First Cook....Good results...one issue


 

Eric Work

New member
Hi Everyone-

Today I completed my first cook on my new 22 inch WSM...the results were overwhelmingly positive. I smoked 3 racks of ribs, all dry rubbed, one rack sprayed intermittently with Coca-Cola, and the other 2 racks each basted with different varieties of BBQ sauce from Martins in Nashville. They were on for about 6 hours in all and I can say they came out way better than I though my first try would be. They were soft, juicy, the only dry rubbed ones fell off the bone...I can say they truly were restaurant quality.

I did have one issue though...and that was that I had trouble keeping the temperature up because I was running out of fuel. I am in the suburbs of Philly, it was 50 degrees today, very little wind. Anticipating a 6 hour cook, I filled my ring about 75% of the way with Kingsford briquettes and hollowed out a hole in the center, I fired up about 1/3 of a chimney to white hot, and dumped them in the center. I aimed to cook between 250-275, and was quite stable in that range until about hour 4, when the temperature started dropping. I opened all the vents, but it kept going lower, and upon looking in the door, saw there were very few briquettes left....so i fire up another half chimney, dumped it in, and put a handful of fresh briquettes on top...around hour 5, same problem...repeated the same exercise, and in the end, the cook came out great. However, from the research I did, I thought I had more than enough fuel to last 6 hours. Any feedback on this would be greatly appreciated

Thanks,

Eric
 
1/3 of a chimney way too much IMO. In my 18, I'll go 12 max-usually 10. For you, maybe start with 15-18. You burned through the unlit stuff too fast using so much lit to start with.
 
Opening the lid to baste/spray could be part of your problem.
Next time try to only do this a couple of times, if you feel you must.
 
I agree with Bob, opening to spray will tend to increase fuel consumption.
Since the WSM is such a well designed unit and will smother itself when all vents are closed, I would try filling the ring to capacity. That way it will not need the “restoking”, if it has fuel left when you’re done, shut it down.
Next day, shake out the grate, remove and leftovers of “kettle use” size put them in a steel covered bucket and save them for grilling time.
That is really the beauty in what the esteemed Mr. Weber had in mind. Well, one of them!
 
Ok...so it sounds like the advice for next time is to fill the fuel ring all the way, light with less briquettes, just a dozen or so....and then rely on the water pan to keep moist rather than opening the top to spray, leave untouched for 6 hours and apply sauce after they come off? Does that sound about right?
 
I don’t use the water but, that’s youre call.
It will probably add a little more time but, you’re on the front of the learning curve with only one cook under your belt so, now is the time for perfecting the technique. Try everything until you find what works best for you. Remember, perfection is a worthy chase but, excellence will be the product on the way.
 
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IMO, although lots "spritz" the meat (albeit infrequently due to heat loss), water in the pan does zip for moisturizing. It's purpose (if used) is to moderate the temps. That's why a lot of us use terra cotta dish instead of water for heat moderation. Less mess, less fuss.
 
Congratulations on your first smoke and its success! I have no better advice from what you already read; I'm just here to say that I agree with others' feedback. If my target it 250-275'ish I load the charcoal chamber with unlit (full or nearly full depending on my anticipated time) and then dump 8-12 fully-lit coals. In approximately 30 minutes my pit is 200+ and shortly thereafter I tweak my intake vents and in a perfect world it will cruise for hours at my target temp.
 
Yes, I do the same as Len, terra-cotta saucer in the pan. Wrap both in foil for easier clean up, I change the water pan foil as needed, usually about every third cook unless, of course, it’s gets fouled with something.
 
Oh yeah... I do not use water these days. I'm not saying it's wrong; I just learned to adapt without it and that routine has given me repeatable results.
 
My only advice is when memorial day comes. STOCK UP. Both Home depot,and Lowes usually have 2 bags for the price of one.
Get it when it's on sale and fuel mileage doesn't hurt so bad ;)
 
Fred, you are absolutely right!
I’m down to about 8 bags, which just might get me to the first big sale of the season. Then I’ll stock up again. Fill the back of the Jeep then.
 

 

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