Fired up the 22.5" WSM First time.


 

Dennis Stilwell

TVWBB Member
I usually don't wash/clean a new grill when I get it, but I always throw in a load of charcoal and let it burn not cooking anything. That was the plan with the new WSM. I got it loaded and fired up, let it get up to 400 for a little bit. After about and hour, I had to cook something. I went to the store to get some baby backs, but at 4.49Lb those plans changed. I picked up a rack of spares and looked over a saw that pork butt was 1.19lb so I got a small one of thoses as well. The ribs are at almost 4hrs so its time to start checking them, and the pork butt is at 147*. I'm having issues keeping the heat down under 250*, and the temp has been on a roller coaster the whole time. I have been ,making VERY small changes to the vents and having large changes in temps. I've read on here that a new smoker can ba a pain so I'm hoping thats my problem. I'm also using walmart charcoal as I did not plan to cook. I hope that the swinging temps don't mess the quailty of the food up.
 
Hey Dennis congrats on the new smoker
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The temp swings shouldn't bother the pork, as long as you check for doneness as you should, so you don't over cook. A new WSM will seal itself, a little, after a couple of smokes, and tend to settle down. I'm guessing you didn't have any water in the pan so you could heat it up to 400*..... water in the pan or bricks or sand will stablize the temp greatly, preventing erratic swings, Finally, most will tell you that "catching" the desired temp on the way up, is much easier than trying to stabilize an overheated cooker as you lower the temp. Hope this helps ya a little
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Originally posted by ron "Rondo" hanson:
Hey Dennis congrats on the new smoker
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The temp swings shouldn't bother the pork, as long as you check for doneness as you should, so you don't over cook. A new WSM will seal itself, a little, after a couple of smokes, and tend to settle down. I'm guessing you didn't have any water in the pan so you could heat it up to 400*..... water in the pan or bricks or sand will stablize the temp greatly, preventing erratic swings, Finally, most will tell you that "catching" the desired temp on the way up, is much easier than trying to stabilize an overheated cooker as you lower the temp. Hope this helps ya a little
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No water in the pan, but I do have a pizza stone in there. Seeing that baby smoking while at 400, I just had to cook on it. I do agree that it has been hard to cool it down. I'm assuming that to many coals have caught fire making it tough to keep it down. The ribs have been pulled and the butt is at 175* and the temp is down to 238 with all 3 vents closed on the bottom. I now know to not even bother trying to cook low and slow if it was allowed to get so hot in the first place. Oh and the Maverick ET-73 is the best thing ever.
 
Being that it's your first run and you aren't using water my guess is that your temp issues are related to two things.

1) New wsm's can run hot.. lots of reasons but after a few cooks the oil and such will build up and help seal the leaks you might have.

2) I'm betting this is the big one.. you are chasing the temps with your vent settings. Honestly the best advice ever given here is step back and have a beer... it's done when it's done.
I use a clay saucer and I can tell you that it's far more delicate until you get used to it. Most likely you saw it get too high... so you dialed it down... but it didn't go down so you dialed down a bit more... then suddenly its too low.... so you open up... but it's not rising so you open more... suddenly too hot! haha

The reason for this is that the pizza stone is acting as a temperature storage device. If your cooker is 300 then the stone is 300. You can dial it down, but the stone will still radiate that heat for some time. The risk is that you wind up choking out your fire because the stone is skewing your temps.

If you run dry (with pizza stone) the trick is to catch on the way up. If you over shoot then adjust slightly but expect it to take a while to be noticed.
 
Guess I put that butt on a little to late. I pulled it off at 1:30am at 200* resting it for an hour and pulling it. Oh and this is my first ever pulled pork...

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Way ta go Dennis! Everything you cooked looks great
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With the temp excursions you spoke of, you & WSM still produced some terriffic chow
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Amazin lil' smoker, eh...
 
Originally posted by ron "Rondo" hanson:
Way ta go Dennis! Everything you cooked looks great
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With the temp excursions you spoke of, you & WSM still produced some terriffic chow
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Amazin lil' smoker, eh...

The ribs were just so so IMO. This is the first time I have ever had pulled pork cooked on a smoker. Its was so crazy good, that I ate a dinner while I pulled it. I HATE eating at least a few hours before bed, but last night I could not help myself.
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Glad the PP was sooo good
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...did ya think the ribs were "done" enough? They look good, but I don't see em pullin back from the bone...the last 30mins of cookin is when ribs get tender enough and pull off the bone cleanly
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Originally posted by ron "Rondo" hanson:
Glad the PP was sooo good
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...did ya think the ribs were "done" enough? They look good, but I don't see em pullin back from the bone...the last 30mins of cookin is when ribs get tender enough and pull off the bone cleanly
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I may have pulled the ribs just a tad early, but they were still nice and tender. I was playing with different spices. Note to self. I do not like celery seed on my ribs.
 
Congrats. on your new WSM. Thats not to shabby for a "break in" cook. Imagine what it going to be like with a little experience under your belt. Happy Smokin!
 

 

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