Father's Day Smoke


 
C

Chuck D

TVWBB Member
I'm trying to smoke a 4 pound chuck roast. I prepared a marinade last night and turned the meat over a few times, and let it sit overnight. This morning, I prepared my 18.5" WSM using the Minion method. This my first use of Stubb's charcoal and like it alot. I used mesquite for the wood. I poured approximately 4 qts of hot water into my Brinkman water pan after the coals were ready and put the middle section securely over the bottom. I then put the meat on, covered, and started to regulate the temp. The dome temp started out pretty good. After about 30 min it started to shoot up. I adjusted the bottom vents and even the top vent, but that did not seem to help. I added some cold water to the water pan after about an hour. The big issue was the temp of the meat was approaching my target. After only 2.5 hours, I took the meat off, wrapped it in hd foil, and have put into a 170 deg oven. I don't have a big cooler where I could wrap the meat in towels.

Should I have used the standard method in this instance for doing the coals and wood? This is only my second real smoke. I expect it will take a few more to get it broken in. My big concern is the heat of the smoker as I'm trying to get to a low and slow state. I will be posting pictures of how the smoke started and how the roast turned out.
 
Need more info. What were dome temps when the cooker was assembled? What temp did cooker get to? What were bottom vent settings througout the cook?

Minion method is the best way to go to control temps for low and slow cooking since you will start off with lower initial temp. The secret of hitting a low target temp for cooking, such as 225 - 250, is to use the Minion method and begin shutting down the bottom vents when the cooker gets to about 25 degrees less than target lid temp. Top vent should be left full open. The only time that I partially close the top vent is later in the cook when there is little to no smoke coming out of the vent.

If you are concerned with being able to maintain low temps with the cooker, then on the next cook you will need to do the things to get a low temp, such as cold water in the pan, using fewer lit coals to put on the unlit, and shutting down the bottom vents sooner. Also, in the summer, try to put the cooker in the shade.

No worries, the WSM will perform as expected. Sounds like it needs a little more breaking in. Good luck and have fun.
 
The dome temp started out below 200 deg. I started adjusting the lower vents to 50% and even all the way closed. The WSM got upto 350 deg. It did come down 2 hours into the cook, but after another 30 min, I had to pull the roast as the meat temp had gone above what I wanted. I am limited unfortunately where I can setup my smoker. There is not a lot of shade available. In the future, I will try less coals and cold water in the water pan.
 
Wow, 350 is high! All of the charcoal must have been lit for it to hit 350 with a pan full of water. I have yet to use Stubbs in my 18.5", so I do not have a good feel for how quickly it catches. If you were targeting 225 - 250, then when it gets to 200 - 210, shut the bottom vents to 1/4 open and when it reaches 220, shut them completely.

Don't worry about the shade, that would only account for another 10 - 20 degees, so that was definitely not your problem.
 
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