Am I Just Being Impatient? Firing Up WSM 18.5

[Jem Scott]

I'm planning to smoke my first pork butt today and this is only my second smoke with the new 18.5 WSM. I filled the ring with KBB and then spread a full chimney, which was fully ashed, over the top of the unlit. It's been 45 minutes and the lid gauge is reading only 180°. All vents are wide open.

There was about a chimney's worth, maybe two, of a previously opened bag of the KBB from two weeks ago. The rest was from an unopened bag. Is there anything to do except have another coffee and wait? With the first smoke, the temp rocketed to 300° pretty quick.

Thanks for any help or words of wisdom.


EDIT:

Photo Results on Post #12
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[Bob Sample]

A full chimney for a minion start seems a little much. Is the meat on and do you have water in the pan? Depending on the size of the butt/s it can take awhile to come up to temp. Your sure the bottom vents are clear of ash and the top vent is wide open? Some people forget the top vent. If all that's good then just wait and have another coffee.

 

[Jerry N.]

Though it does seem like a long time given that much lit charcoal. Check all the things Bob said and hope that the old charcoal isn't a problem. It never has been for me, but if somehow it got damp, maybe an issue. Good luck.

 

[Dwain Pannell]

Just to add a cpl thoughts to Bob's great advice: Had it rained while the used charcoal was in the cooker for two week? Where did you store the unopened bag? Was your charcoal damp? What about the water pan - is it foiled? It might be wicking water onto the charcoal if foiled incorrectly.

You may try removing the lid and center section to take a peek to see if everything is as it should be.

 

[Jem Scott]

The opened bag of charcoal was in the shed, which is kinda open-air. The new bag was in the garage. There was only a few used bits charcoal from the last cook. Yes, ALL vets fully opened.

It rained yesterday from about lunchtime to 6 or 7 o'clock. I foiled the water pan and it is empty. Current air temp is a balmy 58°, damp air and cloudy.

The meat is still sitting on the kitchen counter, but just checked again and lid temp has reached 200°. I guess it's safe to load it up? Working on the second pot of coffee. The missus finally got out of bed and has started frying thick-cut apple smoked bacon. Bacon, the name just sounds delicious.

Thanks guys. I'll keep you in the loop as the process goes. I left my camera at my place so no photos of the prep work. Hopefully I can run over there later today so I can get some shots of the results.

 

[Jem Scott]

Okay, so here's the next question. I wanted to also smoke a pack of wings and a whole chicken later today on the same coals. Would it be a good idea to place the butt on the top grate to smoke for a few hours and when I'm ready to throw on the chicken, then move the butt to the bottom grate? I'm using two chunks of hickory and three and a half of apple wood.

 

[Dwain Pannell]

I've done that with pork butt and ribs but I've not done it with chicken because I like to cook chicken at higher temps to get crisp skin.

 

[S.Six]

I have a 18 " wsm too. Forget the temp gave on the dome, it's always off. Look into getting a Maverick et -732. It will take the guess work out of your bbq. I don't know how many times I've got so frustrated with the temp not going up on the dome, but in reality I was right where I needed to be. When my dome says 200, it's really at about 230-245.

 

[Jem Scott]

I've done that with pork butt and ribs but I've not done it with chicken because I like to cook chicken at higher temps to get crisp skin.

I was gonna finish the chook on the gas grill to crisp the skin.

I have a 18 " wsm too. Forget the temp gave on the dome, it's always off. Look into getting a Maverick et -732. It will take the guess work out of your bbq. I don't know how many times I've got so frustrated with the temp not going up on the dome, but in reality I was right where I needed to be. When my dome says 200, it's really at about 230-245.

The Maverick is on my next order. Right now I have a CDN probe that I really don't trust.

 

[Chad Bman]

Just as an FYI during my last butt cook....

 

[Chad Bman]

Okay, so here's the next question. I wanted to also smoke a pack of wings and a whole chicken later today on the same coals.

I don't think the amount of charcoal you have will get you through the entire cooks. Something to keep an eye on as you truck along.

 

[Jem Scott]

Okay, so I'm gonna attribute the slow start to damp briquettes. I wanted to throw the meat on at about 8:30ish in the morning, but I learned a valuable lesson.... keep the charcoal inside or in a lidded container. So around 0945, she started hitting temp and was pretty steady for the next 15 minutes and I was getting anxious to get started. Again, no photos of the prep work, but I brined the butt overnight in kosher salt and molasses. I had several ziplocks and small containers from previous rubs. Knowing not all my ducks were in a row, this was my smoked butt and there was a rub recipe that I wanted to try on a second trial, I decided to throw all those rubs in a mixing bowl and give it a stir. I don't know specifically want the ingredients were, but know of them would adversely affect the pork.

I fiddle-farted around that morning on the internet, looking on smoking techniques here on TVWBB, adding to my wish list on Amazon (it turned out my meat probe was truely hosed), browsing on a photo forum I'm a member of and figuring out which yard work task I was going to do that day. I scooted over to my place to kick, err I mean, feed and let the cat out, grab my camera, take a shot (not with the camera), stop by Target to get an oven thermometer and returned around 2:00pm.

The lid gauge was still steady at 225° and placed the thermometer on the grate.

After about 15 minutes to let it get up to temp for a reading, much to my dismay, I was hotter than I expected.

After seven hours, this was what I was looking at.

Decided to go ahead and brush on some of the No. 5 sauce I made last weekend. I had the fat side down and when I started to turned it over, a good part of it wanted to stick to the grate. I grabbed another set of tongs and tried to scrape the grate to keep as much of the fat intact as possible. With the sauce.....

I double foiled it and let it rest about an hour. It was cooked more than I wanted, but boy, did it taste good! Moist and tender.

And yes, I did get some wings on the grill too. Photos to follow soon.


Thanks for all the advice I received on this thread, but also for all the other threads I read on the subject.

 

[Jem Scott]

Again trying to clear out all the previous mixed rubs that were sitting in the pantry, I used the same rub that the Boston Butt had been spanked with.

While we were chowing down on the pork, I put the wings on the WSM which was still cranking steady temps on the same coals from the begining of the day. I had to use both grates to get all of them on.

It was well past dark and I was ready to finish up cooking. Fired up the gas grill to make the job go faster and to crisp up the skin.

We were so full from the pork dinner, the wings had to wait for the taste test. Wings at room temperature still taste great to me.

Thanks for looking.

 

[JasonQuevada]

love the pics!

 

[Chad Bman]

Hot daymn...