New WSM, first cook this weekend


 
JohnT-Virginia

JohnT-Virginia

New member
I'm a rank newbie and just assembled my new WSM 18" last night. Today I am going to buy a pork butt and season the smoker. Tomorrow morning I plan to start the cook about 6am and hope to be eating delicious barbecue for dinner. I've read and watched a lot of videos, so I think I have the basic knowledge, but zero experience. I probably know as much about barbecue as anyone who has never actually smoked. I've eaten at the most traditional places around Lexington NC, and a few whole hog pits in the Eastern part. My expectations are high, just hope I don't screw it up. I also bought the Thermoworks Smoke X2 and Billows, even thought I know the WSM usually holds pretty steady. I also intend to cook with water in the pan (unless someone convinces me otherwise). I'm guessing the butt will be 8lbs., as that's what the store typically stocks.

So a few questions... how long before the cook begins should I apply the rub? Is overnight too long? Should I cook the butt straight out of the fridge (40F), or try to get it up closer to room temperature? If I use the Minion method, how much charcoal to begin (Kingsford Blue)? How long will it take for the temperature to stabilize and dirty smoke to clear? I have applewood chunks; how how much should I use?

From there the plan is to let it ride 3 hours at a steady 250F, and start spraying when the bark forms. Wrap around 170F and either bring inside to the oven or put back on the smoker depending on whether there's still fuel and temp is still holding steady. Then probe and check for tenderness at 203, and rest an hour in a cooler wrapped in towels. How long does it take [typically] to go from 170 to 203?

Anything I'm not considering or mistakes I'm about to make? Any other general advice? Thanks!
 
Hey, John, welcome! There's really no need to season the smoker, so I'd recommend you use that charcoal and heat to cook that butt rather than just letting it go to waste. Your WSM might cook a little hotter without some of the crud build up from using it, but a "seasoning" with just charcoal won't really give you that anyway. On top of that, pork butt is pretty forgiving in terms of temps, so if you run a little hot, it won't hurt anything.

Apply the rub overnight if you wish, or apply it while you are waiting for your WSM to come to temp (that's what I do.)

No need to bring the butt up to room temp, I typically cook straight from the fridge.

Take a look at THIS LINK for some Minion method information from our host, Chris Allingham. That should get you going. You should have clean smoke within ~30 minutes or so. Use 3-4 fist sized chunks of wood. Start closing up bottom vents when you hit 225F......it's WAY easier to control temp on the way up than it is to bring it back down if you overshoot. Maybe go to 1 closed, 2 half open at 225F, then adjust every 15 minutes depending on what it's doing until you hit your temp. Again, you may run hotter on this first cook, don't sweat it.

I used to spray, I don't anymore. Totally a personal preference, so spray this one, don't spray the next one and figure out what you like.

I don't wrap pork butts, but lots of people do. Again, personal preference, so try it different ways to see what you like best.

Time from 170-203 is going to be really dependent on that particular cut of meat, and how much connective tissue it has that needs to break down before leaving the stall. I usually allot 2 hours per pound for my pork butts, and that gives me a little buffer zone to make sure it's done when I want it to be. Wrapping it will speed that up some......maybe 1.5 hrs/pound.

You're going to be just fine with this cook, again, pork butt is very forgiving. Just try not to overthink it too much, keep some good notes on what you do, and from there you can plan your next cook. Also, come back and share with us how it goes, what you did, etc., and we'll happily provide suggestions if you want them. You'll be chowing down some GREAT pulled pork tomorrow!

Rich
 
I do pretty much the same as every above with the exception of using Enrico Brandizzi‘s “sidewinder” method In conjunction with Harry Soo’s smoke wood on the bottom firing.
I lay a layer of wood, fill the ring as full as humanly possible assemble and light the charcoal through the door on just the one side. Close it all up and go back to bed. Well, sometimes.
I did a very cold start smoke of ribs for a family members return to Michigan last week. (12 Degree ribs)
No water,
No spritz,
No wrap,
Monitor the temp (more casually than I used to),
DO NOT PEEK!
Enjoy yourself!
Welcome aboard!
Remember the more you do, the better you get!
 
Great advice from everyone above. I will add that brand new WSM's can tend to run hot. Don't panic if that's the case. After you get 3 or 4 cooks on it it might be a little easier to control/keep temperatures down.
 
JohnT-Virginia said:
I'm a rank newbie and just assembled my new WSM 18" last night. Today I am going to buy a pork butt and season the smoker. Tomorrow morning I plan to start the cook about 6am and hope to be eating delicious barbecue for dinner. I've read and watched a lot of videos, so I think I have the basic knowledge, but zero experience. I probably know as much about barbecue as anyone who has never actually smoked. I've eaten at the most traditional places around Lexington NC, and a few whole hog pits in the Eastern part. My expectations are high, just hope I don't screw it up. I also bought the Thermoworks Smoke X2 and Billows, even thought I know the WSM usually holds pretty steady. I also intend to cook with water in the pan (unless someone convinces me otherwise). I'm guessing the butt will be 8lbs., as that's what the store typically stocks.

So a few questions... how long before the cook begins should I apply the rub? Is overnight too long? Should I cook the butt straight out of the fridge (40F), or try to get it up closer to room temperature? If I use the Minion method, how much charcoal to begin (Kingsford Blue)? How long will it take for the temperature to stabilize and dirty smoke to clear? I have applewood chunks; how how much should I use?

From there the plan is to let it ride 3 hours at a steady 250F, and start spraying when the bark forms. Wrap around 170F and either bring inside to the oven or put back on the smoker depending on whether there's still fuel and temp is still holding steady. Then probe and check for tenderness at 203, and rest an hour in a cooler wrapped in towels. How long does it take [typically] to go from 170 to 203?

Anything I'm not considering or mistakes I'm about to make? Any other general advice? Thanks!
Click to expand...
Best of luck to you john.. just remember to take things calmly no matter what happens. This will be a learning experience for you, so if you stay calm you will be less likely to second guess yourself..

Practice will make perfect, but for now welcome to the club.
 
Welcome John,

Hopefully you've checked out all the info Chris has posted on the site.

One suggestion if you haven't planned for it, and that's to foil the water pan to ease with cleanup.

Good luck and post pics !
 
Oh, I forgot, it will be done when it’s finished, do not rush or worry this is some of the most relaxed cooking you can do. Remember it’s supposed to be FUN! And as long as you just go ahead and wait, your patience will be rewarded!
 
Welcome to the site I don’t use a water pan I would season the pit to get rid ok that factory new metal smell just be patient and have fun enjoy your cook love to see bbq pics 😎
 
Well, I have a slightly larger butt than anticipated. They were on sale for 1.59 and the best looking one was 12lbs so that’s what I got, haha. Guess I’ll have to be patient. I’ll set up tonight and start a few hours earlier, and cook at 275 instead of 250. Might have to add fuel at some point. If I had confidence that the temp would stay steady I’d start it tonight- in fact, that’s looking like a good idea the more I think about it.
 
JohnT-Virginia said:
I'm a rank newbie and just assembled my new WSM 18" last night. Today I am going to buy a pork butt and season the smoker. Tomorrow morning I plan to start the cook about 6am and hope to be eating delicious barbecue for dinner. I've read and watched a lot of videos, so I think I have the basic knowledge, but zero experience. I probably know as much about barbecue as anyone who has never actually smoked. I've eaten at the most traditional places around Lexington NC, and a few whole hog pits in the Eastern part. My expectations are high, just hope I don't screw it up. I also bought the Thermoworks Smoke X2 and Billows, even thought I know the WSM usually holds pretty steady. I also intend to cook with water in the pan (unless someone convinces me otherwise). I'm guessing the butt will be 8lbs., as that's what the store typically stocks.

So a few questions... how long before the cook begins should I apply the rub? Is overnight too long? Should I cook the butt straight out of the fridge (40F), or try to get it up closer to room temperature? If I use the Minion method, how much charcoal to begin (Kingsford Blue)? How long will it take for the temperature to stabilize and dirty smoke to clear? I have applewood chunks; how how much should I use?

From there the plan is to let it ride 3 hours at a steady 250F, and start spraying when the bark forms. Wrap around 170F and either bring inside to the oven or put back on the smoker depending on whether there's still fuel and temp is still holding steady. Then probe and check for tenderness at 203, and rest an hour in a cooler wrapped in towels. How long does it take [typically] to go from 170 to 203?

Anything I'm not considering or mistakes I'm about to make? Any other general advice? Thanks!
Click to expand...

I would start small, maybe a couple of burgers or pork chops to start. Learn from small cooks and grow into bigger ones.
Enjoy you new WSM!
 
Welcome to the club!
There is a ton of great intel listed above.
The big thing is to be patient. Temperature corrections don’t happen quickly. The WSM is not a gas oven/stove. It takes awhile to settle in. Butts can handle the learning curve.
As stated above, BBQ is done when BBQ is done. Allow for extra time. BBQ holds well wrapped and in a cooler.
 
Bob H. said:
I would start small, maybe a couple of burgers or pork chops to start. Learn from small cooks and grow into bigger ones.
Enjoy you new WSM!
Click to expand...
Ha ha, I did start small... I got an 18" instead of a 22", and a WSM instead of a big ole stick burning offset. I guess you missed my second post where I said that I had bought a 12lb shoulder. I couldn't resist. It was cheap and it looked really-really good. Starting small-small, as with burgers, is sort of not my style. I'm in for the challenge.

So here's the play by play on my first cook... I realized that according to the 1.5 to 2 hours per pound rule it was likely that I wouldn't be eating Q on Sunday if I didn't get that 12lb butt started last night. I lit the smoker about 8pm and initially it was looking good, so I applied the rub and fritzed with the controller awhile, taped up the vents, and put the butt on at 9:00 with the smoker a little above 225F. I anticipated that the temp would continue to climb and when I switched over to the controller it would be spot on for the night and I'd get some sleep, waking up a time or two to check on it. I can hear y'all laughing from here.

The controller units sync'd fine, temperatures were reading, and everything seemed in order but the fan never came on. The smoker temp dropped down to 210, so I opened up the exhaust vent to full and continued trying to figure out why the fan wasn't working. I read the "Getting Started" instructions several times and all seemed to be in order... until I realized that the probes were reversed. You have to have the air temp probe in Channel 2 for the Billows to operate. Fixed. Still no fan. Meanwhile the temp is still dropping and the fan is not running. I opened the two closed intake vents a bit and it came back a some. So, the "Getting Started" sheet had a QR thingie for the long form instructions. I scanned it and started reading the complete instructions. It's supposed to go into "Fan Mode" automatically and it wasn't doing that. I had already checked the connections and confirmed that it was getting AC power. At some point it occurred to me that the little adapter with two USB-C ports that came with the Billows wasn't supposed to plug into the Billows –– it was supposed to plug into the controller. Bingo! Fan Mode on and the fan is working. I closed the other two intake vents and waited for the temperature to come up.

It comes up to around 235, but I had the target set to 275 and it's not looking like that would happen. I had already lost a couple of hours at this point (low but at least it was on) and I realized that the Billows is just not blowing enough air. Ambient temperature is 43 degrees, so I assume this is the reason it's struggling. So I opened the other two vents about 1/4 and waited. Yup, the temp came up almost immediately. I had a steady 260 and I was good with that so I sprayed the butt and went to bed with the remote unit on the nightstand. Two hours later the alarm went off –– temp was dropping again. I got up and stoked the fire, added fuel, sprayed the meat, opened the other two vents full, and went back to bed. The meat was getting up to about 140 and rising, so I was satisfied that despite the struggle to maintain temperature, it was cooking nicely. Two hours later, another low temp alarm. Same deal; stoke, add fuel, spray, back to bed.

This time the meat was at 165, but I could see that the high temp had been up to 168. This told me it was in the stall, so all I have to do is maintain temperature and wait. Smoker is now holding nicely in the 275 range, all vents open full. Two more hours and it's getting light outside. Meat at 172, smoker at 270. Time to wrap. That's where I am now –– meat wrapped and now reading 178, smoker 269. Ambient temperature is 45, wind blowing at 14 mph, overcast and sprinkles. I'll move it to the oven if necessary; hard part is done. I'll leave it on the cooker as long as stirring the coals keeps the temperature up, but not adding fuel. I burned about 20lbs of charcoal last night. I'm sure it must've been the wind and ambient temp that made it more challenging. Someone told me to expect it to burn about 1lb per hour. I guess that's at 75 degrees with the sun shining and wind not blowing.

What a fun adventure. Pulled pork for lunch today. Time to make slaw and some of that Eastern Carolina spicy vinegar sauce. If anyone is nearby, drop on in.

IMG_2007.jpeg
IMG_2005.jpeg
 
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JohnT-Virginia said:
Ha ha, I did start small... I got an 18" instead of a 22", and a WSM instead of a big ole stick burning offset. I guess you missed my second post where I said that I had bought a 12lb shoulder. I couldn't resist. It was cheap and it looked really-really good. Starting small-small, as with burgers, is sort of not my style. I'm in for the challenge.

So here's the play by play on my first cook... I realized that according to the 1.5 to 2 hours per pound rule it was likely that I wouldn't be eating Q on Sunday if I didn't get that 12lb butt started last night. I lit the smoker about 8pm and initially it was looking good, so I applied the rub and fritzed with the controller awhile, taped up the vents, and put the butt on at 9:00 with the smoker a little above 225F. I anticipated that the temp would continue to climb and when I switched over to the controller it would be spot on for the night and I'd get some sleep, waking up a time or two to check on it. I can hear y'all laughing from here.

The controller units sync'd fine, temperatures were reading, and everything seemed in order but the fan never came on. The smoker temp dropped down to 210, so I opened up the exhaust vent to full and continued trying to figure out why the fan wasn't working. I read the "Getting Started" instructions several times and all seemed to be in order... until I realized that the probes were reversed. You have to have the air temp probe in Channel 2 for the Billows to operate. Fixed. Still no fan. Meanwhile the temp is still dropping and the fan is not running. I opened the two closed intake vents a bit and it came back a some. So, the "Getting Started" sheet had a QR thingie for the long form instructions. I scanned it and started reading the complete instructions. It's supposed to go into "Fan Mode" automatically and it wasn't doing that. I had already checked the connections and confirmed that it was getting AC power. At some point it occurred to me that the little adapter with two USB-C ports that came with the Billows wasn't supposed to plug into the Billows –– it was supposed to plug into the controller. Bingo! Fan Mode on and the fan is working. I closed the other two intake vents and waited for the temperature to come up.

It comes up to around 235, but I had the target set to 275 and it's not looking like that would happen. I had already lost a couple of hours at this point (low but at least it was on) and I realized that the Billows is just not blowing enough air. Ambient temperature is 43 degrees, so I assume this is the reason it's struggling. So I opened the other two vents about 1/4 and waited. Yup, the temp came up almost immediately. I had a steady 260 and I was good with that so I sprayed the butt and went to bed with the remote unit on the nightstand. Two hours later the alarm went off –– temp was dropping again. I got up and stoked the fire, added fuel, sprayed the meat, opened the other two vents full, and went back to bed. The meat was getting up to about 140 and rising, so I was satisfied that despite the struggle to maintain temperature, it was cooking nicely. Two hours later, another low temp alarm. Same deal; stoke, add fuel, spray, back to bed.

This time the meat was at 165, but I could see that the high temp had been up to 168. This told me it was in the stall, so all I have to do is maintain temperature and wait. Smoker is now holding nicely in the 275 range, all vents open full. Two more hours and it's getting light outside. Meat at 172, smoker at 270. Time to wrap. That's where I am now –– meat wrapped and now reading 178, smoker 269. Ambient temperature is 45, wind blowing at 14 mph, overcast and sprinkles. I'll move it to the oven if necessary; hard part is done. I'll leave it on the cooker as long as stirring the coals keeps the temperature up, but not adding fuel. I burned about 20lbs of charcoal last night. I'm sure it must've been the wind and ambient temp that made it more challenging. Someone told me to expect it to burn about 1lb per hour. I guess that's at 75 degrees with the sun shining and wind not blowing.

What a fun adventure. Pulled pork for lunch today. Time to make slaw and some of that Eastern Carolina spicy vinegar sauce. If anyone is nearby, drop on in.
Click to expand...
JohnT I'm in VA too, where are you located? I love the NC Vinegar sauce!
 
JohnT-Virginia said:
I'm in Blacksburg. 45 minutes west of Roanoke. Where are you?

Butt is at 188, still on the WSM. I just stoked the coals without adding fuel. Temp is slowly fading though, so I'm moving it to the oven.
Click to expand...
Good call on the oven, not getting smoke anymore anyway! I'd guess that ambient temps were fighting you a bit. Sometimes you need to adjust your amount of lit charcoal on the minion method if it's really cold, or delay closing up vents a bit.

One question, since you have a Billows, do you have the other vents taped up, or just closed? If they were taped, and you only had the one opening for air to enter below the fire, that could be a contributing factor, too. I used to run a Digi Q, and I would just start the WSM with the controller, and let it bring things up to temp......less to fiddle with (though learning to fiddle with the vents is a good thing since you are just getting started.)

Anyway, it all looks good, and lunch is just around the corner! Nice work!

R
 
Rich G said:
Good call on the oven, not getting smoke anymore anyway! I'd guess that ambient temps were fighting you a bit. Sometimes you need to adjust your amount of lit charcoal on the minion method if it's really cold, or delay closing up vents a bit.

One question, since you have a Billows, do you have the other vents taped up, or just closed? If they were taped, and you only had the one opening for air to enter below the fire, that could be a contributing factor, too. I used to run a Digi Q, and I would just start the WSM with the controller, and let it bring things up to temp......less to fiddle with (though learning to fiddle with the vents is a good thing since you are just getting started.)

Anyway, it all looks good, and lunch is just around the corner! Nice work!

R
Click to expand...
I started with the other vents closed once I got the Billows working, but found that it wasn't blowing enough air to get the temps where I wanted (275F), so I ended up opening them gradually until finally I cooked the second half of the night with everything wide open except the two holes on the front that were taped where the Billows was installed.

I think you're right about needing to start out with more lit charcoal using the Minion. I started with a full load on the grate but only added about 1/4 a chimney (upside down end of chimney) of hot coals to get them started. I kept reading about how it's easier to get the temperature to go up than to bring it down, so I felt sure that being conservative was the way to dot it. I also overestimated how much air the Billows will push –– it would've been a fail if I hadn't opened the other intakes. I wasted some time because I wasn't familiar with the Smoke X2/Billows and didn't get it working in advance, but that was minimal compared to the ambient temperature, plus wind and darkness.
 
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