Brand New to the Smokin’ World


 

Garrett Layton

New member
Howdy everyone! Extreme newbie here. I have wanted to get into smoking delicious meats for a loooong time now, but a premie son of mine delayed that a bit. However... a couple days ago, after a TON of research on what to get that would work best for me and my family, I bought myself a WSM 18.5 inch!! Excited is an understatement!! I did season it a little he day after I got it. Rubbed it down with some oil then did a burn out. Put in some (not a lot) lump charcoal and left the vents wide open just to burn out the junk in there. I do have a couple of newb questions though as I prep for my first cook here in a couple days....
1. This probably happens a lot, but I went to buy a pork butt today to really break this puppy in and they came in a pack of two. Let’s be real... I don’t NEED to cook 16lbs of Pork Butt. My question is, once I open the package, how should I freeze the other butt to save it for a couple weeks?
2. When I start closing down the vents when I get to temp, if I find that it’s not holding the temps and it keeps rising, so I shut the vents down that are getting hit the most by the wind?
Thanks everyone and I have already spent way too many hours on this site getting helpful hints and tips! So I greatly appreciate it and let the good times (and smoke) role!
 
I would cook both and freeze the finished product. That should save about $5 in charcoal. Mostly it's just me and my wife so I split it up in sandwich bags and put those in either a gallon zip lock or vacuum seal. Thawing a 8# piece of pork can be a guessing game. Even after a week in the refrigerator it can still be frozen in the center.
 
Like Dan says re: cook both and then freeze one.

Re: the wind. If it's windy when starting, try to set it up out of the wind. Failing that, you can make a wind break out of: large cardboard box cut so it forms a wind break (dont worry if it accidentally touches the WSM, it won't catch fire as paper only burns at 451o whereas the WSM is usually in the 225-275o range), some plywood to form a rough box around 3 sides or a fire resistant blanket that "sort of" covers the vents but still leaves air access. I've also used "cement board" that I had leftover from a laundry room floor remodel that I leaned against the WSM to act as a windbreak.

Really, anything to stop the wind is what your goal should be. Some people have put their WSM in their garage with two doors open to provide circulation. I wouldn't recommend that but some have had no issues.

I've wrapped a blanket around mine (held together with clothes pins). It got scorched a bit (5 hr smoke) at the top but didn't catch fire. That was meant for "cold" weather smoking but also slowed down the winter winds we had.

I've even just laid one piece of ply against a fence to "sort of" shelter the WSM from the wind and that worked well (only on one side) also.

You shouldn't have to adjust the vents after it's settled in if you got a wind break in place.
 
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Congrats on the new smoker purchase. You're going to love it.

If those are boneless pork butts like Costco sells two to a pack, be sure to tie them up before smoking. Otherwise they have floppy bits that will hang off and end up as dried out, useless waste instead of the tender, juicy pulled pork they could be if protected by the rest of the butt. Tying them can be a challenge and will often result in something that looks more like an abstract work of art than a neatly tied roast. Don't worry about. Just be sure all the loose bits are held in place.

I'm with the others about doing both of them. You'll save charcoal and a LOT of time. You can smoke two butts in pretty much the same time as one. Unless you really enjoy spending time tending the smoker, it's a lot easier to load it up with as much as you can reasonably handle when you're doing a very long cook like pork butt or brisket.
 
One windbreak idea I have seen is nothing more than two pieces of plywood hinged together to stand to windward and it makes a pretty good fence for moderate breezes.
I have a short shelf set up for plants (think college book shelves) made of cement blocks and I set a piece of plywood adjacent to that and it makes a fair break. It worked pretty well for the NYD brisket feast. It was pretty bitter that night and temperature held surprisingly well. Just an idea.
I’m working on a more dedicated area for these projects but, getting my wife to give up some of the flowerbed might be a problem.
 
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Welcome!

To add to and back up previous comments...cook both. You're going to see about a 50% loss of weight in the finished product.

When I smoke butts I foil and save the juices for sauce. After degreasing and separating the semi-solids from the juice I'll boil with a TBS of rub and 1-2 TBS of BBQ sauce (both optional) then cook it down a bit. I pour it over the pulled pork and give it a toss to mix it in. I weight it out in 1# bags (1/4# for each sandwich) and vacuum seal it for future meals (or as a freebie to a friend/family). I find it best to boil these bags to reheat because it retains all of the juices. I prepare 5-8# this way to get us through the cold of winter.

As for the wind, when the temps get up to 200 it's time to close the vents down to 50%. Also, to keep the temps under control you need to block the vents (with a small wall as mentioned) that are getting a direct hit with the wind. That charge of wind is what's feeding the fire and making it hotter.

I purchased a DigiQ DX2 a couple of years ago and it works great at controlling the temps.

Good luck.
 
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Welcome to the hobby! I'm mostly repeating what has already been shared except if I bought a 2 pack and didn't need both right away I would do just one of them... only because I have a fairly stressful life and firing-up the WSM is a treasured escape for me. To me, it's enjoyable being in the middle of a weekend smoke and knowing I get to do it again next week (or whenever). If you don't already have a Foodsaver vacuum sealer and you really get into this then that item will certainly worthy of your consideration. For my use, a smoker and vacuum sealer go hand-in-hand. I often vacuum seal and freeze leftover pulled pork and throw it in boiling water for a quick meal at some later date. The FS brand bags are quite costly, though, and, so, I use the generic rolls from Amazon at a fraction of the cost. Good luck!
 

 

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