1st Cook Underway!


 
M

Matt Westendorf (Westy)

New member
Well my first attempt at cooking with my new WSM is under way. I picked up two 3 lb chickens from the meat shop today after work.

Details so far...

- 1 chimney lit + 1 1/2 of unlit Stubb's
- Peach wood for smoke
- 1 chicken rubbed down with "Rub Some Butt" - Carolina style dry rub, the second rubbed down with Bad Byron's "Butt Rub"
- water pan was filled a little less than 1/2
- temps have peaked and are holding steady at 325

Here's a quick picture of the birds prior to going on the cooker...

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and one at the 45 minute mark, checking temperature (cooking partner in the background)...

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And here is the final product...

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I pulled them from the smoker at 170 and let them rest for a bit. The chicken was moist, really juicy and had great smoke flavor all the way through it. This was my first smoke with peach and I really enjoyed it.

As far as the WSM goes, I ran the vents all wide open and temps stayed right around 315-325. After about an hour and 30 minutes I checked the temps on the chicken for a second time and noticed in the next 10-15 minutes that it took the birds to reach 170, the temps on the smoker were in the 275 range. Maybe it didn't have enough time to recover from the lid being off or maybe my fuel was running out of steam.

So some thoughts from the folks that have done this more than I. Should I have closed down the vents a bit or since temps were sitting at 325 (which was my goal) did I do the right thing by leaving everything open?

I'll be starting a pork butt on the evening of the 3rd to be ready for lunch on the 4th. It feels good getting this first smoke out of the way and seeing what the WSM will do with some meat on it.

Thanks for the tips so far!
 
Your birds look great. I'm doing a turkey this weekend and 325 is my goal for temps. As far as your settings go you got to do what the conditions require to maintain a temp range, you were there. It does not have to be exact. You just have to get used to it and learn your own method for achieving different ranges. It can also depend on the fuel you are using, smoker location, outside temps, wind/sun and the amount of meat you have loaded into your cooker.

You will do fine with the butt.
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Matt;

Thumbs up by using your head to do a first cook with chicken which is relatively inexpensive to learn with. It also seems you have a great concept of cooking since you did the birds at a fairly high temp. This makes the skin nice and crispy.

Hope your pork test goes equally well.


MT
 
Thanks folks...I can see the WSM is going to be addictive. Last night I attempted a cold smoke on some cheese from a local dairy. It's sealed up and the waiting has begun.

I'm looking forward to ribs and pulled pork on the 4th!
 
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