First (and Second) Cook


 

Ron Strilaeff

New member
Hey all,

Just got my 18.5 WSM smoker Tuesday and it will be set up primarily as a grill with the charcoal bin up high where the water pan and lower grill should be. I'm a very inexperienced meat cooker, but I know that overcooked meat is bad.

So I cooked some burgers and fat onion slices last night with about 1/2 a chimney of briquets and a handful of small hickory wood chips. The coals were ~8" below the top grill so I sorta seared them with the lid off so I could monitor them. The 8" is not quite hot enough so I'll rig up something to raise it more the next time I want to grill. I poked the chips down through the grill after the searing and closed the lid and all the dampers but the temp stayed up above 325!! There was a LOT of smoke when I cracked open the door for a sec. I was scared of overcooking them so took them off after only 20 minutes of smoking, put them on a clean covered plate and took them inside to rest while my awesome wife was finishing the fresh garden salad with tomatoes and homemade creamy ranch dressing.

She likes her meat more rare that I do so she got the big one and I got the two smaller ones. We sat down to watch an Anthony Bourdain episode, took a bite and our eyes popped open ... "Damn this is good!", we said in unison. Yay!! And there was a very noticeable hickory smoke flavor.

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So, for my second cook, I'm going to configure the WSM for slow smoking and make "smoked steak" using three different cuts that have been sitting in our freezer for weeks: a beef flank steak, a thin-cut beef shoulder steak and a leg of lamb steak (with a bone). I think they are all pretty lean cuts and the flank steak is grass-fed. I put them in the fridge with a lemon, pepper, paprika and salt rub. They will not be seared but will be low-smoked (with a full chimney) starting at about 1:00 pm for our evening meal. They are pretty big so we'll have some of each tonight with leftovers for tomorrow. I don't think they will be overcooked because of the low temp.

I'm so excited .. this seems too easy.
 
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Welcome to the forum. Flank steak is a pretty tough piece of meat and is usually grilled to medium rare for best results. It is typically used in fajitas. Shoulder steak is also a tough cut and is typically braised. Both benefit from marinading for 24 hours in something acidic such as citrus juice, wine etc and oil. Have fun.
 
Update: I guess it's the Publix brand coals because I'm having a hard time keeping the temperature high enough. I had to open it up and light a whole new chimney (loosing 30+ min of cooking time). I put in a few black coals on top of the burning white ones after I dumped them into the ring. I then opened all the vents but it still dropped from 260 to 180, well outside of the "smoke" range. So I then opened the door, poked the coals a bit and then turned the door upside down and propped it open. Some of the coals are reddish, so I guess there's still hope but kinda disappointing. Next time I'll use the Kingsford blue bag.

2nd update: While I was writing this the temp climbed to 325! and almost all the coals where white with red, so I threw in another small handful of hickory chips, closed the door, closed all but one bottom vent, and left the top vent open a crack. The water was still full. Maybe now it will stay in the "smoke" range.

I'm such a noob :confused:
 
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Well, I would consider the second cook a failure. Instead of "smoked steak", I got black, extremely salty jerky. We were able to eat some of the middle part of each, and my wife saved the bulk of it by dicing it into some soup stock which simmered for several hours to rehydrate and tenderize.

It was a comedy of errors, so I must proceed cautiously so I don't ruin more good meat. Any suggestions for an idiot proof first smoke?
 
It was a comedy of errors, so I must proceed cautiously so I don't ruin more good meat. Any suggestions for an idiot proof first smoke?

Heat control. If you don't master that, you'll always struggle.

My first few smokes I sat by my smoker the whole time and watched my temp guage. What happened when I opened my lid, what happened when I added fuel, what happened when I added wood, changed my vents, etc....and my recovery times. I grabbed a six pack and a book and tried to notice what happened when I did anything.... Or didnt.

If it was easy everyone would do it yah? Keep at it bro... Sounds like you just let it get a little too high.
 
Hi Ron. welcome aboard.
Last week, I had my temps jump on me. What I did wrong was when I went to foil the ribs after 2 hrs, I wrapped three racks and the whole time I had the lid off/open and in the few minutes it took to spray/season/wrap three racks, the fire got more air than I was wanting, and my smoker got to 340. So hot that I bailed. I took the 3 racks of pork ribs out of the smoker and put them in a SS container while I managed to get the temp back to down 275. Then the ribs went back in to finish cooking.
I hope that shoulder roast comes out, man.
 

 

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