First Smoke on 18.5 WSM - Ribs (Pics)

Hello all. I received my first smoker (18.5 WSM) earlier this week and had my first smoke yesterday. I have been reading through the forum for about 2 weeks. Originally, I was set on an expensive pellet grill (Mak), but decided to go with the trusty WSM.

I tried to follow the basic baby back recipe in the Big Bob Gibson book - except using the rubs and sauces I had on hand. I used a Costco baby backs and their Sweet Mesquite Rub and cooked for about 3.5 hours around 250. I was shooting for 4 hours but pulled them off a bit early because the temps sometimes ran a bit hot.

I had a bit of trouble keeping the temp down with Cowboy lump charcoal. I finished with a basting of Sweet Baby Ray's and put back on for about 20 minutes. I used water in a foiled pan.

A couple of first-time observations. The uncooked Costco baby backs were too long for the 18.5 rack without creative bending - so I cut them in half and cooked three half racks on each grate. I almost bought the 22.5 for this reason. The lump charcoal did seem to burn very hot at first, then died and needed stirring. The inconsistent sizes left some air pockets. Also, while most of the ribs were juicy, a few end pieces seemed a bit dry.

All in all, they turned out fantastic. My relatives have already put in an order for future smokes.

You can check out a few pictures here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/47576147@N06/

Todd, congrats on getting your first sucessful cook under your belt, great pictures, I love the color of your ribs.

I too have the 18" WSM and from experience I recommend you get a rib rack, one of the best investments for an 18" WSM. All my cooks I cut the ribs in 1/2 and put them in the rack. I have 2 and each will hold 3 racks of ribs and I've had as many as four on each. Biggest benefit to the racks is it keeps the ends of your ribs out of the hot zones.

Regarding running hot; most new units will run hot. Just got to use her a lot and get her nice and "gunked" up. Also, I don't know how you started your fire but using the Minion Method can help get you started on the right foot.

So what's your next cook? If you're looking for a forgiving one that's a lot of fun go butts.

Todd, Nice ribs! I agree with Larry, let the smoker develop some age (gunk) inside this will help. Butts are a great idea. Personnaly, I'd loose the water pan and just foil the pan and add foil balls. There's too many variables to ask, so for now Enjoy and get going on your second cook.

Thanks for the comments and advice.

I just received a rib rack for Valentines Day, and will be using that next time. I'm also going to try it without water next time - that was kinda messy to clean up.

I'm not sure what is next. We might do another shorter cook next weekend with a couple of chickens. Then move on to pork butts and a brisket.

If you still have trouble keeping the temps in line next time don't forget that it's OK to just entirely close off a couple of vents. You might also want to make sure there aren't big gaps around the door - sometimes they aren't a very good fit after being banged up in shipping and some gentle pressure will smooth that out.