Robert McGee
TVWBB Gold Member
The weather has been "stinko" around here since December. Lots of snow (four times the average year) temperatures below zero and virtually nothing to get me to leave the house
. I have been DYING to grill or smoke. Well, we had a welcome respite Tuesday and Wednesday (today we are under a "Tornado Watch"
).
At any rate, I did the initial "Burn Out" Tuesday. I just filled the charcoal ring with Kingsford Original, opened everything wide open and "let it go". It burned for several hours (hitting 350 degrees at max)...
Yesterday, I had a Dentist's appointment so could not start my cook until I got home. The work was more extensive than I had figured on, so it was late when I got home. I had originally planned to run two Boston Butts on the 14.5 WSM and one on the Mini-Joe Gold just to run a comparison. Well, I just didn't feel up to it, so I settled on two Boston Butts (each over 8.0 lbs.) in the 14.5 WSM.
I had picked them up at GFS and they were quite nice. Had to do a bit of trimming, then ran with Harry Soo's method and recipe including injecting. I did change one thing. Instead of Apple Juice, I substituted Apple Cider - otherwise, just read his recipe and followed it. I injected then applied a serious coat of rub. Then I dumped a large Chimney of unlit Kingsford Original in the charcoal ring (with the tin can in the center). I lit 8 briquettes then removed the tin can. After things started I assembled the smoker and let it come up to 200 degrees before starting to shut down the vents. I put the meat on (the slightly larger butt on the bottom grate and the smaller (by a few ounces) on the top. I ran the Maverick through the silicone grommet and probed the top grate and the top Butt.
Particularly, when using both grates, the old "slot in the top" is superior to the silicone grommet. I found it a bit troublesome trying the deal with the wires through the grommet when foiling the roasts. Not a deal breaker, just an observation.
I tried to run the butts at a temperature of 225 degrees (had to do a bit of temp chasing as this was a new cooker) and the cook ran too long. At 10:00 P.M. I foiled the roasts and put them in the oven to finish. We pulled them at about midnight. The meat was succulent, done perfectly. I ended up running them until the internal temperature was 203 degrees before they achieved the proper level of tenderness. The bark was nice, there was a very nice smoke ring, and the flavor was over the top. That's what we had for supper, tonight.
The butts on the smoker:
The finished butts just prior to pulling:
The pulled pork (the next step it was broken down into smaller pieces but no need to show that picture):
Summation: the pork was everything I could hope for. Next time, I will cook at a higher temperature (a eleven hour cook is more than I prefer). I plan on cooking the next one(s) at 275 just to shorten the cook time. The 14.5 WSM is living up to the reputation of it's larger brothers. Smaller, but not at all "less". This is one fine piece of equipment. As it gets "gunked" up inside, the temps will stabilize a bit quicker but, frankly, I had little issue with it out of the box.
These two butts were about 17.0 lbs. total. I had to do a "hot squat" at 5.5 hours to refuel. The fuel was nearly all gone. There were just enough coals to ignite the new ones tho' I did light some new coals in the Mini Chimney to insure it wouldn't quit cooking. After I removed the roasts (10.5 hours after I started) I had about two hours of coals left when I shut it down. Saved them for the grill
.
Thanks for listening,
Keep on smokin',
Dale53
. I have been DYING to grill or smoke. Well, we had a welcome respite Tuesday and Wednesday (today we are under a "Tornado Watch").At any rate, I did the initial "Burn Out" Tuesday. I just filled the charcoal ring with Kingsford Original, opened everything wide open and "let it go". It burned for several hours (hitting 350 degrees at max)...
Yesterday, I had a Dentist's appointment so could not start my cook until I got home. The work was more extensive than I had figured on, so it was late when I got home. I had originally planned to run two Boston Butts on the 14.5 WSM and one on the Mini-Joe Gold just to run a comparison. Well, I just didn't feel up to it, so I settled on two Boston Butts (each over 8.0 lbs.) in the 14.5 WSM.
I had picked them up at GFS and they were quite nice. Had to do a bit of trimming, then ran with Harry Soo's method and recipe including injecting. I did change one thing. Instead of Apple Juice, I substituted Apple Cider - otherwise, just read his recipe and followed it. I injected then applied a serious coat of rub. Then I dumped a large Chimney of unlit Kingsford Original in the charcoal ring (with the tin can in the center). I lit 8 briquettes then removed the tin can. After things started I assembled the smoker and let it come up to 200 degrees before starting to shut down the vents. I put the meat on (the slightly larger butt on the bottom grate and the smaller (by a few ounces) on the top. I ran the Maverick through the silicone grommet and probed the top grate and the top Butt.
Particularly, when using both grates, the old "slot in the top" is superior to the silicone grommet. I found it a bit troublesome trying the deal with the wires through the grommet when foiling the roasts. Not a deal breaker, just an observation.
I tried to run the butts at a temperature of 225 degrees (had to do a bit of temp chasing as this was a new cooker) and the cook ran too long. At 10:00 P.M. I foiled the roasts and put them in the oven to finish. We pulled them at about midnight. The meat was succulent, done perfectly. I ended up running them until the internal temperature was 203 degrees before they achieved the proper level of tenderness. The bark was nice, there was a very nice smoke ring, and the flavor was over the top. That's what we had for supper, tonight.
The butts on the smoker:
The finished butts just prior to pulling:
The pulled pork (the next step it was broken down into smaller pieces but no need to show that picture):
Summation: the pork was everything I could hope for. Next time, I will cook at a higher temperature (a eleven hour cook is more than I prefer). I plan on cooking the next one(s) at 275 just to shorten the cook time. The 14.5 WSM is living up to the reputation of it's larger brothers. Smaller, but not at all "less". This is one fine piece of equipment. As it gets "gunked" up inside, the temps will stabilize a bit quicker but, frankly, I had little issue with it out of the box.
These two butts were about 17.0 lbs. total. I had to do a "hot squat" at 5.5 hours to refuel. The fuel was nearly all gone. There were just enough coals to ignite the new ones tho' I did light some new coals in the Mini Chimney to insure it wouldn't quit cooking. After I removed the roasts (10.5 hours after I started) I had about two hours of coals left when I shut it down. Saved them for the grill
.Thanks for listening,
Keep on smokin',
Dale53
Last edited:
Oh, by the way, I REALLY like this smoker
. As I pretty much said above, it is a worthy addition to the Weber line up. Don't get me wrong, I have NOT lost respect (even affection) for my Mini-Joe, just commenting on what a good job Weber did with their smallest and newest.
