1st rodeo on new wsm 18


 
M

Matt in CT

TVWBB Member
I'd say I had a successful 1st cook on my new smoker, but some things were not what I expected.

I fired up an almost full chimney and added it to a 1/2 full charcoal ring with a couple apple wood chunks tucked in.
1 gallon (room temp) in Water pan
Outside temp 50 degrees with a light wind
I built up the unit adding some whole chicken legs on the bottom rack and ribs on the top almost immediately after adding the chimney load of fuel.
Took about 1.5 hours and the temp leveled and stayed at 245 (all vents wide open)

This thing was on cruise control for the next 3 hours or so before the temp started to drop (around 225) as the sun went down. Then it woke up and the temp climbed to 265 this is around the 4 hour mark.
I wondered if I ran outta water....checked at the end, water. Was low but not out

I had only. Taken 2 very quick peaks up until this point, now I took a good look. Things were looking good so i did a quick tear test and felt I was ready to sauce and finish the deal.

So I'm stoked I had a great BBQ temp. The cooker puffed smoke the whole time, and it made me very happy.

I had expected the temp control to be a bit more of an event than it was. I never expected to leave all vents open for the majority of the cook.
So I'm wondering why that is.
Should I have used warmer water in the pan?
Should I have let the smoker come up to temp before adding the meat?
Should have assembled smoker and left the lid off (no meat) to invigorate the fire for a bit, then close the lid, and then add meat?
I was planning on higher temps and a shorter cook, but I'm happy with the end results.
 
Matt in CT said:
Should I have used warmer water in the pan?
Should I have let the smoker come up to temp before adding the meat?
Should have assembled smoker and left the lid off (no meat) to invigorate the fire for a bit, then close the lid, and then add meat?
I was planning on higher temps and a shorter cook, but I'm happy with the end results.
Click to expand...

Poultry is about the only thing I don't use water with. You'll find that chicken and turkey come out better with no water. You can line the pan with foil for easy clean-up.
It's good practice to stabilize your cooker before adding the meat, but it's not a hard and fast rule. I think it helps you control temp throughout the cook.
There's no reason to rush the assembly -- or to drag it out for that matter. Just assemble it at your pace and go from there.
Higher temps (275-350) work well with poultry.
Experience is going to be your best teacher. Any Minion Method fire (unlit on top of lit) is going to have temperature control issues. I spread the lit coals evenly on the top of the unlit. That works predictably for me. Fewer lit coals means lower temp. Total number of briquettes determines total cook time before refueling.

You're gonna love your WSM.

Jeff
 
Sounds like a good first run, Matt. I usually let the temps stabilize a bit before adding the meat, but as Mr. Hasselberger says, it's not a requirement. My usual process is, light fire (using whatever your preferred method is), assemble cooker, go inside and prep meat (removing rib membranes, trimming, seasoning, etc.), then check temp to see if things are as I want them. Usually in 45-60 minutes I'm ready to get the meat on. The benefit (IMHO) of doing it this way, is that you can stabilize your vent settings for your target temp. Things will dip when you add the meat, but when it recovers, I'm usually cruising right at my target since my vent settings are where I need them.

Also, I always start with a full ring of unlit charcoal. Since you can close the WSM down pretty tight when your cook is done, and can re-use what charcoal is left, you aren't really losing out on any "investment" in fuel that way.

There a a bunch of different ways to do it, and you'll settle into what you prefer with some more cooks under your belt.

Oh, and, pics! We love pics! :)

Rich
 
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thanks guys! i wanted to add a picture but it will only take one from a URL and won't allow me to select from my photo library. not sure how to do it that way, or if i need to have more posts under my belt 1st. this is the same model as another forum i'm on and i have no trouble adding pictures there.

anyway....

next time around (hopefully this weekend) i plan to try warmer water in the pan, and regulate the temp before i add the goods.

any tips on a simple seasoning for pork or ribs?? i tried a store bought but it is pretty high in the sodium department
 
Matt in CT said:
any tips on a simple seasoning for pork or ribs?? i tried a store bought but it is pretty high in the sodium department
Click to expand...

Make your own rub. There are plenty of recipes around. It's easy to over-salt ribs, so I usually make my rub with little or no salt, then add the appropriate amount of salt to the meat before applying the rest of the rub. Ribs don't need much rub -- just a "dusting".

Jeff
 
Hi Matt, congrats on your first cook! some thoughts:

- I wouldn't heat water. the water there is there to prevent fast variations in temp, heating it may help you get up to temp faster but it's not going to help regulate temps any better. and there isn't enough benefit to balance cost/risk of hauling around heated water. Finally, your q is not going to taste any better for the effort.

- How did you start your fire? I use a fully lit, full chimney (minion), and as rich g suggests, 3/4 to a full ring of charcoal. gets up to temp pretty quick

- there really shouldn't be smoke our of the chimney for the whole cook. should be no more than two good chunks.

- I make my own rub but in a pinch, I use http://www.texasbbqrub.com/ and it's wonderful. Even if you don't purchase his rub, sign up for his newsletter, they are wonderfully written and informative.

I know you wanted to cook at a higher temp but those are really nice temps for ribs. In fact, I like 225 for the whole cook. Rib are an ambitous first cook, congrats again!!

best!
 
jeff davidson said:
Hi Matt, congrats on your first cook! some thoughts:

- I wouldn't heat water. the water there is there to prevent fast variations in temp, heating it may help you get up to temp faster but it's not going to help regulate temps any better. and there isn't enough benefit to balance cost/risk of hauling around heated water. Finally, your q is not going to taste any better for the effort.

- How did you start your fire? I use a fully lit, full chimney (minion), and as rich g suggests, 3/4 to a full ring of charcoal. gets up to temp pretty quick

- there really shouldn't be smoke our of the chimney for the whole cook. should be no more than two good chunks.

- I make my own rub but in a pinch, I use http://www.texasbbqrub.com/ and it's wonderful. Even if you don't purchase his rub, sign up for his newsletter, they are wonderfully written and informative.

I know you wanted to cook at a higher temp but those are really nice temps for ribs. In fact, I like 225 for the whole cook. Rib are an ambitous first cook, congrats again!!

best!
Click to expand...

i did fire using the minion.

my thoughts on using warmer water (warm from the tap not boiling) was like you said, just to get up to temp faster. towards the end of the cook my temp started to come up and i had roughly 1/3 of my water left and it was steaming pretty good.

i only added 1 good sized chunk and one mid size, so your'e right it probably wasn't smoking the whole time, but i finished off with a headlamp and the "exhaust" for lack of a better term was very satisfying.

are there links on the forum for a good no salt rub?? i guess once i find a rub i want to make i could always reduce/omit the salt
 
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Congrats Matt on what sounds like a very successful first cook. I myself don't use water in my 18.5. I do use a water pan when I do ribs on my Performer and use boiling water when I do. It takes additional time to bring your cooker up to temp as it needs to heat the water as well. It also requires a lot of energy (fuel consumption) to heat that water.
 
Matt in CT said:
I had expected the temp control to be a bit more of an event than it was. I never expected to leave all vents open for the majority of the cook.
So I'm wondering why that is.
Click to expand...

A full pan of water has a tremendous moderating effect on temperature. You probably could have shut down the vents quite a bit and not changed temperature much at all. If you want higher temperature (and you probably do for poultry) follow the advice already given and don't use water. The vent settings will be much more critical without water but temperature control will still be very manageable.
 
Matt, welcome to the forum! and you will love your new WSM.. IMO it is one of the best in the business.. Here are a few tips the guys on here, who are awesome btw, gave to me when I bought mine, and a few of my own after using the WSM now for about 4 years...

- Don't get discouraged!! take notes from every cook. Each time you will get more familiar and comfortable with your WSM. For me, there are never any "bad" cooks (although I did wreck a few dinners in the beginning!) just learning experiences.. remember there are a ton of variables that go into a successful cook: outside temperature, wind, sun, cut of the meat, rubs , injections, type of fuel used and how you set up with it, vent adjustment, you paying attention etc.... all play a part in the final product. that's why I suggested taking notes.. I helps me to reference for lessons learned.

- Don't obsess with the thermometer on the lid.. as long as it's +/- 10-15 degrees from your target I think you are fine with the WSM. I would check lid for accuracy to start with so you have a baseline then go from there. The threads are out here for how to check your therm in boiling water etc. Also, there are plenty of thermometers out there that have 2 probes if you want to put one on grate and one for your meat.

- I don't use water in the pan at all anymore, i got tired of cleaning it up and I got pretty good with controlling the 3 vents on the bottom and the door (when needed for high heat) I foil the pan it for easy clean up.. sometimes I use a Clay pot saucer, like i did today for my 11 hour at 250ish degrees, pulled pork cook to regulate/stabilize the temp. For poultry - always no water , just a foiled pan, prop the door open a bit and hit 325ish and that should do it. You can't hit those high 325-375 temp with water in the pan. I don't think there is a right or wrong with the water (you will find probably 50/50 of each opinion on here. It comes down to what you are comfortable with for sure on this topic..

- Use this forum and the TVWBB home page to research recipes, suggestions and questions.. Everything you can possibly ask a question on, you can research.
 
Adrian Moore said:
- I don't use water in the pan at all anymore, i got tired of cleaning it up and I got pretty good with controlling the 3 vents on the bottom and the door (when needed for high heat) I foil the pan it for easy clean up.. sometimes I use a Clay pot saucer, like i did today for my 11 hour at 250ish degrees, pulled pork cook to regulate/stabilize the temp. For poultry - always no water , just a foiled pan, prop the door open a bit and hit 325ish and that should do it. You can't hit those high 325-375 temp with water in the pan. I don't think there is a right or wrong with the water (you will find probably 50/50 of each opinion on here. It comes down to what you are comfortable with for sure on this topic..
Click to expand...

the outside temps have been consistently around 40-50 F on the 3 cooks i've done thus far. my last effort was a meatloaf (no water) just a foiled water pan. before that, i did a cook with water and it struggled to hold 200-215 until much later in the cook when the temp jumped to 275.
i just ordered a thermoworks smoke, so i can now more accurately gauge temps at the grate. curious to see how close the stock temp gauge will be
i will more than likely revert to the no water method and put something like lava rocks in the water pan in this cool/colder weather.

its been a blast so far!!
 
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