Graduating from a kettle to a Smokey mountain


 

Ryan Dorian

New member
Hello friends and fellow patriots. Happy to be part of the family finally. I have been smoking on my Weber kettle for years. And the food has been amazing. I mainly used it just for BBQ very little grilling. However recently I have went all out and purchased a Smokey mountain 22 along with the cyberq. And I was so excited like a little boy 🤷*♂️ My first smoke was 2 racks of ribs. I followed the directions and not to mention hours of YouTube vids. Set the smoker of for the minion method with kingsford blue which is all I use. ( will be trying lump this year) Smoked my ribs for 6 hours with all the bottom vents closed and only my cyberq attached to one vent per the directions and my top vent about half way. My Ribs came out tasing like smoldered charcoal. Was heart broken. New to the Weber Smokey however I set it up like I have seen on YouTube many times with the minion?
Disillusioned smoker 😞
 
Ryan, first of all, welcome to the addiction!! I know you didn’t get the results you were hoping for, but you really went big for your first smoke on a new WSM. I think I ran 1 trial run without any in the smoker for my first burn, then I think I put some chicken on the smoker for my 2nd burn. I’ve never used a cyberQ, so I can’t really help you I’m that area, but there are lots of variables that could have caused your ribs to taste the way they did. You never mentioned the type of wood you used (for flavor) or the amount used. Did you go with water in the pan? Did you foil? What temps did you cook at for the duration of the smoke? If I had to guess, I might say too much smoke wood may be your culprit... a common problem when just learning how to use the WSM. Smoke wood is tricky; as some people like a more smoky flavor while others find just the slightest smoke flavor to be overpowering. Then there’s the flavor profile each different wood has. Hickory is a strong Smokey flavor while pecan has a more subtle Smokey flavor. Learning what you and those you cook for like is all part of the learning curve. Here in the south all I heard about was Hickory smoked BBQ. Only to find out no one in my family liked the taste of anything we cooked using Hickory. Now we use a lot of pecan, and apple with great results. Good Luck, you bought a great smoker and have a setup that will produce wonderful Q! Stick with it and in no time you’ll be the envy of your friends!!
Tim
 
Thanks for your reply. On this smoke I used cherry wood chips about a half a bag or so, I prefer chunks however my local store did not have any in stock yet. I only added wood chips for the first two hours or so and only used half of a small bag. I used water in the pan however I did not foil my ribs, it is a method I do favor though. For the cook I kept a steady temp of 235 for the duration. The smoky mountain is quite amazing at holding temp even in the chilly high 40s I was smoking in. Wondering if the minion method is not a good idea in the wsm because the taste was more charcoal than wood?
 
Two possibilities I can think of here:

1) too much wood, though I'm not sure about the chips - they burn up pretty quickly. I did ribs for my first cook and went WAY too heavy with the smoke wood.
2) not enough airflow. As Timothy said, keep that top vent wide open. The K Blue has an 'unnatural' smoke when it's igniting and if you capture that in the meat, it probably won't be desirable.

I've never used a temp control device, but I usually start with a half to full chimney of lit (depending on what I'm cooking and desired temps) and about the same amount of unlit in the cooker. Once I add the lit, I let it go for 15 minutes or so. This allows a lot of that 'unclean' smoke to blow off. Then I can clean the grate and get the meat on.
 
I believe that no food goes on the cooker until the smoke from the charcoal is non existent. That way, when I add smoke wood it is the only visible smoke. IOW all the smoke is what I add in the form of smoke wood.

I use very little smoke wood myself. Others use more. I like to avoid what I call the ‘ashtray effect’.

YMMV
 
Only use chunks of wood
Dont put food on until majority white cool smoke has stopped
This may be an hour after starting.

Dont add any wood later, It will just burn. Smoke sticks to wet coatings. If you want to ruin something, put wood in late to make more acrid smoke, and then sauce /mop meat while its smoking heavy. Your clothes will smell like smoke after eating the smoky mess.

The top vent really doesnt matter as much with a blower, pinched halfway wont hurt anything. (Harry Soo does this). Blower just runs faster. You dont need minion method either with a controller, just spread coals out evenly on top. But, if you don't have a need to pinch that top don't.

I usually do ribs at 275 for 2.5 hrs (160 ish), then wrap for about 1.5 hrs till butter tender, 200F. Sometimes 3/1. 6 hrs sounds like lower temp, i dont get bark that holds up to wrapping at lower temp, which is why i do 275.
 
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Sounds like the hook is set! Now you will spend the rest of your grilling and smoking life in the persuit of gustatory excellence! The first ones are the most frustrating. The more you do, the more you read, the easier it becomes. There will be a few failures along the way but, all in all, it’s a really fun way to spend time.
Don’t get discouraged, this forum is a fabulous source of support and inspiration!
 
I've used mostly chips over the years - that's about to change because I picked up a whole row of apple & cherry splits last month.

I'd throw on a handful or 2 of chips every couple hours or whenever I felt like it. I think the smoke's a little lighter that way, compared to the big chunks I've been throwing on.
 
Sorry. I might have missed this but did you foil the water pan and fill for the cook? Perhaps the water wicking down could have caused ash to become airborn and the fan blew it up. I am afraid you will have try again and again and again.
 
First, with a Guru they say in the manual, no water. Second chips produce lots of smoke really fast....half a bag is a lot of smoke. A little goes a long way in the WSM. I use my guru dry with the top vent closed 50% per the instructions. Other than the chips and the waterpan I think you did everything right. When I get ready to smoke I assemble the entire center section with meat, probes, and lid. Once I dump the 15 or so lit coals on my unlit fuel I almost immediately add the center section assembly. Last plug in the probes and set the guru temp and walk away. Just to add, for ribs I will use 2 fist sized chunks of pecan wood. Welcome to the addiction.
 

 

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