My first cook on the WSM 18.5"


 
G

Greg Thorpe

New member
Hello!
My first cooker was the Cameron Stovetop Smoker, then a typical smoker box on my Weber gas grill, now graduated to the WSM.

For my first cook, I made St Louis Ribs and copied Melissa Cookston's 2012 $5000 one-bite Jalapeño & Cream Cheese Bacon-wrapped stuffed Shrimp w/ Tai sauce. Also served with homemade cornbread & slaw.

Big thanks to this forum, my IQ110, and the WSM. Turned out great!


Untitled by evh347, on Flickr


Untitled by evh347, on Flickr


Untitled by evh347, on Flickr


Untitled by evh347, on Flickr


Untitled by evh347, on Flickr


Untitled by evh347, on Flickr
 
Greg if that's your first cook, I can't wait to see your stuff by the end of summer! Absolutely beautiful. Welcome to the forum by the way.
 
Everything looks great, except of course the Packer's helmet, lol. Nice job man!! The WSM rocks.
 
Well done Greg. Looks like money to me. One suggestion: don't tie the pitmaster to the beer cooler - hard to get to the beer that way! :)
 
I'm more of a fan of the fancy setup you have to protect the electronics on top of the cooler!!! Neat set-up. BUT the food looks great too.
 
Hey thanks for the kind words everybody! I'll be sure to post more photos throughout the summer. Next cook is later this week but haven't decided what to try. Glad to join the community! Wouldn't have done as well as I think I did without it. ;)
 
never seen an IQ110 looked it up and it seems very different from your set up. Could you explain how you use it and made it? Do you smoke with the top vent at 100%? Looks like you made a manifold box for the unit and why and how?
 
R Cain said:
Can you post a link or the recipe for these. They look fantastic.

-rog
Click to expand...

No problem...

Melissa Cookston's Bacon-Wrapped Gulf Shrimp

★★★★★

Prep Time: 30 mins | Cook Time: 5 mins | Makes: 16-20 | Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients:

20 Gulf shrimp, 16/20 size
20 slices bacon
1 (8 ounce) brick of cream cheese
1 jar whole pickled jalapenos
Thai sweet chili sauce
Toothpicks
Directions:

***Bacon - Melissa prefers peppery crusted.

***Jalapeños - These are not the sweet sour type like my recipe for Cowboy Candy, they are brined.

***Sauce - Melissa uses "Maggi Taste of Asia Mild Sweet Chili" sauce.
------------------------------------------------------------

Step 1:
-Peel and devein the shrimp, but leave the tails on.

Step 2:
-Setup your grill for 2-zone cooking and heat the direct side medium hot.
-Cook the bacon strips right on the grates on the indirect side, lid on, until they are about halfway done.
-Don't overcook them, they must remain flexible.

Step 3:
-Slice the cream cheese into 1/4" x 1/4" x 1/2" slices.
-Cut the stems of the peppers, slice them in half lengthwise, and remove the seeds.

Step 4:
-Place a strip of cream cheese on the shrimp's back where the vein was.
-Place a strip of jalapeño on top of the cream cheese, wrap with a strip of bacon, and hold it in place with a toothpick or two.

Step 5:
-Cook the bacon wrapped shrimp on the indirect side of the grill with the lid on until the shrimp is pink throughout.
-Remove and brush generously with the Thai sweet chili sauce and serve.
 
Paul Kastner said:
never seen an IQ110 looked it up and it seems very different from your set up. Could you explain how you use it and made it? Do you smoke with the top vent at 100%? Looks like you made a manifold box for the unit and why and how?
Click to expand...

Paul,
I got the idea for a weather proof box from this video by John Kennington:
http://http://youtu.be/lS5L7l9VZLU

Although, I didn't mess with building a battery box. It was very easy to make. There is plenty of room for air to be drawn into the box through either of the two PVC pipes, completely weather proof.

I bungied it to an EMPTY cooler...beer was in the fridge! :)

The top vent was 100% open, two of the bottom vents are closed, and the third is where the IQ110 manifold attaches to & at 100%.

I was sent Generation 2 of the IQ110 (now shipping) with the adjustable intake damper. I set the intake damper on 5. The wind was kickin' a bit and I think it was robbing my cooker of heat, so the IQ110 was running a bit harder to maintain 250. It held 250 solid for about 2 hours before my Maverick alarms went off as the cooker dropped to 190. I'd burned up more fuel than I estimated that I needed. I was using Big Green Egg lump charcoal. After tossing in a few more lumps of charcoal, I needed to open up one more bottom vent about half way just to get enough air to get the coals hot enough because the IQ110 seemed to struggle too long to recover on its own (I merely "helped it" catch up). I think I just underestimated the fuel needed to complete the cook in the windy weather I was cooking & and got behind. Obviously, I recovered. But now I'm considering buying a jacket for the cooker. Only issue is, there won't be much time before I think I'll have to adjust my concerns from the cooker getting robbed of heat (cool weather) to the cooker running hot because its in the sun too much.

Ribs were lathered in yellow mustard and rubbed, then they sat out for a couple hours. Smoked at 250 for 1 hour then 1 additional hour (no smoke). Spritzed the ribs with apple juice, imitation butter, & white wine vinegar every 15 minutes after the first hour to start forming the bark. Crutched at the 2 hour mark with garlic powder, onion powder, vinegar sauce, brown sugar, & Parkay margarine for about 30-45 minutes. Lightly unwrapped (boated to retain juices), and put back in smoker (no smoke) for another hour. Performed the "bend test" to check for doneness. Basted in sauce and placed in smoker for another 15 minutes. Done.
 
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