first year thoughts..

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I have had by WSM for just under a year now and I thought some of the folks just learning (like me) might enjoy some of my findings.
1. This is the best place for information on smoking, I have tried just about all of recipes and they work, that is if:
2. You are patient. I rushed a pork butt and ended up with pretty tasty but pretty tough meat...not what I had in mind. My second butt sat on the WSM until it reached 190+ and it was amazingly good. Same with the yesterday's back ribs.....beautiful. BBQ is all about patience.
3. Don't underestimate the WSM. I opened my mouth in January and ended up agreeing to prepare a butt when it was -15 degrees celcius (very cold). I followed the minion method and set up the WSM behind a wind screen on my deck and it never wavered off 240 degrees all night long (15 hours to be exact).
4. A wife can eventually accept four bbq's...if you keep her well fed with ribs, butt, etc.
5. I wonder if there is room on this board for discussions involving a weber kettle or the smaller, portable bbq. I find that the kettle is indispensible on my deck.
6. If you are the type that is seriously considering a WSM, don't hesitate, you will be very impressed with your new toy.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by John Sherratt:
[qb]5. I wonder if there is room on this board for discussions involving a weber kettle or the smaller, portable bbq. I find that the kettle is indispensible on my deck.
[/qb] <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Of course. Feel free to initiate those discussions, and I'm sure you'll get lots of interesting responses.

Regards,
Chris
 
Yeah John, I am also approaching 1 year of WSM ownership /infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif .
It's a wonderful cooker, and this is a excellent, informative site.
No, never underestimate the WSM. This past weekend I cooked a 12+ lb. pork picnic roast overnight. In a 20 hr. cook, I only needed to add some fresh coals once, and make some minor vent adjustments. I ended up with some tasty, tender pulled pork.
I also have a Weber kettle, although I use it less than my WSM, it is very useful for steaks, burgers, fish, veggies, and such. I would be interested to hear from others about their kettle ideas.
 
Hey Jim..have you (or anyone else) prepared lamb on the WSM? I have used the kettle very successfully for a leg of lamb (rub with olive oil and garlic, sear over hot coals, move coals to side, put the lid on and cook until medium rare).
I would be interested in lamb ideas for the WSM.
 
Thanks Dave....I noticed your thread about 2 minutes after I posted my question about lamb....John
 
I also am coming up on one year of WSM ownership. My first smoker was an off-set bought from Home Depot in 2000. After I got serious about competition a year ago I went through a lot of smokers and ended up with three WSM's. The rest is history /infopop/emoticons/icon_rolleyes.gif
Now days the WSM's and a big trailer mounted catering pit are what I use most. A Ranch Kettle is on the very soon shopping list.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by John Sherratt:
[qb] Hey Jim..have you (or anyone else) prepared lamb on the WSM? I have used the kettle very successfully for a leg of lamb (rub with olive oil and garlic, sear over hot coals, move coals to side, put the lid on and cook until medium rare).
I would be interested in lamb ideas for the WSM. [/qb] <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>No John, I haven't tried lamb (yet). But it looks like Dave supplied some good info. I definitely see a lamb leg in my future.
Jim
 
This may sound like an odd question, but I need some opinions on what I'm buying. I have seen some posts about pork butts that seem to weigh about 6-7 lbs. the last one I bought was 14lbs and the butcher called it a New York. Also, as far as back ribs are concerned, I have purchased what I considered to be regular ribs in the past. That is, there is about 1/2 inch of meat on the top portion of the ribs before cooking. The last ones I bought (from a local mennonite butcher) had more than an inch of meat on top of the bones. In fact, when they were cooked there was a whole section of very lean (and very good) meat on top, followed by a thin layer of fat, followed by what I think is a regular back rib. Have I just found a generous butcher..... /infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif
 
Hi John,

Print out this pork cuts chart and show it to your butcher. You want the shoulder butt portion only. My guess is he's selling you the entire shoulder--both the shoulder butt and picnic together. That would weigh about 14 pounds.

Regarding those ribs, what you're getting is not common here in the U.S. Most ribs have a small amount of meat over the bones, certainly not 1/2" to 1". I saw Jamie Oliver cook spareribs like that on "The Naked Chef" on FoodTV once, and they looked pretty good!

Give your butcher a hug...

Regards,
Chris
 
John S.,

When I'm buying back ribs, I always look to see if I can find that extra thick portion of meat on them. I couldn't say for sure, but I think it's a matter of how much the butcher leaves on that particular rib. As you said, it's a very tasty piece of meat.

Rick
 
Thanks Chris...that is an excellent diagram and you are exactly correct, the butcher is selling me a whole shoulder. Is this necessarily bad, it cooked for about 15 hours and was excellent. By the way, how many people 'should' a 14lb butt feed?
 
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