First Smokes (plural) on New 22.5 WSM This Past Weekend

[MickHLR]

After getting in my new 22.5 WSM and playing with it last week, I couldn’t wait to smoke something over the weekend. So, I thought I’d just try a couple racks of spare ribs and a double-smoked ham. But, then I got to thinking, let’s push it and see if it will do what my old stickburner will not. Let’s smoke the ribs and ham together on Saturday, then do an all-nighter Saturday night with a pork shoulder for pulled pork. Let’s just have an all-pork weekend!

The spare ribs and ham went without incident Saturday. The ribs smoked for about 6 hours total at 230* and ham on the bottom rack for about 4 hours. I found I could close 2 of the 3 bottom vents, and leave one about ¼ way open to get a consistent 230* grate temp…absolutely amazing. I did take the ribs off at about the 4 ½ hour mark to slather them in barbecue sauce. And, they were disturbed at the 2-hour mark for me to move them to add the ham. So, I would say the actual smoke time for the ribs was closer to 5 hours. Both times I disturbed it, I was amazed at how fast the WSM recovered temp. The spare ribs were amazing, and not a one was left over. Not much ham was left over either. Overall, a very successful cook…and by-far the easiest one I’ve ever done.

But, we had company over and during the conversation and alcohol, I never thought about pics. The company was all family who’ve eaten my barbecue many times. And, both my brother and brother-in-law said those were the best ribs I’d ever smoked. My brother-in-law even told my sister that this was going to cost her money, as he was going to have to purchase a WSM now. He said he never had time to smoke meat like I always have in the past, on a stick burner that you had to watch constantly. And, when I told him the two times mentioned above were the ONLY times I disturbed the fire, that it held right on 230* for 6 hours, and that I was afraid it was going to make me lazy…he decided that was the smoker he needed.

So, all the above had me psyched about the over-night cook, and I was looking forward to it. I’ve smoked a lot of pork butts, but this was my first shoulder, which is basically a picnic ham. And, I knew no smoke would penetrate that skin, so I removed it before I rubbed it up Friday afternoon. I slathered it in Tabasco sauce to hold the rub, then I used this rub, and put her in the fridge covered for about 32 hours.

• 1 Cup Brown Sugar
• 1/3 Cup Chili Powder
• 1/4 Cup Paprika
• 3 Tbsp Kosher Salt
• 3 Tbsp Course Black Pepper
• 2 Tbsp Cumin
• 2 Tbsp Coriander
• 2 Tbsp Allspice
• 3 Tbsp Granulated Garlic
• 2 Tbsp Onion Powder
• 1 Tbsp Cayenne Pepper

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Here you can see that big piece of skin that I cut off.

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I started the WSM about 10:00pm Saturday night. I opened one bottom vent about 1/3 to get to 250*, where I wanted to run, put the pork shoulder on at 11:00, and went to bed. I woke up about 8 hours later and checked my Maverick on the night stand. My smoker grate temp had dropped to 200* and the shoulder was stuck in the stall at 160* internal.

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I went out, stirred up my charcoal, saw it was low, and added about 4 double handfuls of charcoal into the coal door and closed it back. Then, I wrapped the shoulder up in a foil pan covered in foil. Within about 15-20 minutes, the grate temp was back to 250* and we were rocking along again. I just don’t know how long it had been in the stall, or how long I’d been low on charcoal. It set on 160* internal for about another 45 minutes, before it finally started rising again. At the 12-hour mark, around 11:00am, I had an internal temp of 202* and pulled it off. Then, I put the entire foil pan in an ice chest to rest for a while.

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I took it out of the ice chest after a couple of hours, and let it rest on the counter top for about 30 minutes. Finally, the smell was driving me crazy, and I had to test it. It fell off the bone, and was so easy to pull. The bark was perfect, and I could taste just a hint of the hot sauce I used to bind the rub...a really great, sweet, spicy, smoky taste.

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This was a 7 lb shoulder, but it sure made a lot of good pulled pork.

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When eating pulled pork, even though I’m from Texas, I like a good spicy Carolina-style vinegar based sauce. So, I use this:

• 2 cups Apple Cider Vinegar
• 3 Tbsp Ketchup
• 2 Tbsp Paprika
• 2 Tbsp Brown Sugar
• 1 1/2 Tbsp Kosher Salt
• 1 Tbsp Tabasco sauce
• 1 to 2 tsp Cayenne Pepper
• 1 to 2 tsp Ground Black Pepper

Place all ingredients in a pan. Bring to a boil. Whisk together until brown sugar and salt are completely dissolved. Remove from heat. Cool to room temperature. Pour sauce into a jar or bottle. For best results, refrigerate one day before serving. Shakewell before serving.

Bottom line is…I LOVE THIS SMOKER!!

 

[David Walter]

Mick. It looks great! Just got the 22 WSM as well and did a test burn to season on Sunday with some bacon. Can't believe how easy it was to hold the temp compared my cheap offset. Plus it was 36 degrees out. Can't wait to make some real food in it.

 

[MickHLR]

Mick. It looks great! Just got the 22 WSM as well and did a test burn to season on Sunday with some bacon. Can't believe how easy it was to hold the temp compared my cheap offset. Plus it was 36 degrees out. Can't wait to make some real food in it.

It was amazing to me too David. I've been working my butt off for years, and now this bad-boy is going to make me lazy! Both these smokes were by-far the easiest smokes I ever did, and the results were great! There is no way to even think about doing an all-nighter with my stickburner. Now, I'll have to make up excuses to go sit on the patio, drink whiskey, and watch the smoker.

Oh wow...36*??? It was 78* for me Saturday...and I think about 60* Saturday night. Sure makes me glad to be from Texas!

 

[Enrico Brandizzi]

Mick
Let the WSM rest ! LOL!
Your shoulder looks really tasty and love the black meteor look it has. Great smoke ring too.
Complimenti.

 

[David Walter]

Yup 36. Was actually pretty nice out in the sun. Was able to be out with just a sweatshirt on. In a couple of months will be complaining how hot it is.

The amazing thing about this is how little effort is required. My temp adjustments were done manually by just tweeking the vents. So simple. I was thinking about a stick burner but I am so glad I got this. Also can believe how fuel efficient this is. For ribs I used almost 30 lbs to cook on my cheap offset in the summer. Not real cost effective.

Have some plans this weekend but can't wait to do some real food. Your pulled pork looks awesome.

 

[Timothy F. Lewis]

Yeah, BOY!

 

[Bruno]

Nice job Mick, looks good. Looking forward to getting stArted, I hope my first weekend is as good as yours!!

 

[Luciano]

It maybe a stupid question but pork is cooked at 160deg why is there a need to cook it to just over 200 ?

 

[ChuckO]

Mick, that is some of the best bark I've seen, you do Texas proud! Congrats!

 

[MickHLR]

Mick, that is some of the best bark I've seen, you do Texas proud! Congrats!

LOL!! Thanks Chuck! Yeah, we do like our bark down here...and I have to say this did turn out fantastic! And, I just got lucky, as I sure didn't know what I was doing. To tell the truth, I haven't cooked a whole lot of pork...more brisket and beef ribs. After all...Texas! I'm thinking it was the brown sugar in my rub that gave me that beautiful bark...not sure. But, this pork shoulder was so good, and so cheap, I may start cooking more of them. I have to say, I got close to the same amount of meat out of this little $7.00 pork shoulder than I do out of huge packer brisket costing $50.00. I am looking forward to doing a brisket on this new WSM though.

Actually, I smoked two racks of spare ribs, one ham, and one pork shoulder this weekend for quite a bit less than one brisket. It seems brisket prices have jumped sky-high the past couple of years...as I remember back just a few years ago when I could get a good packer brisket for 99 cents a pound. Sure can't find that anymore...normal is about $3-$4 a pound now, and up. I know my butcher has really good CAB briskets, but dang they're now $5 a pound...so that could be a $75 brisket. Occasionally, yeah...but I usually wait until one of the local grocery stores or Sam's puts their "Choice" briskets on sale, and I'll stock up. And, sometimes I will find some "Prime" briskets at Sam's mixed in with the "Choice". I always jump on those.

 

[Justin Hancock]

Great looking cooks! I had the same experience when I used my WSMs for the first time.

It's almost too easy!

Luciano, pork is technically done around 145-160 but with a tough cut of meat like a pork shoulder you have to take it all the way up to around 200 to get all of the fat to render out and create the juicy goodness we call BBQ.

Head over to http://www.virtualweberbullet.com to see tons of recipes and tips

 

[MickHLR]

It maybe a stupid question but pork is cooked at 160deg why is there a need to cook it to just over 200 ?

Luciano, very simple...what you want to do with it, and how you want to eat it, is the difference in temp. Sure, you can eat it at 160* internal. Just ensure you have a knife and fork. A pork shoulder cooked to 160* internal isn't going to "pull", and will have a lot of fat and connective tissue. It will be more like a ham.

For example, I actually smoked two pork shoulders this past weekend. One was called a picnic ham, and was already pre-smoked (they say) when purchased. I left the skin on it, hit it with a different rub, and smoked it for about 4 hours to 160* internal. Basically the same taste as a real ham from the hind quarter. And, we ate it like we would a larger hind quarter true ham.

Then, the other one I did was a lower pork shoulder, also called a picnic shoulder, raw and not pre-smoked. I removed the skin, so the smoke could penetrate the meat on all sides. And, I needed to get it up to a higher internal temp to break down all the fat and connecting tissue around the bone, in order to make it pullable...if that's a word. So, that temp is around 200* internal. And, pork butts and shoulders are fatty, so they won't dry out...and all that fat renders into the meat, making it almost buttery. A pork butt (upper shoulder), and a pork shoulder, are probably the most-forgiving pieces of meat there is. They are also cheap, and why I always start with them when christening a new smoker. Sometimes you can find an entire shoulder, which is what I really like. This includes the butt, combined with the lower shoulder.

Beef brisket is smoked to the same internal temp (around 200*)...but is nowhere near as forgiving as the pork shoulder. But, when cooked perfectly, will melt in your mouth and almost chew itself. I always tell non-Texans that anybody can barbecue pork, but not just anybody can barbecue a brisket well. Not even some so-called Texas barbecue joints...only a handful.

 

[MickHLR]

Great looking cooks! I had the same experience when I used my WSMs for the first time.

It's almost too easy!

Luciano, pork is technically done around 145-160 but with a tough cut of meat like a pork shoulder you have to take it all the way up to around 200 to get all of the fat to render out and create the juicy goodness we call BBQ.

Head over to http://www.virtualweberbullet.com to see tons of recipes and tips

Thanks Justin. I agree..."almost" too easy! It's the most amazing smoker I've ever been around. And, really, it should cost a lot more for what it does!

Hey, how do you like the Auber? I have one, but didn't use it on my first cooks on the WSM. Really, just didn't have time to read about it and figure it out. But, it might've kept me from getting down to 200* on the overnight cook. I may play with it this weekend on some beef ribs, just to see.

 

[Justin Hancock]

Thanks Justin. I agree..."almost" too easy! It's the most amazing smoker I've ever been around. And, really, it should cost a lot more for what it does!

Hey, how do you like the Auber? I have one, but didn't use it on my first cooks on the WSM. Really, just didn't have time to read about it and figure it out. But, it might've kept me from getting down to 200* on the overnight cook. I may play with it this weekend on some beef ribs, just to see.

I enjoy my Auber alot. It makes cooks very easy and hands off. To answer your question it would have most definitely kept your temps up while you slept.

The biggest issue I have is the temp getting too high and the fan turns off of course but with the small leaks in the door and such the fire is hard to bring down. So if anything you will cook hotter than before not lower which can be more dangerous. Just ensure your WSM door is seated as tightly as reasonably possible and light fewer briqs when you start. Let the Auber bring the smoker up to temp.

 

[MickHLR]

So if anything you will cook hotter than before not lower which can be more dangerous. Just ensure your WSM door is seated as tightly as reasonably possible and light fewer briqs when you start. Let the Auber bring the smoker up to temp.

Thanks for the feedback Justin. I see what you're saying. I learned how hard it is to bring down the temps in my initial startup while playing with the vents and temps. So, I normally would smoke a brisket or butt at 250* grate temp. How far would the Auber over-shoot that? And, would I be better off going down to 225*, then if it over-shoots, it wouldn't be as drastic?

Also, are you saying get the fire started and go ahead and plugin the Auber immediately, and let it bring it up to temp? Even during the thick white smoke phase...which I've found is 45 min to an hour on mine? Not, as I was thinking, let the WSM get up to temp, get TBS, and then plugin the Auber?

 

[Justin Hancock]

I plug in the Auber from the start, set my cooking temp and let the fan do it's thing.

I wouldn't recommend setting the Auber to a lower temp to compensate for overshooting. I don't have this issue often but I have it more often than I do low temps (which is basically never).

It mostly happens when I open the lid to wrap or check the bark. It lets lots of oxygen into the coals all the while the fan is blowing because it thinks the WSM is losing temp due to the lid being off. I just started cutting the auber off about 3-5 minutes before and after I open the lid to remedy this.

 

[MickHLR]

Cool...thanks Justin. That makes sense to just turn it off while under the hood. I will get it all lined out and ready to go before I try an all night brisket...which I'm really looking forward to doing. And, I think I smoke a pretty good brisket...or I did on my stick burner, but it just wore me out. If this pork shoulder is any indication, this WSM will cook a dang good brisket...especially letting the Auber take care of it while I sleep. I can see this WSM making me very lazy! LOL!! Thanks again!