Recent content by Jeff Wildrick

I just noticed that one of the side brackets on my 18" WSM (the brackets that hold the water pan and lower rack) is badly rusted, and won't hold the weight of the water pan any longer. It just bends under the weight. At the moment I've got it just hanging on for tonight's cook, but I wonder if...

Hi Amir, A member of this forum sent me a jpg graphic he designed. I tried to send it to the email address on your blog, but it bounced back. I you contact me at jhayeswildrick at hotmail dot com, I'll be happy to pass it along. -Jeff

First of all, "Thank you" to Amir. My laptop was in the shop last week and I had to run the Stoker without Stoker Log for the first time in quite a while. Fortunately, I was making ribs, so it was a simple cook. But I realized how much I love being able to use the Stoker Log features. Yesterday...

I used the posted recipe with chuck roast. Six hours turned out to be just about right. Sorry, I didn't think to take any pictures. Good luck. I found it amazing!

I just used the new Shredded BBQ Beef recipe from the site, and have to say, it was fantastic. I used Goya Adobo and McCormick Montreal Steak Seasoning for my dry rub. Mesquite and Cherry for smoke wood. My family is already asking when we can make it again. Five stars - and EASY clean up. -Jeff

Just pulled the 6 Butts off the smoker with internal temp of about 190. They feel tender as butter, and I've got them wrapped and nestled in a cooler until dinner time. Interesting that after the long sit at about 140, once the temp in the smoker went back up they cooked pretty fast. There was...

Correction... I had my target temp for the pit at 225. I've just raised it to 250, figuring I slowed the cooking process down by a few hours with the heat loss overnight. At 10:00 this morning the pit is 250, the meat is 152. I need to start serving at 5:00.

You're right about the fuel. I woke up at 8 this morning to find I'd burned through all of my fuel (using Stoker and clay saucer). Loaded it up again, and hopefully I'm back in business. Pit made it down to 125, and meet hanging in at about 140. Now both back on the rise.

I'm cooking 6 butts for a church dinner. Started with an overflowing pile of Kingsford about 9:00 last night (Minion). At bedtime all seemed to be going well - having a hard time maintaining 225, but hovering around there. This morning at 8:00 I woke to discover that all of the charcoal was...

Wow, I've never thought about cooking from frozen. I'll try that sometime on a smaller cook for the family. Right now I've got them all in a cooler with some ice packs, waiting to go on about 10:00.

When cooking 6 on my 18", I put three in a triangle, and use bamboo skewers to help them stand up a bit. In other words, they are cooking more on their ends than on the flat side. Works like a charm!

Tonight I'll be smoking six pork butts for a church fundraiser. Does anyone have any advice on whether to: a) let the meat sit for an hour or so before putting it in the smoker, to take the chill off from the refrigerator, or b) keep it as cold as possible before putting it in the smoker...

The last two times I've used my Stoker I've had a hard time keeping the heat down. For instance, on my most recent cook I was doing two boneless pork butts. I started Minion method, and the WSM slowly came up to my target temp of 225. The fan kicked off, and about twenty minutes later I kicked...

You can get the egg separator at http://www.stupid.com/fun/EGSP.html LOL

Oh man... I have one of these and love it. Not for eating, but when peeling and slicing a whole lot of apples for pie and crumble, it's great. -Jeff