First smoke with WSM

[Mark Kroll]

Well, I've been "smoking" salmon, ribs, sausage, and jerky on my Weber gas grill here and there but decided it was time to start doing it right so I bought a Brinkmann vertical smoker. First smoke was a few weeks ago, 3 slabs of baby backs. I pretty much ruined them, I couldn't get the smoker above 140 degrees, I messed with the smoker for 4 hours straight with no luck. Looked into it, made a few basic mods and tried two whole chickens. Got the smoker up to 160 and that was it. Started doing more research and came across this siteg. After reading a ton of posts, I bought myself a 18.5" WSM. First smoke with it was this weekend, 2 slabs of baby backs. The plan was to have them for lunch so I got up at 6:30 to get things rolling and get the ribs out of the fridge. Fired up the WSM, it shortly hit 225 degrees. Stayed steady +/- 4 degrees for the 4 hours or so it took to smoke the ribs, I barely had to touch the Weber! The ribs turned out great, thanks for all the info avaialble on this site! Oh yeah, I also smoked to basic fatties while the ribs cooked, those also turned out really good.

 

[Bob Sample]

I've used Brinkmann verticals and never had a problem with them being to cool. Usually they are very erratic in the temps. I've done mods to give more control. Which one did you have? Glad your happy with the WSM.

 

[George Payne]

Congrats Mark on your successful cook on the WMS. I use a Temperature Controller and it keeps the temp nailed at target, whatever I set it at. You won't find a better smoker for the money. I just wish I had gotten a 22.

Good luck with it. With a little practice you can cook without a controller, but they do come in handy for watching internal meat temperatures.

 

[Wolgast]

Welcome Mark and congrats to your new toy!

 

[Chuck_B]

Welcome to the board Mark. Any pictures of those ribs?

 

[Mark Kroll]

Bob - I had the two door model, got it on sale at Home Depot for $40.

George - Same here, I've only done one smoke and already wishing I had the 22.

Chuck - I do have pictures but can't get them posted here. It looks like I have to have a website to host the pictures.

Heading to Northern Michigan this weekend, bringing the Weber along with ribs, 4 whole chickens, a fatty, and I pre-made a bunch of ABT's last night to smoke.