My first 3 attempts with my new WSM

[Guest]

I have lived and died by my Weber Silver B propane grill for 10 years now and after many a low slow cooking and grilling sessions I figured that the time was right to purchase myself a smoker. With a little web research it appeared that the Weber Smokey Mountain was just what I needed so I jumped in feet first. At the time of the purchase I went ahead and bought myself the Weber Chimney and a bag of Cowboy lump charcoal and straight away I fired up the smoker to try to figure out temperature control. Right off the bat I was seeing temps of over 300 and couldn’t figure out how to bring them down so back to the web for some research where I came across the “minion method”. Switching over to briquettes and better vent control my second fire worked perfect and hit a cooking surface temp of 230 – 250 and a top vent temp of 240 - 260. Time for some meat!

For my first attempt I mixed up a batch of my favorite rib marinade and rather than preparing my ribs as I have in the past, rub first and then mob once every hour as I cooked, I marinated them over night and then rubbed them right before I put them on the smoker. After 3 hours of temps around 250 my probe thermometer said the top rack or ribs was sitting at 165 so I pulled them off. When I checked the lower rack they were not done yet so I moved them to the top rack and they finished off shortly. The first thing I noticed was that they were very smoky, according to my wife to smoky.

My second go was with four pork tender loins. After soaking overnight in a orange juice and sherry bath I placed them on the top rack of my WSM and let them go for about 3 hours when my probe proclaimed them cooked to 165 degrees. I once again noticed that they were very smoky (and a little dry but they were tapered rather than rod like so they didn’t cook evenly).

Since I was out of briquettes I went back to the lump charcoal I purchased and using the “minion method” I went for my next smoking attempt. I purchased a 5 pound boston butt and an injector and pumped it with some apple juice and spices from an online recipe I found and rubbed it down with my favorite rub. After hitting my desired cooking temp the butt went on. I did see some temperature variations as would be expected using lump charcoal but nothing over 260 at the top vent. Toward the end of the 5 ½ hours it took to cook I noticed that my temperatures were slowly rising. When I finally pulled the butt off at 165 degrees I noticed that I was up to over 275 at the grilling surface and my water pan was all but empty, lesson learned. This attempt came out almost perfect. It had a nice smoked flavor without being over powering and the injection added a very nice flavor to the meat as well. Once I added a little of my own South Carolina mustard vinegar sauce to the mix I knew I was on the road to many a fine dining experiences.

Next weekend I am going to try a couple of chickens! Thanks for all the wonderful information in this forum and on the website.

-Tom in SC

 

[K Kruger]

Welcome to the board Tom.

I am a lump user but do not care for Cowboy. It burns erratically (it's mostly scrap wood). Royal Oak is widely available (and better). My favorites I have to have shipped in. Try RO sometime and see what you think.

How much smoke wood did you use on the cooks? You can always cut back if you find your results too smoky.

Ypu might want to try cooking your tenderloins to a much lower internal--about 150 tops (anywhere from 140-150 works, usually, but I suggest not going higher).

Sounds like you're enjoying yourself!

 

[Ryan C.]

I find with the WSM that you dont want to over do the wood. I had the same problem. For ribs i throw 2 or 3 medium size chunks and thats it. Anymore and it does seem to smokey.

I use kingsford and stuff works like a charm. I have had 6lbs last about 6-7 hours. Kingsford is my favorite and probably always will be. I do want to try some of the Royal stuff.

Oh and I dont use lump but i hear it burns hotter and will give more smoke flavor.