G
Guest
Guest
I turned out some good ribs and chicken my first time on the WSM (longtime ecb user). I had more problems maintaining heat that I expected. Have read all the cold weather faq's on this site and tried to follow directions. Was about 38-40 degrees, 0 to very light breeze so did not set up the wind screen. Used minion method with about 15lb.s of kingsford and half a chimney of coals to start. Used about 3 quarts very hot water in the pan. When temp got up to 250 I put ribs and wood on. All vents fully open. Temp got to about 220 then started down so I closed 1 vent (downwind vent) and temps worked up to to 247 (2 hours into cooking). I had to remove the lid to put the chicken on and temp went back up to 220 and started dropping. Stirred the coals to no avail so started half chimney of coals and put them on to get temps up. Had to do that again about an hour later. Bottom line is I maintained the temps in the 220-250 range with more effort than expected but the results were very good. I now have what appears to be a full pan of gray but not completly burned coals. Should I just throw a full chimney of coals on this the next time I BBQ? Things I will try different are only use 1 quart of hot water, and let my temp get up to 280 or so before putting my meat on. I hate to think my new WSM was running 50 degrees hotter than normal (I read new ones run hotter). Any advise or comments are welcome. Just joined the PNWBA and looking forward to meeting some others on this list.
John
John