2nd cook... First brined BBQ chicken

[Adam B.]

2nd cook


Thought I'd try to post a photo. Hope this works.

 

[Don Reed]

Yep it worked and it looks really good. I usually only brine boneless skinless breasts any more, it adds a lot of flavor doesn't it.

 

[Adam B.]

My smoker ran super hot. I have two vents closed and one vent open full and am still getting grate temps at 300 on my oven thermometer. My water pan is almost full. I ran my WSM wide open the first 45 mins and then cut back the vents to 1/2 with no help and then shut 2 completely. I'd like to try a pork butt this weekend, but am scared I won't be able to keep it low enough. I used the KISS method today. Will a minion method keep the temp lower by slowly engaging the other coals? I also noticed on my first cook, with my vents closed I wasn't able to completely extinguish my coals for almost 8 hours. Should I look into gaskets to seal it up or should this improve as it seasons? Should I wait til my WSM is more seasoned before going for a shoulder? Chicken for 2 weeks is getting old and I'd love to get some real pulled pork off this thing. My wife has only had pulled pork out of a crockpot. She has no clue what I'm going to unload on her. Thanks for any help with my questions.

 

[Don Reed]

I've read where quite a few people cook butts at a higher temp with very good results. The WSM does run a little hotter when new and usually gets easier to get and hold lower temps after the interior gets a nice coating on it and yes the minion method will help as long as you catch your temp on the way up. Now it is possible the center section might be out of round a little and can be tweeked back into shape pretty easily, I had to do it to mine. I set the center on the concrete floor and noticed it rocked a little and I could see light coming in under it so I just pushed in the side a little,very gently not to hard until it stopped rocking and not so much light coming in under it. You could also assemble it and put a flash light inside when it's dark out and see where the light is visible. But I also have read where the WSM is not meant to be air tight. By the way after tweeking mine it now snuffs out the fire if I close all the vents and I didn't have to use any gasket. If it's to bad off like if you criss cross a tape meassure across the center section and there is a real big difference or it looks like an egg contact weber costomer service and they'll make good with a new section. They rock when it comes to taking care of customers

 

[Lew Newby]

My first cook with my WSM was a Boston Butt. It's so forgiving that if the temp gets high the Butt will just finish quicker and you can foil it and keep it in a cooler until you're ready to pull. My temp took an excursion over 300, I got it back to 275, and the meat was great.

The Minion method will definitely make it easier to keep the temp down. If you start with only 15 lit coals and your vents full open it should come up to temp slow but in a decent time. When you're 25 degrees lower than your target then shut the lower vents to no more than 25% open and see what happens. You may have to close them all the way at one point but that's no problem. I shoot for a temp range like 250 to 275 and if I'm close to the range I'm happy. If it settles in at 245 I just let it hummmmmmm.