Finally got my hands on a used 18 WSM off of Craigslist this week and broke it in yesterday with a 7.5 lb pork butt. Trimmed the fat cap so that it was mostly off. I tried to follow the Renowned Mr. Brown recipe on the website as much as possible.
Fired it up at 7:30 yesterday morning. I filled the water pan about 3/4 full with hot tap water. For the first hour, I couldn't tell why it was running so hot. I was getting around 300 at the grate with all three bottom vents practically closed. I finally figured out the lid wasn't on secure ... Oops. Once that got under straightened out, temperature control wasn't too bad. Cooked at around 230-240 for the most part.
I don't think I started off with enough charcoal because I ran out around hour 12 and had to replenish. The bark was looking so intense that I thought about foiling, but decided to press forward without. I basted it 3 or 4 times with the mop sauce. After 14 hours, I started to get antsy and let the temperature go up to 290 or so. The internal temperature was 192 when I finally pulled the sucker off at 11 pm after a 15 hour cook. Wrapped it in foil and let it rest for half an hour before digging in. Tasted great, but the interior didn't pull apart as easily as I'd expected to. I don't know what the internal temp was after resting, but should I have left it in the smoker longer to get it to over 200?
Constructive criticism appreciated. So excited to be getting into smoking!
About 8 hours in
Didn't have a mop, so used a turkey baster
Added just a splash of mustard based sauce
Fired it up at 7:30 yesterday morning. I filled the water pan about 3/4 full with hot tap water. For the first hour, I couldn't tell why it was running so hot. I was getting around 300 at the grate with all three bottom vents practically closed. I finally figured out the lid wasn't on secure ... Oops. Once that got under straightened out, temperature control wasn't too bad. Cooked at around 230-240 for the most part.
I don't think I started off with enough charcoal because I ran out around hour 12 and had to replenish. The bark was looking so intense that I thought about foiling, but decided to press forward without. I basted it 3 or 4 times with the mop sauce. After 14 hours, I started to get antsy and let the temperature go up to 290 or so. The internal temperature was 192 when I finally pulled the sucker off at 11 pm after a 15 hour cook. Wrapped it in foil and let it rest for half an hour before digging in. Tasted great, but the interior didn't pull apart as easily as I'd expected to. I don't know what the internal temp was after resting, but should I have left it in the smoker longer to get it to over 200?
Constructive criticism appreciated. So excited to be getting into smoking!
About 8 hours in
Didn't have a mop, so used a turkey baster
Added just a splash of mustard based sauce
