1st & 2nd smoke


 
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Jim Evans

TVWBB Member
First things first. The WSM is AWESOME!!!



Now on to the first smoke. The first smoke was last weekend and was a few racks of ribs and a chicken. 85+ dry day, lump charcoal and water in the pan, hickory and mesquite chips. The ribs came out good, except I probably could have gone a little longer (5 hours) as I was using spare ribs. They weren't as tender as they could have been. The chicken was AWESEOME.

On the second smoke I went for broke. I did pork butt starting at Midnight due to the fireworks in town. 69 degrees, lump, water, apple/cherry chips. I cooked the butt for 15 hours and turned it 3 times and sprayed with my appple/vinegar spray. The meat temp was 186-191 throughout. I let it stand for about an hour and then pulled and ate......IT was unreal!!! Everyone loved it. I dropped some off at the neighbors and they wanted more.

Some of the problems I encountered.

* Low temp at 6am (195)
* My ET-73 transmission distance sucks. It will not work in my house at all. I left it outside on a window sill and heard the alarm through the open window. Other than transmisstion distance, I love it.
* Had to use different charcaol as I ran out my Ozark Oak and the website ordering is still down. Burned way to hot and too fast compared to my Ozark Oak.

I'm doing ribs right now (rainy and 65). I had been practicing on my weber kettle so I have my rub and wood worked out it's just getting used to the WSM.

Next week is Brisket! yeah baby!!!

Keep the suggestions flowing. This site is AWESOME and a great help for begginers like me.

Jim
 
Why not use Kingsford(big supporter)and put sand in the water pan?

I don't have a remote thermo...seems to me like it would be a waste if you have more than 1 thing in the smoker(1 probe=1 piece of meat) unless you are taking oven temp with it instead of meat temp.

Did my first pork butt this past weekend also(7lb/16hrs)...AWESOME!! Good luck on the brisket!
 
I've been thinking about giving kingsford a try as well as the sand in the pan.

The ET-73 is a dual proble one for meat and one for smoker temp. I am taking the smoker temp at the top grate and then the meat temp. I also have thermometer stuk in the top vent for now. The best thing about it is you can set your hi/lo temps for both meat and smoker and it will sound an alarm when you exceed those limits. Woke me up at 6am.
 
Jim, the one thing I've never heard is that someone who is using Kingsford and the MM runs out of fuel!

This of course is using a full ring of unlit fuel and adding 15-20 lit coals on top. Worked great for me both times this weekend!

I am a big Kingsford guy and, to be honest, it is always available and is always a good buy from the money side as well!

40lbs/$9.00 at Home Depot...not bad!
 
Jim, I like my WSM too! I noticed that you use mustard on ribs, and I was wondering if you did so on Butt.
I really like the bark that mustard gives to a pork butt. Best Ive ever had so far was mustard slathered smoked in my backyard. I put thr rub on the butt, then let it sit in the fridge covered in saran wrap over night, then slather mustard on, then I sprinkle more rub on the butt and in 16-18 hours or so, its done!
DP.
 
Dale,

I did rub the butt with mustard and then my BBQ rub and let it sit in the fridge for about 8 hours before it hit the smoker. 15 hours and it was done. My family LOVES the mustard rub method and the bark was sooooo good. I will have to try your method...double the rub!!! mmmmmmmmmm

Jim

Jim
 
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