First cook with lump. Questions

[Scott T (Odirom)]

I did 2 dozen ABTs, 6 ears of corn and a bone-in turkey breast on the WSM last night. I have a few observations and a couple of questions.

Smoked using lump for the first time (Costco Original Charcoal Company lump.)

Lump was MUCH slower coming up to temp.
Lump was MUCH harder to light.
It overshot the temp mark BIGTIME. But I think that this was because I was still putting the spurs to her and should have cut back before I did.
The Turkey skin was WAY rubbery.
The cherry smoke was AWESOME. It even had whisps on the corn, it was great.

Is there a converstion chart or some guideline as to what I can reasonably expect out of lump Vs K in the WSM? Or am I asking too much?

Should I finish the bird with a few minutes over the coals at the end to crisp the skin?

I did the ABTs on the lower rack and the bird on the top. How do you get food out from the bottom when you have food on the top? Should I have done the bird and the corn on the bottom rack? How do I avoid drippings from the rack above?

Would PAM spray have helped the ABTs come off the grill?

These are some questions I had.

Thank you.

 

[Clark Deutscher]

Interesting observations!

I have actually found lump to be a lot easier and quicker to light than briquettes, i switched about a year ago, maybe a little more. I have never had problems with it coming up to temp either or maintaining. Maybe the fuel was damp? Not sure what else to say.

For the rubbery skin that is probably from the cooker temp, we're you cooking below 350?

As far as the top or the bottom rack I would have put the bird on the bottom rack if it fit. Probably would have done the corn and ABT's on the top. No fancy reason but at least you wouldn't have to take the bird off mid cook!

PAM may have helped the ABT's come off it you had pam'd the grill first. Unfortunately I haven't had this problem either.

Sorry for not helping to much, hopefully others with similar problems will chip in!

Clark

 

[Craig Castille]

When I dump the lit onto the unlit, more air time is needed before assembly. If you don't start with very much lit AND assemble too soon, you'll get a delayed rise in temps.

I use about a half chimney of lit for a low and slow, and a full chimney for a high heat. Others may use less, but I've never had a problem bringing temps down with or without water.

The bird needed higher temps for better skin. Like many, I'll treat underneath the skin with a seasoned butter.

I'd have done the abt's upstairs! They can get a little fragile.

 

[Dan H.]

not sure if anyone's familiar with the brand of lump (im not and im unsure of the following) but maybe that was PART of the problem. everything else posted already i would agree with. I personally light less then half a chimney but def. agree to let sit unassembled a little while, or I personally leave the door off for a while, or whatever to get it some air at start. then you should be home free. you sound like your doing good??? so im not sure either. maybe someone will let you know about the costco brand that i know nothing about. (could be, or not, part of the problem).

 

[Neil R.]

I've never used the WSM for a turkey breast so I cannot comment but I've done several whole chickens. I start with two lit chimneys of lump and leave all the vents wide open to get the temp as high as I can get it it. I'm not surprised that your turkey skin was rubbery based on the details you provided. I don't think it's a lump issue, just a temp issue IMO.

I bought several bags of OCC lump a couple of weeks ago to test. Other than sparking a little more when I light it, it performs close to the RO that I normally use.

I haven't used it yet for a low and slow smoke so not sure about how slowly it burns.

 

[Todd D.]

My 2 cents:
I put ABTs on racks that I would normally use for cooling off cookies

If the whole thing is wrapped in bacon, they normally come off the rack easily. This also allows you to get in and out of the smoker quickly rather than leaving the lid off while trying to gather the ABTs. Just put hot gloves on and grab the rack and close it back up.

As for the turkey, I definitely would've started it on the bottom. The idea of any poultry dripping down on another food just scares me. After your corn and ABTs are done, you could move the turkey up top for more heat to try and crisp the skin.

On starting the lump, I use a propane torch and just light a couple pieces, but I'm using a Stoker to manage the temp, so the fan takes care of getting me up to temp. I think the previous comments on how much lit to start with are good advice.

 

[Scott T (Odirom)]

Ok. Well then. Hindsight being 20/20 here is some more info:

When I lit the lump, I to 5 to 10 of the big chunks and lit them in the chimney.
It was a little less then half of a chimney.
They were NOT all ashed over when I dumped them (my K is usually half ashed if that.)
I dumped them and then IMMEDIATELY put the smoker together. (didn’t give it air time)
I had my grills pre-arranged in the fridge, so they then went on cold too.

So what probably happened was a cold WSM with a limited amount of charcoal with no air time was further lowered in temp by ice cold grates with cold meat on it.

Dinner was started later than I anticipated so I threw everything on the grill hoping to have it done ‘faster’. It might have actually cooked faster has I let everything come to temp first.

The internal on the turkey was 110 when the cooker reached 300 degrees.

I will definitely adapt and adopt for the next cook. I think that I was trying to get away with too little lit and not enough breathing time for the very start. The excess thermal didn’t help either.

All of the input helped a lot…I am definitely going to do this cook again. I think the bird will be better too.

OH, and don’t feel bad for skinless bird for me. We reheated the turkey and added some Carolina Red to it, and it was AWESOME. I just peeled the skin off before I put it in the fridge. It was FINE…..

 

[Keith Wilson]

Here's how I have to do it.

To do about 22# of Pork Spares (What I normally do)....

I light a (full) chimney of Lump.

I normally put in another 3/4 - 1 chimney of UNLIT or the equivalent of what was remaining after a previous cook (if not too damp), into the ring.

I bury some of what ever smoke wood I'm using and keep some to add with the hot coals.

When the coals are ready, I carefully pour them over the unlit, add the remainder of the smoke wood and let it catch. I let the heavy dark smoke calm down for a little while. All vents are open 100%.

Then I typically add the middle section which has the water pan foiled with a clay saucer, and the bottom grate which has the ET-73 Smoker probe on it.

Leaving the lid off at this point I get the ET-73 up and running.

Once I see the bottom grate (I actually have the probe mounted underneath the grate above the clay saucer as close to the middle as poss. Thats where I'm getting my reading from on the bottom grate) getting to about 275 and the smoke has calmed down, I add the meat (refrigerated) and the top grate and finally the lid. Then the temp plummits to about 150 on the bottom grate and rises very slowly over the next few hours.

I leave the vents at 100% and I also have the fuel door vented (I keep it upside down so I can rest it on the lip of the charcoal bowl. For some reason I need to do this to get up to temp.)

I now monitor the temp at the lid. Once it gets to about 225 I close the fuel door and keep an eye on it. With the vents still at 100%, I watch the lid temp and get it to between 240-260 and adjust the vents accordingly.

The smaller slabs come off in about 5 hrs. The larger ones take about 6 hrs.

Thats how it typically goes for me.