Hello,
New WSM owner here (first post). I own the 14.5" model. I used it for the 2nd time today, and I had the same issue I had the first time. The first time I did baby back ribs, this time I did a combo of baby backs on the top rack and chicken thighs on the lower rack. Here's my issue/question: When I get the fire going (using Minion method), put it together, and get it up to temp (225-250), when I open it up to put the meat in, I obviously lose the temp; both times it went down to between 150-200. Both times it eventually got back to around 225, but for the majority of the cook time (based on recipe I was following, about 2:15 of the 2:30 hrs) it stayed around 200; should I be putting the meat in at the beginning while it gets to temp, or am I ok doing it the way I have? To follow that up, if I am timing the cook, do I start from the time I put the meat in, regardless if it's at the 'right' temp, or once it gets to/back to the temp? I'm guessing that might depend on if I've already gotten it to temp, then lost it when I put the meat in, or if I've put the meat in at the beginning after putting the WSM together to get to temp for the first time.
I know, this is probably tl;dr, but while I haven't really known what I was doing the first 2 times, everything's come out pretty decent. I know if I can get this temp/timing issue figured out, it'll be even better.
Thanks for any info you can share.
Tony
New WSM owner here (first post). I own the 14.5" model. I used it for the 2nd time today, and I had the same issue I had the first time. The first time I did baby back ribs, this time I did a combo of baby backs on the top rack and chicken thighs on the lower rack. Here's my issue/question: When I get the fire going (using Minion method), put it together, and get it up to temp (225-250), when I open it up to put the meat in, I obviously lose the temp; both times it went down to between 150-200. Both times it eventually got back to around 225, but for the majority of the cook time (based on recipe I was following, about 2:15 of the 2:30 hrs) it stayed around 200; should I be putting the meat in at the beginning while it gets to temp, or am I ok doing it the way I have? To follow that up, if I am timing the cook, do I start from the time I put the meat in, regardless if it's at the 'right' temp, or once it gets to/back to the temp? I'm guessing that might depend on if I've already gotten it to temp, then lost it when I put the meat in, or if I've put the meat in at the beginning after putting the WSM together to get to temp for the first time.
I know, this is probably tl;dr, but while I haven't really known what I was doing the first 2 times, everything's come out pretty decent. I know if I can get this temp/timing issue figured out, it'll be even better.
Thanks for any info you can share.
Tony