DBWallis
TVWBB Super Fan
David here, from Oswego IL. I just got a 22" WSM for my birthday last week, and boy am I excited!
After a number of cheap gas grills, last year I got a Weber Spirit E-310 LP grill, and love it. I tried a number of time to smoke meats on it, with variable results. Gas grills just aren't very well suited to smoking, although I had a couple not-too-bad results. The biggest problem was the amount of effort it took to make it work at all - I had to check the grill every 15-20 minutes, and constantly add new wood chips.
I was able to to fire the WSM up for the first time yesterday, smoking a (very) small brisket with a coffee & spice rub. I was impresses with how easy it was to control the temp - I slid right into the perfect smoking temp at 230-240, and never left that range throughout the smoke - not bad for a first try! The meat seemed to stall at 160 for quite a while, then continues to rise. I pulled it at almost 4.5 hours (it was a 2 pound flat cut), not wanting it to get overdone. The meat was tasty, but could have used more time, and was a little tough. still, not bad for a first try on a real smoker.
I also smoked some lemons (cut in half, smoked for about 1.5 hours), from which we made smokey whisky sours while we waited for the meat to finish... those were quite tasty!
We teamed the brisket up with golden potatoes in creamy garlic sauce, and a salad of fennel and shaved asparagus with lemon vinaigrette (yes, we're foodies!)
Anyway, I'm looking forward to many more smokey meals!
After a number of cheap gas grills, last year I got a Weber Spirit E-310 LP grill, and love it. I tried a number of time to smoke meats on it, with variable results. Gas grills just aren't very well suited to smoking, although I had a couple not-too-bad results. The biggest problem was the amount of effort it took to make it work at all - I had to check the grill every 15-20 minutes, and constantly add new wood chips.
I was able to to fire the WSM up for the first time yesterday, smoking a (very) small brisket with a coffee & spice rub. I was impresses with how easy it was to control the temp - I slid right into the perfect smoking temp at 230-240, and never left that range throughout the smoke - not bad for a first try! The meat seemed to stall at 160 for quite a while, then continues to rise. I pulled it at almost 4.5 hours (it was a 2 pound flat cut), not wanting it to get overdone. The meat was tasty, but could have used more time, and was a little tough. still, not bad for a first try on a real smoker.
I also smoked some lemons (cut in half, smoked for about 1.5 hours), from which we made smokey whisky sours while we waited for the meat to finish... those were quite tasty!
We teamed the brisket up with golden potatoes in creamy garlic sauce, and a salad of fennel and shaved asparagus with lemon vinaigrette (yes, we're foodies!)
Anyway, I'm looking forward to many more smokey meals!
