First Smoke!


 
K

KyleC

New member
Thanks for all of the useful information on this forum! I just bought a 22.5 WSM yesterday and am setting up to do the first smoke early this afternoon. I will be doing 12 chicken thighs and 2 2-3 lb pork shoulders (Was 5-6 lbs but I cut them in half to reduce overall cooking time a bit). I will be using the minion method with Kingsford Competition charcoal and I bought a bag of hickory chucks and some apple wood chips as well.

Hope things go smoothly! I'll post some pictures of the cook later!


 
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Kyle also doing my first smoke today, 3 1/2hr into it now and going better, good looking pooch
 
That dog kinda has that "don't touch dad's new smoker" look going on. Congrats on the new WSM. I ordered mine from Firecraft yesterday.
 
I live in Richmond, VA...so the weather today hasn't been good for a first smoke since its been raining on and off. I made a make shift tent, beverly hillbillies style! 45 minutes into it and we are just a hair shy of 250 degrees, so I shut the bottom vents just a tad more.

Shoulders have been on the bottom rack the entire time. I'll check 3 hours into it and then put the thigh's on around that time, 5:30, so they will hopefully be ready by 7:30. Thighs take about 1.5-2 hours right? Am I suppose to flip them half way? Saving the shoulders to eat tomorrow, so they can take as long as they want!

As far as taking things off, thighs are at 160 and shoulder is at 190, correct?

Thanks guys!

 
Yes thighs are done around 1.5 -2 hours. I don't flip my chicken thighs. I do chicken at 165 and shoulder 195
 
Here's a picture of the shoulders at the 4 hour mark, and thats when I put the thighs on too. Shoulders were at 158 degrees. WSM has been around 270-275 for most of the cook. Cant wait to taste!



 
I don't think the chicken drippings should fall on the shoulder. Can you switch them around? Maybe other members have different opinions.
 
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Tony R said:
I don't think the chicken drippings should fall on the shoulder. Can you switch them around? Maybe other members have different opinions.
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I agree, but seeing how the pork is going to hit ~200º it might not be a big deal. When I cook chicken with anything else in a single WSM I try to either put it below or on the side (if they're on the same level).
 
Oops...didn't see your advice until its too late. I'll remember it next time, it would have just been a lot of rearranging since the chicken is put on later and was taken off first.

Chicken was actually cooked a little over my 165 target, pulled it after 1.5 hours and it was almost at 180. Great smokey flavor, but the skin was a little rubbery.



One shoulder was done a little earlier than the other one. Just pulled the 2nd one off at the 6.5 hour mark and have it resting. Here are pictures of the shoulders almost done on the grill, and then after breaking up the first one. The bark is a bit spicy, middle is fairly moist and an intense smokey flavor. I'm sure it'd be great on a sandwich with some bbq sauce, but I feel like by it self, it may be too strong of a smokey flavor.





Overall, satisfying first try. This was a trial run, and tomorrow I'll be at it again. Having 5-7 family members coming over and will be doing another couple shoulders (~2-3 lbs each) starting at 10AM. Will put on St. Louis ribs on at noon, then putting a few of the leftover thighs on at 3-4PM. Hoping to have most of it done by 5-6PM!
 
Nice job everything looks good.
Maybe its just me I don't want raw chicken drippings on anything else that's almost done cooking. I have no date or facts to back it up but its just my suggestion.
 
To avoid rubbery skin, you should try removing the skin and then scraping the fat from underneath the skin. Then just lay it back over. That's a popular way to get bite-through skin in competitions.
 
Looks great ! I use a tray under my chix and its working great for me. Cook it 3-2-1 at 225F and its fantastic.

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Peter
 
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