Got home from Reno Friday and my new WSM was waiting for me in the box. Put it together and had no problems whatsoever with fit and finish. Middle section fit the lower section like a glove.
Saturday morning, went to Costco but they only had pork shoulder and I wanted to do butts, so off to the butcher’s. Bought two butts, one at 7.42 lbs and the other at 7.26 lbs. Drove over to BBQs Galore to get some apple or cherry chunks but they had no fruitwood whatsoever. I’ll have to make due with a little hickory and some maple.
Got the butts home and trimmed the cap and false cap, 1.06 lbs from one and 1 lb from the other, leaving me with 6.36 lbs and 6.26 pounds trimmed. Slathered them up with French’s yellow mustard then a liberal coating of my own rub. Put them in a pan and covered them with stretch wrap and into the refrigerator. I was going to start them at 7 pm last night but didn’t trust myself for an overnighter for my first smoke, so I let ‘um sit until 3 am this morning. There was about a cup of liquid that leached out from the meat so, if they seem dry when their done, I won’t leave them in the rub overnight.
Took ‘um out and re-rubbed them. The charcoal chamber was filled with BBQ Galore Hardwood Lump, which is supposedly bagged for them by Lazzari in Brisbane (CA). Buried in the lump was a 7 oz chunk of Hickory and two chunks of Maple totaling 11.75 oz. I lit up 25 Kingsford briquettes in the chimney on the side burner on my gasser. They were ready to go in just a few minutes. So I dumped them on the lump and added a 4.5 oz chunk of Hickory and 10 oz of Maple on top of the lit. By the way, as soon as they hit the sump, the sparklers started spitting. Last night I read some OWIE stories here about chefs in shorts and sandals, so this morning I wore sweats and shoes. THANKS FOR THE INFO! I think it definitely saved me from doing a early morning war dance!
I sprayed the grill with Pam, stuck it on the smoker and placed the butts on at 0345. I installed a Maverick ET-73 Ready Check internal meat probe and the grill probe, and put on the lid. All vents were open 100%. Heavy smoke was pouring out of the top vent and from around the bottom of the lid. No smoke was coming from the base or door which showed me that they fit well. Meat temp was 44F and the grill temp. was already up to 266, so I cut the bottom vents to about 33%. By 0405, grill temp. had dropped to 231.
By 0430, the grill temp was at 248 and rising, so I closed two of the bottom vents. I noticed that pictures and videos of the WSM showed the top vent in line with the door, but I had it opposite, so I spun the top around in line with the door without loosing any heat. By 0500, the grill temp. was 233 and slowly dropping. The meat temp. was 94.
0600, grill temp is 223, meat temp is 134. Thin blue wisp of smoke is going straight up from the top vent. Almost no wind whatsoever right now.
I’m taking pictures but wont post them until after the smoke.
If I’m doing anything wrong, or if you have any suggestions for doing it better, please chime in.
Continued.
Saturday morning, went to Costco but they only had pork shoulder and I wanted to do butts, so off to the butcher’s. Bought two butts, one at 7.42 lbs and the other at 7.26 lbs. Drove over to BBQs Galore to get some apple or cherry chunks but they had no fruitwood whatsoever. I’ll have to make due with a little hickory and some maple.
Got the butts home and trimmed the cap and false cap, 1.06 lbs from one and 1 lb from the other, leaving me with 6.36 lbs and 6.26 pounds trimmed. Slathered them up with French’s yellow mustard then a liberal coating of my own rub. Put them in a pan and covered them with stretch wrap and into the refrigerator. I was going to start them at 7 pm last night but didn’t trust myself for an overnighter for my first smoke, so I let ‘um sit until 3 am this morning. There was about a cup of liquid that leached out from the meat so, if they seem dry when their done, I won’t leave them in the rub overnight.
Took ‘um out and re-rubbed them. The charcoal chamber was filled with BBQ Galore Hardwood Lump, which is supposedly bagged for them by Lazzari in Brisbane (CA). Buried in the lump was a 7 oz chunk of Hickory and two chunks of Maple totaling 11.75 oz. I lit up 25 Kingsford briquettes in the chimney on the side burner on my gasser. They were ready to go in just a few minutes. So I dumped them on the lump and added a 4.5 oz chunk of Hickory and 10 oz of Maple on top of the lit. By the way, as soon as they hit the sump, the sparklers started spitting. Last night I read some OWIE stories here about chefs in shorts and sandals, so this morning I wore sweats and shoes. THANKS FOR THE INFO! I think it definitely saved me from doing a early morning war dance!
I sprayed the grill with Pam, stuck it on the smoker and placed the butts on at 0345. I installed a Maverick ET-73 Ready Check internal meat probe and the grill probe, and put on the lid. All vents were open 100%. Heavy smoke was pouring out of the top vent and from around the bottom of the lid. No smoke was coming from the base or door which showed me that they fit well. Meat temp was 44F and the grill temp. was already up to 266, so I cut the bottom vents to about 33%. By 0405, grill temp. had dropped to 231.
By 0430, the grill temp was at 248 and rising, so I closed two of the bottom vents. I noticed that pictures and videos of the WSM showed the top vent in line with the door, but I had it opposite, so I spun the top around in line with the door without loosing any heat. By 0500, the grill temp. was 233 and slowly dropping. The meat temp. was 94.
0600, grill temp is 223, meat temp is 134. Thin blue wisp of smoke is going straight up from the top vent. Almost no wind whatsoever right now.
I’m taking pictures but wont post them until after the smoke.
If I’m doing anything wrong, or if you have any suggestions for doing it better, please chime in.
Continued.
