Getting My First WSM


 
As luck would have it, work in the field interupted my palns to smoke these spares today !
Tomorrow will be better anyway. I will be able to pay more attention to what I am doing. (that is probably better for the first cook on a new rig) But I am still anxious to try out the new machine, I am just gonna have to wait till tomorrow !..
 
All right, Today is the Day!... I will be firing up the new WSM for the first time, in a couple of hours. I foiled the water pan and the clay saucer last night, and loaded it with 1.5 chimneys of K, I will light another half chimney for start up, and I tossed in a couple nice chunks of cherry. It should be an interesting cook today, I will be doing Spares on the WSM, and Larry Wolfe's, Orange Marmalade Sriracha Wings, will be cooking on both 22.5 kettles.(I tried these, first time, a couple of weeks ago, but did not cook them exactly as directed, had 6.5 lbs on one kettle, so not enough room to go indirect, and I needed a double batch of sauce, so they only got one dip, and they were still awesome!) I will also be doing a batch of Santa Maria style beans on the stove to go with it all.. We have a crowd coming over for a birthday gathering today for our 15 year old.
They will be in for a treat !
I intend to get a few pictures of the cook!
 
Corey...tell us how your cook went on the new WSM????
You accidentially left off your location at the bottom of your post...LOL> I figured it was because you only had 6.5 pounds of wings and you would run out if we all came over!!!
How did the spares turn out?
 
It went great Morrey, here is the link to the photos
http://s993.photobucket.com/albums/af52/mcpcorey/
I am in Fort Mohave AZ. about a mile from the Colorado River, Directly east of the S.E. tip of NV.
The spares were the best I have done, I was very pleased. Temp control was a breeze with the big WSM, at first I was a little anxious about it getting up to temp !... But after about 40 minutes I was at 250 dome temp, and it held beautifully for the entire cook, and well beyond.
Every body liked the wings, But me. They were good, But I was a little dissapointed with them this time. I learned that next time on these wings, I will stick with the name brand Marmalade, the "el cheapo store brand" tasted sour and bitter to me, and that taste came through in the finished wings!, And I will crank the temp up on the indirect cook a little next time, they were not quite crispy enough for me, I like a crisper skin with a few burnt parts!...
Also did a big pot of Santa Maria style Pinquito Beans on the stove. Fed about 18 people. Overwell it went very well.
Today I just received my stainless steel door form the Cajun Bandit People, it looks real good.
I have at least one, maybe two, Boston Butt/s sitting in the freezer, I think I will start it/them thawing tomorrow for "Smoke Day VI"
 
Wow Corey....you did a super job!

The WSM is a sweet cooker and glad it worked for you so well. Did you use the clay saucer in the dry water pan that we talked about?

I like trimmed out spares to get St. Louis cuts just like you did. I told my gf the last time we cooked spares, that I would not purchase back ribs again. Spares are a world better to us!

Where did you get that wing recipe? That sounds up my alley if you don't mind sharing.

BTW...I cooked a 5 lb angus prime brisket this weekend. It cooked up textbook perfect, but I still thought it was not fork tender like I expected. I cooked it to 202 internal and foiled and rested it an hour. Not the best thing I have ever cooked. Hard to beat pork in my opinion.
 
Morrey, Yes, I used the foiled clay saucer, it worked Great, My WSM may never see water!..

I am now of the same opinion regarding Baby Backs Vs Spares, the Spares have so much more meat on them, This was my second try with spares, and both times they were excellent. And trimmed St Louis Style, they look good too.

That wing recipe came from right here on this forum, It has been a very hot topic here. Look for "Orange Marmalade Sriracha Wings" in the poultry recipe catagory of the discussion forums. I would post the link but I am not quite sure how to do that here yet.
The recipe came from Larry Wolfe, (maker of "Wolfe Rubs") he is a regular here on this site. I highly recommend this recipe.
In fact I never really liked Chicken untill I discovered the "Roadside Chicken" recipe from this site, and now the "Sriracha Wings" recipe.

I have done two Briskets now, both before I got the WSM, using the Weber Kettle, and the Smokinator. The first one was Great, but I think it was like a 16 hour cook, I tried a high heat brisket the second time, and it was not as good as my first attempt.
 
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