First Fire in my WSM


 

Shane R

TVWBB Member
Just got my new 18" WSM the other day and am planning my first smoke for this Saturday 16th Jan. Am going to be doing two racks of ribs and 3 chickens will post some some pics.
 
Way ta go, Shane!!
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Lookin forward ta pix of the big smoke
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Good luck fella on your first smoke ,you will not regret buying one of these awsome machines,looking forward to seeing some rib pictures, and some dancing chickens. ATB Graham
 
Good luck on your first cook! You must get yourself a copy of Gary W's book "Low and Slow" - it is the perfect companion to the WSM.

On your first cook, just a suggestion, sit down ahead of time and plan out your cook, working backwards from when you plan to serve your food (allowing some time to account for the fact that you don't cook by time, but by "its done when it's done).

Have you picked out your recipes yet!!

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

Pat
 
Thanks for the support everyone. Pat yes I am doing ribs with "K.C. Pepper rub" from Steven Raichlin BBQ USA book also with a homemade sauce that a freind of mine made (also a WSM fanactic) and "Best BBQ Beans on The Planet" also from BBQ USA. And doing 3 whole chickens with a Dizzy Pig Tsunami Spin seasoning on them. Cant wait !!
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Well my nice new clean WSM is now well and truly smoke stained !! Having some experience of a Pro Q Excel smoker (which was dire) I was well pleased with the performance of the WSM. It was rock solid and only needed half a chimney starter of additional coal after 4hrs, I think that is because I was using lumpwood rather than briqutes. The chickens were very moist and tasty but I was a little disappointed with the ribs which were to tough for my taste, but they were spares and not baby backs which I prefer. I think overall it was a good first outing but one that I will be trying to improve upon. Pics will follow soon.
 
Hello Shane, Glad to hear that your first time went well. How long were your ribs on for? I made the mistake of under cooking my ribs the first time but they were still good. It's just a matter of getting the "feel" of your BBQ. You'll be cooking like a pro in no time!
 
Shane, St.Louis style ribs take anywhere from 4 1/2 -6 hours to finish. It also depends on if you foil or don't. I know when they are done if I can insert a toothpick between the ribs. Also,make sure the meat has pulled back from the bones . Ribs are a continual adventure for me. Been cooking on the WSM for three or four years and finally now am producing what I feel are good ribs. Of course there are others who get the hang real quick. Just a slow learner I guess. Congrats on your cook
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Hi Shane. I can tell you from experience that cooking perfect ribs is a continually changing challenge. I recently cooked a set of back ribs(not baby back)for 6.5 hours at my normal temp of 235 and they were chewy and not tender. I have been told that growth hormones used by pork producers can have a tremendous effect on our ribs and pork texture. One fool proof way to get them right is to wrap them in foil for maybe 45 minutes, then finish them back off opened up. I dont like this method since I believe it takes away some of the smoke flavor and rub flavor I worked to get in the meat. Regardless, if we want perfectly tender ribs....what choice do we seem to have?
 
I have tried the foil method before, it works ok but you have to be very carefull not to leave them to long in the foil or you risk boiling the ribs which is not good. I think 30min to 1Hr max in foil is plenty and then finish them off out of foil. I will be trying to perfect this method in future.
 
Shane...you are soooo correct about getting pork and ribs overdone using foil. I have kicked my own butt (Pun) many times for letting the ribs get so done the bones fall out of the rack. Horrible. I think you are spot on that 30-45 minutes is plenty if you opt for foiling. Good reply so keep me posted on "our" attempts to get the time inside the foil just right. Later
 

 

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