Cold vs Hot start on WSM 22


 
D

DavidPerts

New member
Is there any disadvantage to putting a turkey in the WSM before temp gets up to 300? I use hickory/apple wood chunks with the minion method and with the cold weather outside it may take 30 mins or longer to get up to temp. It seems that you are wasting alot of the smoke by adding the wood first while the WSM heats up. I could put the wood in after the temp comes up and I put the bird on but I like to distribute the wood underneath the coals so the smoke lasts longer.

Thanks for your time!

David
 
A lot of the first 30 minutes of smoke is the "warming up the pit" smoke which is bitter compared to the thin blue smoke once it gets settled in. Dwain posted a lot about his clean burning fire before putting the meat on and I'm now a fan. Poultry takes smoke pretty easily and doesn't require a lot if it.
 
If you bury the wood and use the Minion Method, no need to wait. Just start the fire, put on the bird, and let her rip!
 
I'm not a "bury the chunks in the coals" guy. If I want to cook at 325-350*F, I get all the coals ripping hot, then I put the meat in the cooker, then I open the door and drop the chunks on top of the coals. Works great for me!
 
No reason to wait, whatever you gained will be quickly lost, once you open the lid and add a heat sink like a big ole turkey, that will start the whole process again.
IMO a waste of time and BTU's.

Tim
 
timothy said:
No reason to wait, whatever you gained will be quickly lost, once you open the lid and add a heat sink like a big ole turkey, that will start the whole process again.
IMO a waste of time and BTU's.

Tim
Click to expand...

Couldn't have been said better.
 
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