Question about temps in WSM

[Patrick Sullivan]

I have a WSM 18" and I have tried to do a low and slow (225 degrees F at the grate) brisket and made a 2nd attempt on a bone in butt. I use a UlltraQ with a grate temp probe and a meat probe. In both cases I put the meat on around 10:00pm. I can record my cooks, so I'm sure the temps remained stable throughout the night. The meat in both cases didn't get to my desired temp in time for dinner the following night. I had to remove the meat from the WSM and finish in the oven at higher temps.

Is 225 too low of a temp for the WSM? What temp do you smoke at for low and slow? Am I reading the temp wrong (perhaps the temp at the outside of the grate is higher than the temp in the middle of the grate where the meat is cooking)?

 

[BFletcher]

I cannot speak to possible temp variances across the plane of the cooking grate but I'm perfectly content with cooking (smoking) at ~275*f.

 

[Jim C in Denver]

There is a hot zone around the perimeter of the cooking grate. So 225F at the edge means you might be cooking at an even lower temp than that.

225F is way too slow for me. I cook at 275F. Only time I do 225F is to adjust the finish time. I may do 225-250 for the overnight portion, just to make sure I get lots of smoke and keep things rolling until morning. But then I boost the temp up in the morning so I'm sure to have the meat done and in the cooler hours ahead of time.

Last, finishing in the oven is perfectly fine. The last part of the cook is just about raising the temp of the meat up into the tender zone. So any BTUs (smoker, gas grill, oven) will do the same job (especially if you wrap). Even if I have the time to finish the cook on the smoker, I often finish the cook in the oven just because it is easier. Let's me shut down and clean up the cooker before dinner. The oven also doubles as a hold chamber, so no cooler requirede.

Avoid The Weber Smoker "Burn Zone" - The Virtual Weber Bullet

This article explains the "burn zone" in the Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker: Where it is, why it's there, and how you can avoid it.

www.virtualweberbullet.com

 

[Tye R.]

225 can take awhile. I recently did 4 pork butts in my WSM 18 and I started them at 2:00 AM and they finished just before 10 PM. The last smoke I did two butts and they were on from 9:00 AM and done by 6:30PM. Each cook is different, some just take longer. You do want to avoid the hot zone - I’ve learned to put my temperature probe several inches away from the edge or I’ll get poor readings. I’ve also learned to keep the meat from getting too close to the probe as that can cause false readings too.