Getting the most out of your time.


 
A

Andy Ly

TVWBB Fan
Last week I managed to pick up an 18.5 WSM for a great price and I'm looking forward to doing my first cook on it. If only I can find the time to!

Speaking of time, I have two curious questions:

1. How do you guys make the most out of your 5-6 hour cooks? Do you set it, go out and run errands for 3 hours, then come back for the next step? Or do you only cook on your lazy days?

2. When using my Mini WSM, I would load that sucker up with food because I want to get the most return for my time. With the extra food, that becomes my bring-to-work food for the week. 16 drumsticks goes a long way as a: Salad, tacos, rice, soup, etc. Do you guys find yourself doing this too?

I guess the reason I'm excited about having the 18.5 WSM is not because I expect to be serving a larger audience, but that I can now cook even more food with my 5 hour. I see a lot of 18.5 being fired up for a small chicken and it makes me think, holy crap, that's a lot of fuel for such a small cook.
 
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Don't go overboard on your first cook(s). Do one product well. when that turns out how you like it, then add a second.

For example, do ribs once or twice. Then when those are to your liking, add a tray of ABT's at the same time. You may find that although they cook as you expect, attempting to time when one is done and the other needs to be taken off to be foiled and then returned (for example) may cause you to run around doing this and doing that. You may find that you just can't do it all at once (till you get more experience) as to what you have to do right now and what can wait a minute or three.

Do one thing well before attempting to "load up the smoker" with this that and the other thing. Just because you can fill the WSM, doesn't mean you should (yet).
 
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HH chicken is a good deal. You get a big one at say $.89/lb.
& then you cook it with "used" coals (2/3 charcoal ring) & 90 minutes later... you have meals for 2 for several days.
What you do with the remains is up to you: sandwiches, enchiladas, salad, leftover chicken, fajitas... or what you like.

You can do a tri-tip in about 90 minutes.... actually you could do several ( & use "recycled" charcoal). That's a lotta beef. After the main meal, you get sandwiches, beef salads, tacos....

The 5 hour cooks, you are looking at ribs, imho. Or pepper stout beef. Make a lot?

I would never leave a cooker going & do errands. Yer asking for it, imho.
 
I cook pork shoulder and brisket overnight. Everything else is cooked during the day.

I load up the smoker and vacuum bag leftovers and put them in the deep freezer. I can cook 40 legs, two packer briskets, four pork shoulders, or two meatloafs at a time. I throw ribs on with other stuff as they never make it to the freezer.

Once you get the temp control figured out, you'll find that you have a good 4 hour window between you need to check on the temp. I used a digital thermometer at first, but now just run the vents as it works for me (the Harry Soo way). The temp is close enough and I'm not micromanaging 5 degree temp swings.
 
I generally try not to leave for a long period of time when the smoker is going. I try to at least monitor the temp hourly, and 90% of the time it is steady Eddie. The trick is not to get cocky, as that is when the other 10% occurs. Most of the time, I'm around the house doing chores or projects and the smoker runs in the background. Rarely do I leave the house with the smoker unattended.

For anything that takes less than ribs (4ish hours) in time to cook, I use my Weber kettle(s). But once I've decided that I'm smoking, I rarely leave a rack empty. For example, a couple racks of ribs above a dutch oven of baked beans makes for outstanding table fare, and both are done around the same time. Or I'll simply fill both racks with ribs. No one has ever refused a gift of a half rack from me, and the returns have been interesting. Staggering cooks with different meats is feasible, but as others pointed out it can get tricky to time them correctly.
 
My schedule doesnt allow the opportunities to do long cooks on the WSM, so when i do, i make it count by cooking as much as i can in one shot.

I grabbed a vacuum sealer on Amazon for about $65 and its probably the most underrated BBQ tool there is.

Vacuum sealed BBQ in the freezer lasts for months if not longer. I can take out frozen bags and reheat in simmering water in about 20 minutes and the food tastes super fresh.

I try to incorporate food that have different cooking times but that have schedules that work together.

If i am doing a butt at 275 my typical cook time is around 8 hours. Usually i foil around 4-5 hours and will throw ribs on when i foil the butt. By the time i the butt off the smoker and let it rest the ribs are ready to come off. They rest while the butt gets pulled and everything is ready together.

If i'm doing ribs without a butt i will often throw chicken in the cooker when i foil the ribs. (NOTE: avoid cross contamination when ever you do poultry!)

I've done big cooks where I've gotten 10-12 individual meals out of one cook. Since my wife works late some days, having an easy meal to reheat is a better alternative to cooking for one.

Doing big cooks for later use is a great way to maximize time and money. Buying meat in bulk can save a few bucks and big cooks use less charcoal then multiple small cooks.

As far as leaving the smoker unattended for errand, it's not ideal, but i'd be lying if i said it's never happened. If you need to leave unattended FOR SHORT TIME PERIODS ONLY, use common sense: make sure your smoker inst near anything flammable. Always make sure the area around the smoker is clear in the unlikely event a lit cooker tips over. Smoker days are better for chores around the house as opposed to errands around town. EXAMPLE: Light smoker, clean the garage, have a beer, check smoker, mow lawn, have another beer finish smoker, eat. That's probably the manliest day ever;)
 
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A lot of good information! Tomorrow I'm going to fire up the smoker and get 6 lbs of pork shoulder smoked. The pork shoulder came in 4 slices so I'm hoping that I don't have to make any adjustments. I was also thinking of placing a bowl of baked beans to catch the drippings and using the mix as the mopping sauce.

Anyone cook a big bird in your WSM? Thanksgiving is nearing :)
 
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