First Day Owner

[Guest]

Going to pick up my WSM at Barbacue Galres tonite. Have a supply of lump charcoal (not mesquite) and of Kingsford. Which do you recommned?
Does the unit require any prep burn or seasoning prior with oil prior to first use?
Can I put some ribs on right away? And how many 3.5 pound racks can I do at one time.

Thanks. Look forward to contributing to this board and not just asking newbie questions.

Rich
Alamo, CA

 

[Doug D]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Rich:
[qb] Going to pick up my WSM at Barbacue Galres tonite. Have a supply of lump charcoal (not mesquite) and of Kingsford. Which do you recommned?
Does the unit require any prep burn or seasoning prior with oil prior to first use?
Can I put some ribs on right away? And how many 3.5 pound racks can I do at one time.

Thanks. Look forward to contributing to this board and not just asking newbie questions.

Rich
Alamo, CA [/qb] <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>I would stick with Kingsford until you feel sufficiently adventurous for lump.

A soot layer that builds up over time will enhance your temp control, but you can cook some ribs to get that soot started. Oil not necessary.

6-8 racks if you roll/rack/stack creatively.

Read all you can in the Cooking and Tips & Mods sections of the website. It's a wealth of information. After about 10 cooks, you will have established a personal body of knowledge that will carry you thru many more successful cooks. You will marvel at the WSM's consistent temp control, and the results you will achieve. BTW, don't worry, cooks 1 thru 9 will be pretty darn good, too.

Oh, you can throw away the manual that came with it-- or maybe just keep it for Weber contact info. The info on this site should be considered the manual they should have included in the box.

 

[Rich T]

The unit itself tends to burn a little hotter the first few times until seasoned, and lump usually burns a hotter than Kingsford, so you might want to go for the Kingsford on the first try if you are concerned with keeping the temp low.

When I first fired mine up, I let it heat up for a little awhile before I put any food in it. It was enough to clean it. It did burn off some type of residue... not sure what it was. But I did cook on it that day! Ummm...

Enjoy!

-Rich

 

[Guest]

Rich,

On your first few cooks it is a good idea to underestimate the amount of wood/smoke to use, otherwise everything kind of tastes like hotdogs. This is OK if you are cooking hotdogs but much less than desirable if you are cooking ribs,chicken, etc.

I agree with Rich T and Doug D that your cooker is probably going to run hot the first few times you use it so I would stick with the Kingsford since it does burn cooler.

Good luck and remember to relax and have fun.

Tim

 

[Dave Lewis]

Rich, welcome to the board. You're going to have fun with your WSM. Don't worry about cooking in your WSM during its first burn. Just do it. Your ribs will taste great. The WSM is coated with porcelain inside and out. If you're concerned about some residue on the inside just wash it with soap and water before you use it. I didn't do anything, except cook on it and my food tasted just fine.

Your WSM will run hot until you get a good smoke buildup on the inside. Its just the reflectivity of the clean porcelain. Don't worry if your temps aren't "rock solid" as many here claim their's are. Mine weren't for the first dozen or so cooks. I was always adjusting the vents to keep the temps in the range I wanted. Now that I have a good build up of smoke residue and grease on the inside, my temps are very solid with little or no vent adjustments.

Don't worry about perfect lid temps either. BBQ is not an exact science. I took the Paul Kirk class and Kirk says he cooks his meats between 230 - 250 degrees. This website recommends 225 - 250 for many cooks. Jim Minion told me that as long as his lid temps are less than 275 he doesn't worry about it. (Jim, sorry if I misquote you) I think Konrad Haskins has said that he checks his lid temps with the palm of his hand. In other words, as long as your temps are in the range, your food will come out just fine.

My only other advice would be to go light on the smoke wood at first. Its easy to overdue smoke. My first cook (chicken) came out bitter b/c of too much smoke wood. Fortunately, all I had to do was peel off the chicken skin to remove the bitter taste. You can always add more smoke in later cooks if you feel there wasn't enough smoke flavor the first time.