New WSM - first cook today!


 
H

Hilary

TVWBB Member
I completed my first cook in the new WSM. I decided to try beef short ribs as I thought that if I really messed it up that I wouldn't have wasted an expensive cut of meat! I have successfully smoked St. Louis ribs (don't know the acronyms yet!) on my ECB a couple of times prior to getting the WSM. I used (hot) water for this first smoke to help control the temp but the smoker still got up to 292 degrees and stayed around 275 for the first hour. I have the Maverick so the temp was accurate. I had a difficult time getting the temp back down and it never got below 250-275 for most of the cook. It was a fairly hot day (83) and the smoker was in the sun. I moved it in the shade. I used the minion method but I think that I may have used too many lit briquettes. I filled the charcoal bowl about half full and had the chimney about 2/3 full. All vents were open and also think that I waited too long to close them down at 250 degrees. In the end, the ribs were very tasty. I used 3 chunks of hickory and will use a milder wood next time. Any suggestions on keeping the heat lower is helpful. I'm going to practice again tomorrow with some turkey thighs. Here are some pics.
http://firstcook.shutterfly.com/
 
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Good stuff! Yes, you probably waited too long to close the vents. Next time, close them (only bottoms, NOT top vent--that should stay open 100% all the time) by half once you get within 25-50o of your target temps. So 225?-->start closing at 175-200o and it'll be at your goal within 15 min or so.
 
Hilary
First of all I cant see any pics.
Secondly (??)
I use briqs and BBQGURU ATC.
Anyhow before the ATC I used to settle the briqs in the ring, adding in the middle some lit briqs: from 5 to 10.
Top vent wide open.
Bottom vent: 3 open for first 30 minutes. Then reduce to 2 vents open and finally after 1 hour just 1 vent open in the bottom.
About water I would suggest you to drastically reduce water to a small quantity that you put on the side of the meat grate and will remove after the first 1-2 hours.
 
Thanks for the heating tips. I have read many threads including ones on temp control on TVWBB site to learn as much as I can. I went to the store today and bought apple and cherry wood for my next smoke. I fixed the link for the pics. This is a great website!
 
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The pics look very good Hilary. Looks like you did very well. Apple and cherry are very good choices. Congrats on that new WSM. Once it is seasoned you will have fewer problems with temp. With experience it all gets easier.
 
Thanks to all your advice, I smoked turkey thighs and chicken drumsticks and they turned out great today! I used 20 lit coals in the chimney with the Minion method, less water (cold) and was able to keep the temp to 225-246. I pulled the chicken off early as it was done first and kept the thighs at about 265 for the last half hour.
 
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Len, I found that out! I tried to crank up the temps at the end but it was too late in the cook. I'll empty and foil the water pan the next time with more coals to get higher temp.
 
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