Successful first smoke (with a couple questions)


 

NickD

New member
Hello everyone!
I just received a 18.5" last week after reading the great information about it on this site. I got a chance to fire it up on Sunday and try out some spare ribs. I had told my wife that I didn't want to make a big production out of the first cook in case the food didn't turn out well, but that didn't stop her. She invited her family and my family over, and after a few people couldn't come, I ended up cooking for 7 people.

I cooked 4 slabs of spares using the BRITU rub (with 2/3 of the salt that the recipe calls for). I used the minion method and used 2 pieces of oak and two of apple. I threw the ribs on at 11:30, took them off at 3 to foil with apple juice, and took them out of the foil around 4:30 and put them back on the smoker to finish, pulling the ribs off the top grate around 5:30, and the ribs off the bottom around 6.

To get a good comparison of sauces, I sauced some ribs with KC Masterpiece w/ honey (the sauce for the BRITU recipe), other ribs with Famous Dave's Rich and Sassy, and other ribs with a slightly modified version of the No. 5 sauce from the sauces forum, where I used the BRITU rub, a little extra brown sugar, a bit of honey, ancho chile powder, and a bit of cayenne.

Results were excellent. Everyone said the ribs were the best they had ever had. There was a great smoke ring, and great smoke flavor. They were very tender, but not mushy, and the No. 5 sauce was a hit. Ribs sauced with the No. 5 sauce went the fastest, and everyone said it was their favorite sauce.

So, thank you all for all of your great advice on this site. It has been extremely helpful in making some of the best ribs I or any of my guests have ever eaten. I did have a couple of questions:

1) I opened the cooker to turn the grates 180 degrees after 2 hours to avoid hot spots. When I opened it, it appeared that sooty water had dripped from the lid onto the ribs on the top grate. I wiped it off and didn't notice any problem with the taste afterward, but has anyone else had a problem with this before? If so, how do you avoid it.

2) I used the new Kingsford briquettes for my cook. After about 4 hours, I couldn't get my temps over 200 (on the built in thermometer) even with the vents wide open. I ended up having to take the middle section off and stir the coals because I think the ash was keeping the fire from getting hot. Is there a way to avoid having to do this? My next cook is going to be overnight pork butts and I'd rather not be getting up every 2 hours to make sure I don't need to stir coals.

Like I said, the ribs were fabulous, and I have everyone on this site to thank! I forgot to take pics, but I'll have to remember that for next time.

Thanks again!

Nick
 
Congrats Nick. Sounds like a good time was had by all. The built in thermometer is usually off. Mine runs about 30*F too low. It'll read 280 when the grate thermometer (using a Maverick ET73) reads 250. Not to worry. If you use water in your waterpan, it'll keep your temps down too. It all gets easier and better with practice. Cheers!
 
Congratulations Nick! You did a fine job on your maiden voyage... Well with both sides of the family coming over you may need to upgrade to a 22.5!

joe
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Gary H. NJ:
Congrats Nick. Sounds like a good time was had by all. The built in thermometer is usually off. Mine runs about 30*F too low. It'll read 280 when the grate thermometer (using a Maverick ET73) reads 250. Not to worry. If you use water in your waterpan, it'll keep your temps down too. It all gets easier and better with practice. Cheers! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

The built in thermometer isn't "off". It's reading the temp at the lid which will be different than the grate because they're in two different places.
 
Welcome Nick!

Good job on the 1st cook. Here's my thoughts on your questions:

1) I've never experienced water dripping on the lid. Perhaps is was juice from the ribs pooling in a low spot of the meat. The 'sooty' look could have come from the smoke. Make sure your top vent is always open 100% to ensure a clean burn of your charcoal and wood chunks.

2) If you used a full ring of charcoal then your should have easily been able to cook for a full 6 hours. How much charcoal did you put in the charcoal ring to start with? Go ahead and fill up the ring. Did you use water in the water pan? Not a dumb question; some of us, myself included, do not use water. With 4 racks, a full water pan, and cool to cold exterior temps, and not a full bowl of charcoal; I could see where you might have temp issues. Your meat will also act as a heat sink just as the water in the bowl will. The more meat you load into your WSM, the less water/sand/clay saucer you'll need to use (see below). You did the right thing by opening up all the bottom vents to bring in more air. Remember to keep that top vent open as well. Sometimes the charcoal can be bad or wet. As a rule, when I use the Minion Method, I always add the meat as soon as I pour the lit coals into the charcoal bowl. I then monitor the climbing temps and adjust the bottom vents accordingly. I generally start partially closing the bottom vents around 40-25 degrees from my target temp. Catching the temps on the way up is much easier and more fuel efficient than trying to bring the temps back down.

For the upcoming overnight cook; load up the ring completely with charcoal and monitor your temps for a few hours. If you catch the temp on the way up, you'll be in good shape. Do a search on this site for substitutions for water. Some of us use clay saucers (no water) or sand. Both absorb heat and never need refilling. Some don't use anything at all except for a foiled (easy cleaning) empty water bowl.

Paul
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Jerry P.:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Gary H. NJ:
Congrats Nick. Sounds like a good time was had by all. The built in thermometer is usually off. Mine runs about 30*F too low. It'll read 280 when the grate thermometer (using a Maverick ET73) reads 250. Not to worry. If you use water in your waterpan, it'll keep your temps down too. It all gets easier and better with practice. Cheers! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

The built in thermometer isn't "off". It's reading the temp at the lid which will be different than the grate because they're in two different places. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

While the built in thermometer may not be "off", it easily could be. I have a 22.5 that I've done only 3 cooks on and each time I've had a Maverick probe at the same depth through the top vent as the factory installed thermometer and the factory installed thermometer is always +-50 to the cooler side. You can burn up/overcook a lot of meat if you go by the thermometer on the cooker.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content"> While the built in thermometer may not be "off", it easily could be. I have a 22.5 that I've done only 3 cooks on and each time I've had a Maverick probe at the same depth through the top vent as the factory installed thermometer and the factory installed thermometer is always +-50 to the cooler side. You can burn up/overcook a lot of meat if you go by the thermometer on the cooker. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Again Steve, the factory therm is in a different spot than a probe stuck through the vent. It only makes sense that they would read differently. Food is done when it's done, not when your thermometer and watch say it is. If you monitor your food and cook by feel, you'll be hard pressed to overcook your meat.
 
Thanks for the great feedback and encouraging words.

I guess I should clarify question 2. I did cook with water in the pan. My temps had been around 205-210 on the dome therm, but after 4 hours or so they started to drop to approximately 190-195 or so. I opened all the vents up (top vent was open the whole time), and the temperature still stayed around 195. I checked and I still had a ton of charcoal, it just appeared to be covered in ash, like the ash was choking the fire. Does this seem like something that could happen after only 4 hours? Or am I reading the situation wrong?

After this happened, I pulled off the middle section and stirred the coals, and temps fired back up, but were easily controlled with the vents.

Thanks again!

Nick
 
Nick-Get a long set of tongs and stir the coals thru the door ...no need to disassemble the cooker
icon_wink.gif
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by NickD:
I guess I should clarify question 2. I did cook with water in the pan. My temps had been around 205-210 on the dome therm, but after 4 hours or so they started to drop to approximately 190-195 or so. I opened all the vents up (top vent was open the whole time), and the temperature still stayed around 195. I checked and I still had a ton of charcoal, it just appeared to be covered in ash, like the ash was choking the fire. Does this seem like something that could happen after only 4 hours? Or am I reading the situation wrong?

Thanks again!

Nick </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Welcome Nick,
You did not mention if the wind was blowing or not. Just because vents are open does not really mean air is moving across the coals to keep them going. I had that same problem my second cook on my 18 WSM, so I got a small fan and laid it on its side, too tall, right in front of the vent. It only took a couple of minutes to get that temp right back up to where it was suppose to be. Next day I went to Walmart and bought a cheap Lasko air blower, just the right height to blow into the vent and it works like a champ.

As for the built in thermometer, I took mine off, boiled some water and stuck it in and it was pretty much on the money. I still went to Academy and spent 20$ for thermometer with a larger face (easier for me to see) and a longer probe. I take it off every couple of cooks, clean it and check to make sure it is accurate.

Good Luck!
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">The built in thermometer isn't "off". It's reading the temp at the lid which will be different than the grate because they're in two different places. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
True. Thanks for the clarification. –gh
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Jerry P.:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content"> While the built in thermometer may not be "off", it easily could be. I have a 22.5 that I've done only 3 cooks on and each time I've had a Maverick probe at the same depth through the top vent as the factory installed thermometer and the factory installed thermometer is always +-50 to the cooler side. You can burn up/overcook a lot of meat if you go by the thermometer on the cooker. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Again Steve, the factory therm is in a different spot than a probe stuck through the vent. It only makes sense that they would read differently. Food is done when it's done, not when your thermometer and watch say it is. If you monitor your food and cook by feel, you'll be hard pressed to overcook your meat. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

There are tons of posts on this board about the innacuracies of the built-in thermometer. I use a Polder therm, that sits just inside the vent (a pretty close approximation of where the built-in lid them is) and it's always 35-50 degrees higher than what the Weber therm. is reading.

I understand what you're saying about not paying too close attention to temp, but there's a huge difference between cooking at 200 and cooking at 250.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by William Merritt:
Welcome Nick,
You did not mention if the wind was blowing or not. Just because vents are open does not really mean air is moving across the coals to keep them going. I had that same problem my second cook on my 18 WSM, so I got a small fan and laid it on its side, too tall, right in front of the vent. It only took a couple of minutes to get that temp right back up to where it was suppose to be. Next day I went to Walmart and bought a cheap Lasko air blower, just the right height to blow into the vent and it works like a champ.

As for the built in thermometer, I took mine off, boiled some water and stuck it in and it was pretty much on the money. I still went to Academy and spent 20$ for thermometer with a larger face (easier for me to see) and a longer probe. I take it off every couple of cooks, clean it and check to make sure it is accurate.

Good Luck! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Now that you mention it, there was a slight breeze at the beginning of my cook that died off about midway through. I suppose this could have also caused my temperatures to drop because I wasn't getting as much air running through the coals.

Nick
 
Nick,keep up the good work. As you use the WSM more,you will learn more about cooking with it. Sounds like you had good time,and the food came out delicious. Do like Ron said. Go to WM or the dollar store and get you a cheap long pair of tongs and use them through the door. Or you could tap the legs to knock any ash off. That keeps the ashes from flying around too much. HTH
 

 

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