Kevin J Sugarland TX
New member
When I lived in the south for about a decade I got hooked on pulled pork bbq. There was a joint on every other corner so I would never have considered trying to make it myself. Then I moved back north. Their idea of pulled pork bbq was stewing it a pot with the sauce already in it (Cincinnati - Montgomery Inn). What horrible stuff. I set out to make it myself. My first smoker was a charcoal sidebox. My god the temperature was a constant battle with that thing. Loved the meat but it was a ton of work. My second smoker was a Masterbuilt 30" electric. It was amazingly easy to use but the meat didn't have the same flavor or bark as with the charcoal sidebox.
I've sinced moved to Texas but bbq down here is ribs and brisket. Love'em both but can't get good pork here so I knew I needed to get back into making it.
Finally I've broken down and bought a WSM. Read about them for years but just didn't get around to getting one. Just did my first pork butt this last Saturday and loved it. The meat had great bark and flavor. I couldn't believe how easy it was to maintain good smoking temp. I followed the instructions on this site and used the minion method but the alternate where you dig out a hole in the center of the unlit charcoal dump the lit coals in it. I had also dispersed about 5-6 fist-sized chunks of hickory in the unlit coals and only dropped one chunk on the lit coals. That worked great for me. The meat hit an internal temp of 190 after about 13 hours on the WSM. I only had to refill the water bowl once. What amazed me was how steady the temperature was. I left the top vent 100% throughout. I started with the bottom vents at 50% and ended up with them at about 20% for the duration.
When the meat hit temp I took it in the house, wrapped it in foil, and let it rest for an hour or so. I left the smoker running because I wanted to see how long it would last. That thing didn't lose temp until about 18 hours after I had first lit it. That's amazing. This thing is awesome.
Sorry, no q-view, I'm lazy like that. Anyway, the $300 I spent on the WSM 18.5 inch smoker is the best money I've spent to date in my pursuit to become the finest pitmaster I can. Not for competition money or fame, but just to feed my family and friends good bbq. I got RAVE reviews on the pork and that's all that matters to me.
I've sinced moved to Texas but bbq down here is ribs and brisket. Love'em both but can't get good pork here so I knew I needed to get back into making it.
Finally I've broken down and bought a WSM. Read about them for years but just didn't get around to getting one. Just did my first pork butt this last Saturday and loved it. The meat had great bark and flavor. I couldn't believe how easy it was to maintain good smoking temp. I followed the instructions on this site and used the minion method but the alternate where you dig out a hole in the center of the unlit charcoal dump the lit coals in it. I had also dispersed about 5-6 fist-sized chunks of hickory in the unlit coals and only dropped one chunk on the lit coals. That worked great for me. The meat hit an internal temp of 190 after about 13 hours on the WSM. I only had to refill the water bowl once. What amazed me was how steady the temperature was. I left the top vent 100% throughout. I started with the bottom vents at 50% and ended up with them at about 20% for the duration.
When the meat hit temp I took it in the house, wrapped it in foil, and let it rest for an hour or so. I left the smoker running because I wanted to see how long it would last. That thing didn't lose temp until about 18 hours after I had first lit it. That's amazing. This thing is awesome.
Sorry, no q-view, I'm lazy like that. Anyway, the $300 I spent on the WSM 18.5 inch smoker is the best money I've spent to date in my pursuit to become the finest pitmaster I can. Not for competition money or fame, but just to feed my family and friends good bbq. I got RAVE reviews on the pork and that's all that matters to me.
