Firing up an 18.5 for the first time!


 
I

I. Nelson

New member
Hi everyone -
I am new to the site and I'm excited to be a part of it! I just got a new 18.5 WSM and I'm going to fire it up tomorrow for the first time to do pulled pork and ribs.
I've smoked on a kettle before and I've done a bunch of reading, but I am curious about bringing the smoker to temperature and when to put the meat on. I am planning on using the minion method (about 15 lit kingsford charcoals spread over the unlit coals?).
Here is my question or two:
After I put on the lit coals and reassemble the smoker, do I leave all bottom vents open for a while or I automatically close them off to 25% or so? I am confused about the process of starting out and getting to the right temp in terms of when to start messing with the vents.
Also, does the meat go on right away?
Thanks for any help!!!
 
Some guys/gals like to wait until the smoker comes up to temp before putting on the meat while others put it on as soon as it's assembled. I like to put it on as soon as I can.

I generally dump the lit coals right in the center of the unlit charcoal, I make a little depression for them to go in. Spreading them around should also work, I just try to keep them in the center so that the fire spreads from the center out.

It's usually best to keep the vents open until you get within 20 degrees or so of your target temp and then start shutting them down. Most of the time I can control mine with just one vent but mine are in a building so I don't have to fight wind,rain,hot sun etc which can have an effect on the cook.

Good luck, and you're in for a lot of great food with the WSM!
 
I always put my meats on right away. Just leave the vents 100% open until you get about 25 degrees away from your target temps, then begin closing the bottom ones only (25%-50% closed). Its easier to get those temps where you want them instead of overshooting and trying to bring them down. Enjoy!
 
I start with a full ring of charcoal, with 4 or 5 fist sized chunks of wood mixed in.
I light the pile in 2 places with a high output propane torch.
I let it sit, disassembled, for about 5 or 10 minutes, to let the burn really start going.
I then assemble, the cooker,with all 4 vents fully open.
I let it slowly run up until it's withing 25F of my target temperature.
I then put the meat on and adjust the vents as needed.
I use a foiled clay flower pot base in the foiled water pan, no water.

Good luck!

Bob
 
Broadly speaking none of this matters very much. Just find a workflow that works for you. Some people find that if any wood catches fire before things are burning nicely they can get a bit of a bitter taste but maybe their wood isn't quite dry or something, who knows.

I tend to do meat prep while it's heating up and put on the meat when it's convenient. So it's usually not at temperature but it's pretty hot. The exception would be if I'm cooking, say, a chicken at 350 and want the skin crisp. I wouldn't put it in until the temperature's up.

I have an automatic temperature thingie these days but for a normal kind of 225-250 cook my routine was to run at 100% until I was at 190ish then close to 25% and that would usually coast me on in pretty close to where I wanted to be.
 
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