1st overnighter with my WSM


 
Status
Not open for further replies.
M

Mike Rockwood

TVWBB Fan
I've done overnighters before with my electric Brinkman, but I'm firing up the WSM tonight to smoke two butts about 7lbs each. I've done long smokes with the WSM smoking ribs, so I feel confident about the heat staying constant and lit.

In using the "Minion Method", how many lit briquettes to you use to start? I've seen elsewhere on the site, where about 15 briquettes, dumped into the middle of a full ring of charcoal should be sufficient.

I'm already drooling over pulled pork sandwiches and cole slaw tomorrow.
 
I do overnighters all the time but I don't use a chimney anymore. I just overfill the ring a little and hit the middle with my weedburner. I am getting 12 hour and more cooks out of it. I imagine 15 brickets would be the thing going. I used to dump a whole chimney full on top of a full ring and it worked fine. I usually set my vents at about 50% and it holds temp real close all night. Those 7 lb butts might get done a little quick. Maybe you should put them on after the 11:00 news and check early in the morning.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Mike Rockwood:
[qb]In using the "Minion Method", how many lit briquettes to you use to start?[/qb] <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>On the page that describes the Minion Method, I've listed some suggested numbers of lit coals depending on weather conditions.

Look under the heading, "Light A Few Briquettes".

Regards,
Chris
 
Thanks, Chris and Dennis.

Yeah - I did see that section, but was looking to do a suggested vs. reality check. 15 it'll be!!

I rubbed the butts earlier this afternoon. I have the charcoal ring filled to the top, leaving a depression in the middle for the lit briquettes. The chimney has been lit.

I'm figuring it'll take about 15-16hrs, so these butts are going on in about 15 minutes, about 9:30pm est.
 
Well.. the butts are in(closer to 10pm), the dome is on, smoke is coming out the top vents, and I'm a-sipping on my Southern Comfort.

The polder at the top grill is reading 234, another thermometer in the dome, is reading 245. I just closed down all the bottom vents to about 1/3 open.

It's a clear, star-filled night with the forecast for a calm, mid-upper 50's overnight. The WSM is under a tarp, just in case.

I'm running with the WSM water pan, filled mostly with sand, foil over the top. I have a chunk of hickory and a chunk of apple smoking away.

I'll give it an hour or two before calling it a night. I need someone to play some cards with!!
 
I put 2 butts (12.5 lbs total) on about an hour ago, WSM is humming away at 250 in the lid with 4 hunks (kinda smaller) of apple and 1 decent chunk of hickory. Have 4 slabs of BRITU spares in the fridge waiting to go on in the morning, hopefully done in time for the Cubs game at 12:20 /infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif
Here's hoping that I can actually wake up on time for once /infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif
Jamie
 
My first overnighter with the WSM too! I used 20 briquettes to start but wish I went with 15. A brisket on bottom, butt on top on at 11 PM EST current temp one hour later reads 250 with the vents open 30%. Good weather in FL but the umbrella is up.
 
Looks like there's a few of us "working" tonight.

I'm getting some nice smells wafting in from my deck.

Temps are holding steady, I'm off for a few hours of sleep. Catch you in the morning.
 
It's shortly after 6:30am here on the east coast and temps at the top grill are steady at 230 after 8.5 hours.

A quick check through the access door shows me about 2 "courses" of charcoal yet to ignite around the ring, with a good "glow" from the center of the ring, so I'm not changing a thing. I'm not adjusting any of the vents and I'm not knocking any ashes off. Just leaving the thing alone.

I love the smell of BBQ pork in the morning!!

I opened the dome for the first time to swap locations of the two butts(top/bottom grill).

Time for some coffee. I hope the other overnighters are doing as well.
 
Just woke up about a half hour ago (6:30am central). Flipped the butts over and left them on their respective racks (top rack butt is a bit larger). Dome was holding at 240 or so.
Inserted a probe into top butt and we are reading 169 (was holding 170 before I walked my dog) right now. Think I'll let them go another hour or so, then move them both to lower rack and add my spares. This Cubs game at 12:20 is killing me, but we should have a steady supply of swine all game and my friends better appreciate my hard work (well, hard work being waking up at 6:30am on a Saturday, we won't tell them how easy the rest of this is) /infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif
Jamie
 
I hear, that you can speed things up a bit by foiling the butts and leaving them in the smoker.

I'm guessing that you'll be adding more smoke wood when you add the ribs? If so, the additional smoke on the butts might make then too smoky. Foiling would keep them from the extra smoke, and speed things up for you.
 
Same story with my wsm this morning. Temp when I woke up was 230. swapped racks with my butt and brisket. Looks great. What's the latest on Slammin Sammy? What's the general sentiment?
 
Well, just wrapped the 2 butts in foil and put them on bottom rack. They have been holding at 180 for some time. They look and smell fantastic (well now they just look like a football wrapped in foil).
Rolled the 4 racks of spares and added them to the top rack, added 2 chunks of apple and 1.5 chunks of hickory. Fit was sorta tight feels like maybe some are rubbing the side of the lid so I'll check them once I stabalize temp a bit and move them more towards center.
So now a quick question:
Looks like I have 1 layer of coals going, and no unlit. Doubt they will hold out too much longer so what is best way to add more?
Should I throw 10 or so unlit spaced on top or will that smother the fire too much? Or should I fire up a chimney and add them lit? Might be hard to disasseble the cooker so added lit might be a challenge.
Thanks-
jamie
 
Well, what I'd do is using a pair of metal tongs, place a loose layer of unlit coals on top of what's there. It won't smother it. You'll have to monitor your temps as the new briquettes fire up. If in a couple of hours your temps start to drop, then add some more.

Ideally, you'd want to add the new coal already fired up, but given your WSM is full, I wouldn't want take it apart with all the meat inside.
 
Thank Mike, that is what I started doing a bit ago. Maybe added 10 or so unlit spread about, will slowly add more as those fire and as I need.
Looks like my Butt is now at 175 (was at 180 an hour ago). Guess it is time to take a peek at those and see what the heck is going on /infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif
jamie
 
I just "probed" my butt and it's reading 191, and looking so good..mmmmmm

You probably found alot of juice in the foil. You might want to poke a few holes under the butts so the rendered fat has some place to drain. Leaving the foil intact on top of the butts, will keep them hot.

I've never seen it myself, but I've read where in the temps you are now, that due to the breakdown of connective tissues and colagen, that the temp of the butt will actually drop a bit. Perhaps that is what you are seeing now.

Another thing to consider, is that the temps are lower on the lower rack. If you are happy with the temps that your ribs are at, you can always finish the butts in the oven set at 230. Nothing to be ashamed about finishing them in there. They've taken all the smoke that you need for them to take. This give yhou control over their finish, wile keeping things optimal for the ribs.

Hang in there. If it looks like your ribs won't be done in time, you can foil them and place back in the WSM for an hour. This'll make then tender in a shorter period of time. Remove them from the foil and finish them back on the smoker.
 
Looks like we are on the same page. I pulled the butts (was fearing my probe fried as the ribs could have been dripping on the connection) and when I unwrapped to chek them out they were about to fall apart. So I wrapped in saran wrap them foiled and put in oven on warm. Also took a small pull of the outside to taste test. Wow, tastes like candy /infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif
Ribs are looking good so far, hopefully the butts will tide the appetites enough to wait for ribs. They went on at 9 so I am figuring they should be done at 3pm or so.
And the bullet is still humming at 250 at the lid.
Jamie
 
Yup - same page for sure.

Smoking pork. Drinking. Peeking. Tasting. Getting ready for baseball.

I have a cole slaw to make up and then I'm done until the pulling.

Red Sox fan here. Today, the Sox are playing their "made-for-tv natural rivals", the Phillies. Give me a break. The only rivals the Red Sox have are in New York. Oh well.. Happy q'ing to you. Hope your team wins.
 
It's been great reading the play by play of your overnighters with the WSM. Keep us posted on how everything worked out.
I just got mine for Father's Day & will be trying it out for the first time next weekend.

Jeff
 
Well... I am somewhat happy to report the my butt turned out better than my Red Sox(walk off 2-run homerun in the bottom of the 13th, by the Phillies). Sox lose 5-6

I pulled the butts when they were 195, internal. Wrapped them in plastic wrap, foil, then foil again, then wrapped in a towel and into the cooler for a couple of hours.

While there was a noticable 1/4inch smoke ring, the entire butt was a nice, rosy color all the way through. The blade bone fell right out, nice and clean. The pork was juicy and very tasty.

Jeff - I'd suggest you do chicken the first time out. You can get a real feel for how the thing works without a whole lot of effort. My biggest tip to you, is to go easy on the smoke. A little can go a long way. Keep exploring this site for other tips and suggestions. Good Luck!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

 

Back
Top