My first long cook on the 22" WSM

[ChuckO]

Last Sunday I was able to use my new WSM, for only the 2nd time since getting it for Christmas. I dumped a full 14.6LBS bag of Kingsford Applewood Charcoal into the ring and fully lit 6 to 8 charcoals to run the beast. I had all the vents open at firing and the top off for about 15 minutes. I put the top on and within 10 minutes the dome said I was up to temp and I was getting a steady blue stream of smoke. I closed the 3 vents to just slivers and put the butt on. Within an hour my WSM was 280 degrees, so I completely closed the 3 vents. Doing so, I was able to get the pit temp down to 250 (per my digital) This cook ended up taking 12.5 hours I had to start opening the 3 vents at about hour 9, and before hour 10 I had to add fully lit charcoal as the 14.6LBS of charcoal was completely gone. I added about a half chimney of fully lit at hour 10, and again before hour 11 and again at hour 12. I realize that being the new, the WSM is not "airtight" but I had no idea how much charcoal it was going to need. If I had to guess, I added at least 2LBS all said and done, so I pretty much went through 17LBS of charcoal for this cook. That was an eye-opener for me, maybe there's something to be said for the door gasket...

Anyway...here's the cook as it unfolded. I mopped about a half dozen times, my mop was a 50/50 of Jack Daniels Honey Jack and Apple Juice. I would have used brown sugar too, but I couldn't find it, as my kitchen was just now coming back together

3 hours into the cook

4 hours

5 hours

6 hours

7 hours

8 hours

9 hours

10 hours

Pulled at 12.5 hours (was busy dealing with the charcoal issues and missed a couple mops from 10 to 12.5)

After a 1.25 hour rest

Tasted amazing, the Jack Daniels Honey Jack makes for a wonderful mop, and probably is responsible for insanely good bark

 

[Rich Dahl]

That PP looks great Chuck, got to try that honey jack! Those first few cooks on a new WSM can be hair pullers for sure, but it should settle down after it gunk's up a little. I have a mini and an 18.5 WSM and I will say that the 18.5 WSM uses about four times the charcoal the mini uses so it doesn't surprise me you went through that much charcoal on a 22.5
You might want to watch for a deal on a 14.5 WSM for the cooks that don't require the acreage the 22.5 has.

 

[Rich G]

Looks good, Chuck! Yeah, that 22 can be a fuel hog, for sure. I just make sure to load the ring to the brim when I start, and almost always throw on a couple of chickens to fill empty grill space (there's always a use for smoked chicken!)

You'll get it dialed in soon enough, and, I suspect it'll run a bit more efficiently once you get some good "residue" built up on there (having said that, I'm probably going to add the door gasket to mine.)

Go Giants!

Rich

 

[Barb D]

Chuck that was an amazing cook, but the last pic tells the true story. Going to have some good eats for sure.

 

[Cliff Bartlett]

Welcome back Chuck. That's some tasty looking pulled pork. Great bark too.

 

[Dustin Dorsey]

The pulled pork looks awesome. That's some phenomenal bark. That does seem like a lot of charcoal for that long of a cook. I typically do throw one of the large bags in and I salvage what I can for later cooks.

 

[James N]

Good looking cook Chuck... Yea that door on your smoker looks warped bad at the top your going to to fix that problem.

 

[Robert T]

Chuck I have missed your great food posts. Congrats on the new WSM! You must be so proud. Showing pictures at the office and stuff... Love your pulled pork. It looks like it turned out perfect. Did you have trouble getting the lit coals through the door? The few times I have had to do this it was unpleasant. Good to see your great cooks again!

 

[Kevin L (NKY)]

Winner, winner, new kitchen and a new WSM glad to see you back cooking again,Chuck O after your great kitchen job.

 

[Anne M.]

Looks very tasty!

 

[ChuckO]

Did you have trouble getting the lit coals through the door?

I have a large pair of tongs I use to add charcoal. But because they were fully lit when I put them in, I do have less hair on my arm


Thank you everyone for the kind words, I had my last PP Taco last night. The one thing about PP, it gets better with age for leftovers