My first smoke

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I'm planning to do my first smoke on the WSM this weekend. I've had for two weeks, but I needed to order a termometer and the chimney starter, which leads to my question. In the instructions from Weber, they say you can light the coals using lighter fluid. In the instruction on Chri's site, only the chimney started is mentioned. Why is not using fluid preferred? Is it the taste, or are there other considerations as well?

I'm planning on doing two chickens and a brisket. I've been reading the board and checking out the site for inspiration. I'll report back to you all!
 
Welcome Ken,

To my mind there are 3 reasons to spend the 10-15 dollars at Home Depot for the chimney. The first is the one that you mentioned, the taste. I'm sure that point can be argued as to whether all the fluid gets burned off, etc. I won't argue with you, because point 2 is the chimney is safer, and point 3, it works a lot better than the lighter fluid. Just a couple of sheets of paper, load it up with charcoal, and 20 minutes later you are ready to cook. I highly reccomend the chimney.

Good luck to you with the new WSM.
 
Ken,

You can use lighter fluid if you allow all the coals to light and get covered with ash before you start cooking. You can also place crumpled newspaper on the charcoal grate, pile briquettes on top, and light the paper.

A chimney is just a very efficient way to light charcoal. The coals light quickly because of the way the heat is drawn up through the chimney, and it runs on newspaper--something I've always got laying around the garage.

Some folks use Weber Firestarters as a safe, odorless alternative to lighter fluid. They're placed on or under the coals and lit to ignite the charcoal. They burn at 1300*F for 12 minutes and sell for $3-4 for a pack of 24.

Also, Duraflame makes a product called Quick Start Firelighters that can be broken into pieces and used to light a charcoal barbecue.

Regards,
Chris

[This message has been edited by Chris Allingham (edited 07-26-2001).]
 
Thanks Doug and Chris for the information. I actually have a chimney on order, but I was curious to know why the chimney was preferred. When I was a kid, my Dad made a chimney by taking a quart-size tin can and punching four holes in the bottom with a can opener. He would then put in newspaper and charcoal and light it up. I'm not sure it held as many coals as the Weber chimney.
 
I use a chimney full of charcoal with paper on the bottom then I dump lots of fluid down the top of the chimney. It gets them going faster and I don't get any bad flavor as long as I let them go all white.
 
Man, I gotta say that lighter fluid is bad stuff. Even when burned to ashes I don't trust eating anything that has been cooked over it and I wouldn't feed it to family or friends. I just don't trust that all the residual toxins have dissippated out of the charcoal or the pit. (and gone into the meat)
But that's just me...
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Couch Potato
 
I agree. I prefer the slight taste of the ink from the newsprint when firing up the chimney.




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Chaz
 
Mee too! Especially from the large colorful
ads. Unfortunately, I quit getting the newspaper so now I just use paper bags or butchers paper. (even used some 8x11 printer paper once... Oh my!)
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Looks like I touched off a discussion here!

I got a CharBroil chimney from Home Depot that I used for my first foray with my WSM. It worked fine. I just need to figure about 2 hours from light time to smoke time (allowing for the temp in the cooker to fal to the 300 range).
 
Ken
Two hours to fall into the 300 range?
Check out Chris's example of fireup methods and things will be easier.
To light charcoal get yourself a turkey cooker(everybody needs one) and it works great for starting charcoal.
Jim
 
Jim-

Not 2 hours to drop -- 2 hours from the time I lit the coals in the chimney, then added more coals, and then let it drop. It only took about 30 minutes to drop from 425 to 310.

Ken
 
Here's the results of my first smoke. I did a 3 lb brisket and 2 chickens, both cut in half. I started the chimney about 9:50 am. At 10:30, I dumped the coals into the WSM and added about 8 more lbs of charcoal. At 11, the coals were ready, and I assembled the cooker. The temperature peaked at 425 (dome). It was 84F and cloudy. At 11:35 the temperature had dropped to the low 300 range. I put 3 chicken halves on the bottom grate, and the brisket and the remaining hlf chicken on the upper grate. I added 8 chunks of cherry wood. The temperature dropped to about 240, and I closed the vents. At 12:05 the temp was at 230. At 12:15, tthe temp was at 225, so I opened the bottom vents about 1/3. AT 1:00 PM, I added hot water to the pan, and the temp was 235. At 1:45, I opened the vents 100% as the temp had dropped bck to 225. At this point, I got distracted by an upset stomach, and stopped takin detailed notes. At 2:45, I turned the brisket and basted with a mop sauce. I kept checking the temp, and I think I basted the brisket 1 or 2 more times. At 5:30, I pulled everything off the grill. The brisket was @ 160, the chicken, @ 170. It was all very good, althought the brisket was a bit dry. I think because I didn't add water and baste it more often, this kept the brisket dry.

This coming Saturday I'm doing a 4 lb pork loin to make pulled pork.

I love the WSM!

Ken

[This message has been edited by Ken Peabody (edited 08-01-2001).]
 
Ken, thanks for sharing your experience. Are you pouring unlit charcoal over your lit coals? I think most people here put the hot coals on the unlit charcoal, ala the Minion method. Allows you to control the temp easier and faster.

Also, on the brisket, if it only got to 160? the fat had not rendered which may account for it being dry. I would think that it would have also been a little tough. Try shooting for 180? to 190? next time and see if you like the result better.

Doug W.
 
Doug-

Thanks for the tips. I will try to get a little higher temperature next time. Also, since it was my first time out, I used Method 1 from Chris's page where you put the unlit charcoal over the lit ones. I'll try the Minion method next time out.

Ken
 
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