My first cook ! help please :)


 
L

Louis

TVWBB Fan
Here we are dear WSM user, this is going to be my first time in a few hours !! my back ribs are ready and now i have to strat the monster !

I got a 18.5" and i wanna slow cook them for 5-6 hours at 225-250. I was thinking of using the minion method with a can in the middle where i'm going the put the lit charcoal.

But here is my question, how much unlit brickets should i use ? and how much lit ?

today here (Quebec) it is going to be around 40-45 F outside, quite cold ... I would appreciate any help !

I am trying ribs because i know that in case of a problem, i can rescue them in my gaz bbq
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Thank you all !
 
Also, since it is going to be quite cold, i was thinking about using boiling water in the water pan to help a bit
 
Louis,while I'm not familiar with the coffee can method of MM,I always fill the charcoal ring with unlit. The leftovers can always be snuffed out for the next cook. As far as lit,use maybe 20-25. Then let the WSM come to temp. When it gets near your target temp,put the meat on. The air from taking the lid off will cause the temp to bump up just a little,but the cooler meat will act as a heat sink to counter the bump. Keep checking your temps for the next half hour or so,and adjust your vents accordingly. Let us know how they turn out.
 
THanks Phil, i'll try to upload some pictures tomorrow to show the result !

But what do you mean by snuffing out the leftovers ? I never used charcoal before, only gas bbq ... Won't the charcoal lit completly ?
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Louis:
THanks Phil, i'll try to upload some pictures tomorrow to show the result !

But what do you mean by snuffing out the leftovers ? I never used charcoal before, only gas bbq ... Won't the charcoal lit completly ? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
He means snuffing out the leftover coals by closing all the vents when you are done will put out, aka snuff out the coals from lack of oxygen. You can then use them for your next cook vs just leaving the vents open and letting them burn off.

Have you looked at the BRITU recipe?

Oh, and welcome aboard
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but i dont understand why closing the vent would stop the brickets from burning .... in most of the recipe, in order to keep a 225F temp, the 3 vents are closed and the cooking seems to continue ??
 
Welcome Louis. What they mean by snuffing out the coals is shutting all top and bottom vents when you are done cooking. The fire will go out and you can use the remaining coals on your next cook. For what it's worth, I cooked on my 22 a few times this winter in temps between 10-30 degrees with no water in the pan and the WSM did just fine, so you should have no problems with just tap water. Good luck!
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Louis:
but i dont understand why closing the vent would stop the brickets from burning .... in most of the recipe, in order to keep a 225F temp, the 3 vents are closed and the cooking seems to continue ?? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

First, you need to close all the vents (including the top) for the fire to snuff out quickly and completely.

Second, if you can close all three bottom vents and still hold temp at 225, you probably have air coming in from another location - usually the door.

You'll never make the WSM completely air tight, but a good indicator of being reasonably tight is that when you close all vents, the temp goes down and the fire is out in about 1/2 hour. Note however that the fire is NOT out. Charcoal is very good at restarting if it gets some air. I don't assume my fire is out until the next day after a cook and even then I'm careful not to dump the coals into anything other than a steal container. Be careful.
 
well it's been 40 minutes now since i put the slabs & hot water in the WSM ... all vents are fully open and i have difficulty reaching 200F ... any idea people ?!
 
What temp did you reach before putting on the ribs? How many slabs? How many lit?Vent settings? Lots of variables here
 
it was at 250 with no water

i added hot tap water and 2 slabs (big one maybe 3-4 pounds each)

i put around 8 pounds of unlit charcoal and 30 lit brickets.

all vents are wide open !
 
Louis, what's the temp now?Did you check out your thermometer to ensure it was accurate? 30 lit should be way plenty to get her going. When it reaches the right temp for me, I can put my hands on the top lids and hold it on for a few seconds.If your thermometer is good to go maybe crack the lid a little with a stick or open the door to allow more air in.
 
i just went to my friend warehouse to borrow a industrial temp probe lol well right now on the top crate i am at 220 ... which is not bad ...

i must say that my biggest worry now is the wood, i followed the instruction and put 4 fist size chunk of oak and maple ... i wish that it is not going to be oversmoked since there really is a lot of smoke coming out !

By the way, did you ever had any "taste problem" because of the unlit charcoal ? i read on the internet that people often wait for all the charcoal start making ashes before cooking ... but using the minion method it is not really possible...

thank you all again
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content"> By the way, did you ever had any "taste problem" because of the unlit charcoal ? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>Never.

And I never wait for the cooker to come to temp before adding the meat - I don't get the rationale for that; it's always seemed counterproductive - I load the meat when I pour on the lit.
 
Louis, you are well on your way. More air = higher heat. No matter how you get it in the cooker. Water in general will keep the heat lower and cause you to burn more coal to keep the water hot. There are option to using water and there are options to getting more air. I have known folks to dump their water mid cook cause they can't achieve their target temp.
Ring back if you are still having temp problems.
Mark
 
Congrats Louis! I was hoping to do the same as you did today (first cook on the wsm doing ribs) but I guess that the high winds are too much for the smoker.
 
Frederic, just put a wind screen around the unit. Easy PEasy. Doesn't have to be real expensive. I've cooked in wind ,rain(CAnopy over the unit),snow,etc. The WSM does fine.
 
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