Questions regarding first WSM cook


 

Chris D UK

New member
I have just started out smoking after purchasing a 14.5" WSM last week. After a dry run (without meat) on Saturday at roasting temperatures of 325° I tried smoking a gammon joint. Whilst the results were good, I have a few questions which I would really appreciate any help / advice with.

I went with the standard method and fired up about 2/3 of my Weber chimney starter with Weber briquettes. After about 15 mins when flames were licking at the top (not much ash visible yet on the coals, if that's significant) I dumped them in and assembled the cooker. My water pan was 90% full and within minutes I was at the 225°F mark, the level I was aiming to cook at. After initially assembling, I had lots of white smoke, some billowing out from under the lid. After probably 10 mins, the smoke escaping from the lid subsided, but there was still more smoke than I was aiming for, considering I hadn't yet added any wood. I had two bottom vents about 25% open, the other closed. My lid vent was wide open throughout the cook.

At this point I would have liked to open the vents more and hopefully lower the smoke production. I was worried if I did this, that I would get higher than my target cooking temperature and struggle to bring it back down again.

I added two small apple wood chunks and added my meat.

My gammon was small (under 2 pounds) and cooked to 150°F in under 2 hours. I wrapped it in foil and waited until it went over 160°F, then took it off. I had no trouble whatsoever maintaining 225°F throughout the cook, it almost seemed too easy.

First, the not so good: I took a bite of the end section (outside of meat): it wasn't a very pleasant taste which sort of made my tongue tingle, quite bitter. In the end I spat this mouthful out, it wasn't nice. My mouth still tastes a little bitter hours later.

The positives of my cook were that the meat was very moist and tender (perhaps helped by my brining). Inside the meat was lovely, just the exterior was more smokey / bitter than I would have liked.

I'm wondering if my problem was 'creosote', which I have read can give the flavour I think I experienced. My meat and the inside of the smoker had a brown like film of liquid on it, is this normal? I was expecting some build-up, but less of it, and more sooty, rather than the oily substance I ended up with. After cooking I closed all vents to extinguish the fire, perhaps this produced the oily substance.

Did I use too much wood, or was my problem not getting to a clean-burn before adding my meat?

Seeing the word creosote was a bit worrying, since in the UK this is associated with a potentially cancer causing wood preservative product.

Any advice, hints or tips would be very much appreciated.
 
Hi Chris, welcome to the forum. Did you keep the top vent fully open throughout the cook? Closing the top vent can cause a bitter cook. Was your Gammon skinned or skin on? Sometimes skin will get bitter. The fact that the meat had a "brown like film" suggest (to me) that the temp was too low, there was too much moisture present, and that the smoke built up too much. Some of that moisture could have come from your wood, should it not have been fully seasoned. I personally look for "blue smoke" coming out of my smokers before putting the food in the smoker. That's a personal choice, many don't. Again, welcome to the forum, we'll get your cook(s) figured out and you'll soon be quite happy with your WSM. One note, if you have a bitter cook, a couple days in the Fridge will reduce the bitterness
 
Hi Chris, welcome to the forum. Did you keep the top vent fully open throughout the cook? Closing the top vent can cause a bitter cook. Was your Gammon skinned or skin on? Sometimes skin will get bitter. The fact that the meat had a "brown like film" suggest (to me) that the temp was too low, there was too much moisture present, and that the smoke built up too much. Some of that moisture could have come from your wood, should it not have been fully seasoned. I personally look for "blue smoke" coming out of my smokers before putting the food in the smoker. That's a personal choice, many don't. Again, welcome to the forum, we'll get your cook(s) figured out and you'll soon be quite happy with your WSM. One note, if you have a bitter cook, a couple days in the Fridge will reduce the bitterness

My top vent was always wide open throughout. The gammon didn't have skin on it.

Perhaps I put the meat on too soon in the cook before being fully up to temperature. I was expecting my WSM to take longer to get up to temperature, when in fact it looked ready in minutes.
 
My top vent was always wide open throughout. The gammon didn't have skin on it.

Perhaps I put the meat on too soon in the cook before being fully up to temperature. I was expecting my WSM to take longer to get up to temperature, when in fact it looked ready in minutes.
It was ready in minutes because you used too many briq in your chimney to start. You should only be using 8-10 briq in the chimney (for the 14" WSM; in my 18" I use 10-12-14), the rest being unlit in the WSM.

I think that the bitter taste you had was because the lit coals (too many) from the chimney caused too many unlit coals to get "all fired up". By using fewer lit, you'll have less of the "initial" (bitter?) flavour you experienced.

Just as guess as I'm no expert but use fewer briq in your chimney to start. The unit will take longer to get up to temp (mine is usually 45-50 min--18" ) but I think you''ll get better results.
 
I'm in line with Len's theory. Too many briquettes lit initially, and then when you assembled the cooker and limited the air in you choked the fire nearly out, producing all that white smoke. Basically you had too much mass hot enough to burn, but not enough oxygen to burn cleanly. Your temp didn't go too high thanks to the water pan absorbing and using the excess energy. You also probably put the meat on too soon, I'd let it burn 'till you no longer have that white smoke.

Welcome to the forum, and let us know how the next cook goes! It's a learning process for all of us haha.
 

 

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