N00b Member loves his WSM (With pictures)


 
J

Joe Gallo

New member
Hey, my names Joe. I'm 23 years old and reside in San Francisco. I actually got my 18" bullet back in August when it was on sale big time at amazon. So far I love it. I always used my grill for years, so I'm glad I dove into the world of smoking.

But I've been leeching here since then, until now, for months. (I did however use the amazon link from this site to buy the smoker, that I'm good right?).

Anyways, here's some pictures of a few things I've smoked. I only take pics of a few things, and it's only with my cell phone. So it's not great, but better than nothing.

Hope you all enjoy, and I just wanna extend my thanks to everyone here for the recipes and help.


Baby Backs
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Pulled Pork
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Tri Tip (Awesome thing about CA is you can find this for 2.49lb)
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Brisket (I've smoked 2 packers, both turned out dry. I gotta work on it)
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Meatloaf
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Turkey
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Joe-

You HAVE been busy! Ok, where are you getting tri-tip for $2.49/lb in the Bay Area???

I'm down in Redwood City.

Rich
 
Geez. You should use that WSM from time to time.
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You're off to a great start. Thanks for sharing your pics.
 
Thanks for the kind words guys. Like I said, these are all cooks over the past few months. I hardly ever take pictures, which is really a crime. It's just either I always want to eat, or a bunch of friends are over. One thing is for sure though, after I lived in the dorms 3 years ago and hate to eat that crap food. I decided to never go back. And have been cooking and grilling up a storm since. The WSM is a good asset. Only problem is now I want a Performer and Genesis.


<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Rich G:
Joe-

You HAVE been busy! Ok, where are you getting tri-tip for $2.49/lb in the Bay Area???

I'm down in Redwood City.

Rich </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Rich, I have a friend that works for Nob Hill/Raleys/Bel Air. And about 5 times a year they sell their Tri Tip for 2.49/lb if you buy them in a bag of 6. Or 2.99/lb if you by each tip separate. Still an amazing price. And I really do love Nob Hill's beef more than safeway or lucky's. Seems to be a higher grade of choice.

Anyways, I think you're in look. My friend said there is a Nob Hill in Redwood City somewhere. So check the ads. Or maybe I'll just make a post here when I see it go on sale.

Joe
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Brisket (I've smoked 2 packers, both turned out dry. I gotta work on it) </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Yeah, just send all that dry brisket this way.

How'd the Turkey turn out? It looks great!
 
Welcome and thanks for sharing.........give some details on your briskets cooks, I'm sure someone here will be able to help you.

In the next couple of weeks, I'm going to do my first packer. I'm going to go low and slow and see what happens.
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Great looking ribs!!!!
 
Again, thanks all for the good words. For all the Cali members, I noticed this week Safeway has a sale on Tri-Tip (untrimmed) for 2.97/lb. Can't really go wrong with that.

And Dwayne, I cooked the packers as to people's instructions here. Traditionally low and slow, fat cap up. Cooked to 165 and then foiled. Got to around 195-200ish and seemed to be probe tender. But I'm not sure exactly how fork tender feels like going into brisket. I mean, people say its like going into butter. But let's be serious now, it's meat. It's never gonna go into it like butter. So how does "tender" REALLY feel. I don't know yet. All I know is when I travel to "real" BBQ places, the brisket always seems to be really juicy and moist. And mine is just a little dry. Still a little moisture, but it needs sauce to liven it up.

I'm not gonna sweet it, I'll keep trying. I've only done 2 packers. I probably won't have it down until I've done a dozen or two. I'll probably pull my next one off around 190-195 instead.

Joe
 
How do you do your tri-tip? I'm from SoCal and always grill my tri-tip Santa Maria BBQ style served with bean and tortillas.
 
At first I thought this was an April fools joke with all that food. Great job putting the wsm to use. I've gotten some of the Nob Hill Tri-Tips and I agree, those are really great. They send out sales fliers but I have missed the sales recently. I'll keep my eyes open for the next sale.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Chris E:
How do you do your tri-tip? I'm from SoCal and always grill my tri-tip Santa Maria BBQ style served with bean and tortillas. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yeah the Santa Maria style is way bigger is socal than here. So typically I just use a spice rub of about 7 ingredients. Nothing too special, but one thing I say everyone has to try with tri tip is the indirect method. I read about it here of course, but it really works.

I just put the Tri's on the smoker with some oak and cherry, let them go at 225 for about an hour. In the mean time I get my gas grill flaming hot, and finish the tri's on there for 5-8 minutes. As you can see from the pictures, you get a even pink throughout the entire roast. And just the outer 1/4" of the edge is cooked. Just amazing.

And Jon you definitely gotta keep a look out for the fliers. I don't know what it is about the Nob Hill meat, but it is definitely superior to safeway (vons) or luckys (albertsons). Maybe because it's a smaller chain store and can get their beef from a smaller farmer with higher quality. But their meat is hands down better, only a real butcher could beat it.

Joe
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">And Dwayne, I cooked the packers as to people's instructions here. Traditionally low and slow, fat cap up. Cooked to 165 and then foiled. Got to around 195-200ish and seemed to be probe tender. But I'm not sure exactly how fork tender feels like going into brisket. I mean, people say its like going into butter. But let's be serious now, it's meat. It's never gonna go into it like butter. So how does "tender" REALLY feel. I don't know yet. All I know is when I travel to "real" BBQ places, the brisket always seems to be really juicy and moist. And mine is just a little dry. Still a little moisture, but it needs sauce to liven it up </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Dome temps can be off enough to make it difficult to follow any time/temp guidelines for low and slow cooking. You could very well have been significantly hotter and just overcooked them (or significantly cooler and they were underdone).

I've completed around a dozen or so brisket cooks to date and I still don't feel confident to go low and slow with one. I like to go high heat for a couple of reasons:

1) managing temps become less of and issue, I build a big minion and let it run away until it stops, usually some where around 300*-350* dome

2) things happen faster, checking it every 30 min or so when you're close to tender reveals noticeable changes in tenderness.

You won't know tender until you feel tender, HH and frequent checking will certainly get you there.

btw, nice job on the meat. I made a mess out of my first few attempts.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by j biesinger:
Dome temps can be off enough to make it difficult to follow any time/temp guidelines for low and slow cooking. You could very well have been significantly hotter and just overcooked them (or significantly cooler and they were underdone).

I've completed around a dozen or so brisket cooks to date and I still don't feel confident to go low and slow with one. I like to go high heat for a couple of reasons:
</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

You even do HH when you smoke packers? It seems everyone does HH with flats because there is less fat. The two briskets I've done have been full packers, with fat on (that I trimmed slightly). So I went low and slow. But like I said, I've only done 2 briskets. I wasn't expected anything too amazing. They were still good, just a little dry. I don't expect to be good at this for a long time. Thanks for the advice though.

Joe
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<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">You even do HH when you smoke packers? It seems everyone does HH with flats because there is less fat. The two briskets I've done have been full packers, with fat on (that I trimmed slightly). So I went low and slow. But like I said, I've only done 2 briskets. I wasn't expected anything too amazing. They were still good, just a little dry. I don't expect to be good at this for a long time. Thanks for the advice though. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

yeah, its magic...a packer done in under 6 hours. I look at it this way, if the chances of me delivering a world class packer are slim, I might as well invest the least amount of time. That way I only cooked the meat and not a nights sleep too.

I'm gravitating towards better cuts of beef. I did a flat off of a local cow that had far superior marbling to the choice packers I typically do. It seemed moister. I believe lean cuts have something to do with dry brisky.
 
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