First smoke underway


 
Dave S

Dave S

TVWBB Super Fan
Well I fired up the 22" wsm for the first time this morning, I have a 9lb shoulder on there now, after 1 hour the temp jumped to 277, i closed two of the bottom vents and have one just cracked open, it seems to be holding now about 266/268, if it creeps up should i be closing the lid vent? i have it wide open now, I am only 1 1/2 hours into it now. there also seems to be quite a bit smoke from the rim of the lid but i guess that will seal in time. I will keep you posted as the day goes on and hopefully have some pics tomorrow, if the cook is a sucess. By the way why didn't I buy this ET 732 years ago for my kettle

Dave
 
Dave S said:
Well I fired up the 22" wsm for the first time this morning, I have a 9lb shoulder on there now, after 1 hour the temp jumped to 277, i closed two of the bottom vents and have one just cracked open, it seems to be holding now about 266/268, if it creeps up should i be closing the lid vent? i have it wide open now, I am only 1 1/2 hours into it now. there also seems to be quite a bit smoke from the rim of the lid but i guess that will seal in time. I will keep you posted as the day goes on and hopefully have some pics tomorrow, if the cook is a sucess. By the way why didn't I buy this ET 732 years ago for my kettle

Dave
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I am a noob but everything I have ever read pretty much says NEVER to close the top vent. :)

Over 250 seems high. You put water in the pan?
 
I think your are in good shape in the 260's. You can adjust the top vent some but no more than halfway closed in my opinion. Good luck today. By the way I recently picked up from this site a tip to always leave 2 of the 3 bottom vents closed and adjust for temp with just one vent. It has helped me stabalize cooking temps.
 
Thanks guys, no water in pan using clay saucer, I now have all vents on bottom closed and it peaked at 288 and holding there. not what I want
 
You can shut the top vent to half with no ill effects if you want but 288 is ok. Thinks will seal up after a few cooks
 
have all bottom vents closed and top vent a little less than 1/2 way, temps back down to 278, hope i am not putting the coals out, time to mop but afraid to open the lid
 
Dave S said:
Thanks guys, no water in pan using clay saucer, I now have all vents on bottom closed and it peaked at 288 and holding there. not what I want
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You didn't mention which method you used to light the fire and your fuel source. As Bob Bass taught me, that can make a difference across the entire cook. ;)
 
I used the minion method about 25 coals in the chimney. after the first mop temps now haning abount 270, I think I'm getting the hang of it
 
well here is how we look 4 hours into the smoke, In the past when i smoked on my kettle I would time the meat by weight and wrap in foil and put it in a cooler for an hour or so. This is the first time I am using a temp probe, at what temp do I want to remove and foil? 185/190?

I have also noticed the meat temp has been stuck at 151 for the past hour, I believe I read here that it will get to a temp and stay there for a while and then rise to the desired target.
Cooker has been holding steady at 258 for the past couple hours



 
Dave S said:
well here is how we look 4 hours into the smoke, In the past when i smoked on my kettle I would time the meat by weight and wrap in foil and put it in a cooler for an hour or so. This is the first time I am using a temp probe, at what temp do I want to remove and foil? 185/190?

I have also noticed the meat temp has been stuck at 151 for the past hour, I believe I read here that it will get to a temp and stay there for a while and then rise to the desired target.
Cooker has been holding steady at 258 for the past couple hours



Click to expand...

195 at least. I would think about not wrapping it in foil so you won't make the bark soft. You can put it on a rack in a cooler to hold for a while.

You must be in the 'stall' on the temp. It can last a while. Patience pays!
 
You can open that top vent again it sounds like

Youoy need a temp probe to have an idea of where you are at. Pull it off when it probes tender, not by temp. Could be 195, could be 200. Could be, we'll you get the idea.

Once done, wrap in foil fat side down and cooler it. You won't be disappointed
 
Thanks Danny and Jeff, I do understand patience, and I do believe I am in the stall mode, up to 156 now and cooker still holding at 258 which is high but it is new, I can tell you during the last mop bark looks really good, I will post pics of the final product. Jeff yes the top vent has been open for a while now, had to get some sdade on the smoker 91 here now
 
Why would I have a temp spike 8 hours into the smoke, temp just went up to 277 after sitting all day in the 250's. wood chunks catching fire now? not much smoke anymore
 
Well guys I am going to log off for the evening, smoke going well meat temp just over 170 now and i will complete the first smoke soon, I will post pics of the final smoke tomorrow on this thread unliss I am told to post under photos. happy smoking my friends

Dave
 
Well here are the results of the first smoke yesterday
I had to pull the meat off a little early as there was an approching thunderstorm, temp probe was at 180 so i foiled it and left it the cooler an extra hour
Bark came out fantastic and there was a good smoke ring
I will look to my next cook








Thanks for letting me share
Dave
 
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