid temp is 200 degrees, reduce to 25% open until stabilizes at 220

12:00 - WSM should be 220, add ribs on top rack and chicken on bottom rack, insert probe into chicken

maintain 210-240 degrees until 2:00

2:00 - open vents to raise temperature to 275 for ribs

monitor temperature probe in chicken until 165

4:00 - all should be ready, check ribs for doneness every 30 minutes after 4 hours of cooking, chicken is based on temperature

I see that some people call for checking and spraying the ribs, thoughts?
How would you describe the amount of briquettes needed for 5 hours at 220?
How do I put it out when I'm done? Just close all the vents and let it snuff itself out?

Thanks,

Brian
 
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Welcome to the forum Brian!

In the spirit of erring on the side of caution, you may want to consider starting with a little more than half a ring of unlit charcoal. When everything is done cooking, you can always shut down the WSM and then when it has cooled, you can reclaim any used but still useful charcoal for later cooks. Used coals are handy for quick cooks or indirect cooking on a kettle. Another thing you may consider would be using more like 15 briqs in the chimney to light the Minion pile, especially since you want to start at 220F. You can start with 25 briqs and still hold this 225, but you'll have to restrict the oxygen a little more with vent control. This is purely my opinion, I've seen instruction for using up to 40 lit briqs for a Minion start. I've been using about 15-20 in my 22" WSM and have always had good success.

The temps you have listed are OK, but with a max temp of 275, it's unlikely you'll get enough fat to render from the chicken skin that it will be bite-through or crispy. You could make the last step of your cook removing the center section and lid of the WSM, taking the cooking grate with the chicken out of the center section, and crisping the chicken skin by placing that cooking grate directly over the charcoal ring. If you're not planning to eat the skin, don't worry about this part. I also wouldn't worry if your temps creep up over 225 during the first stage of your cook, but I would try not to let the temp get too far below 225, or you'll be up against the clock later. You won't hurt anything by letting the heat creep above 225, and the food will be done a little sooner that way - but it's ready when it's ready.

4 hours on the ribs may not be quite enough, but if you're giving yourself til 5:30 at latest, I think you'll be OK. You didn't mention which cut of ribs you're using, or the weights of the slabs, but I think you should be pretty close. Keep in mind, the chicken will need 10-15 minutes to rest before carving or shredding, while the ribs can be eaten pretty much fresh from the smoker. My preference is for cooking ribs without spraying, mopping, or foiling.

I'd recommend taking a few notes throughout the cook, which can help you to learn as you get more experience (figuring out the timing is the biggest challenge, IMO) and most of all, have a good time!!

EDIT: yes, when you've taken the food out of the cooker, just fully assemble it, and close all 4 vents. The fire will snuff itself out and the WSM will cool down in an hour or two.

Cheers,

Chris
 
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Well, my first outing was a smashing success.

http://m.imgur.com/a/RoYda

Everyone loved the food that came out of the smoker. I used 20 coals to start. The paper I used along with that volume of coals seemed to only ignite half the coals in the chimney starter. I used another wad of paper to get more of the coals started. The smoker ran slightly hot at 240-250. I kept it at 240 for the first three hours. I raised the temperature to 270 for the last hour and a half. The chicken and ribs were both done at the same time.

I want to graduate to pork butt with my next use of the WSM. I had zero experience smoking going into this. The hardest part was leaving the smoker alone and letting it just do its thing. I'm so glad I made the investment in the WSM. My only regret might be not going for the 22 inch model for parties.
 
Great Brian, the food in the photos looks delicious and fantastic for a first outing!

240 is a good temp for ribs, IMO, and the proof is in the photos. The bottle opener in the photo is further proof you enjoyed yourself! And pork butt is another good choice, as it is very forgiving to cook. Just allow yourself many hours (my last run of 2 butts at 250F took about 13 hours before i pulled them at 197) and give some thought to the timing.

If you want to continue using newspaper to light the chimney, you can extend the burn of the paper by drizzling a little bit of oil on it before lighting it. Or next time you are at Home Depot, you can try the Weber firestarter cubes for about 3 bucks.
 
Congrats on your first smoke! My first Weber was the 18.5"wsm too. I had a little bit of buyer's remorse too, but really came to love the 18.5"wsm. Believe me, it can cook a lot of food. If your ever going to have a big party just cook up a bunch of pork butts. I once put 8 butts in my 18"wsm, fed about 150 people. Butts go a long way. That said, I did end up picking up the 22.5"wsm too! Lol! Good deal on Craigslist, what can I say?
Happy smoking and keep us posted!
 
Great first effort Brian, and excellent detail on the cook. Chris gave you some great advice. I also think you may want to go a bit more than half a ring of unlit. Three quarters may serve you better. I also agree with a lesser amount of lit charcoal, I think 10-15.
 
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