New WSM, new to bbq'ing, What should I try first?


 
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Jim W.

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What should I try first?

My wife gave me a WSM for my birthday which was last week. She ordered it a week in advance but it finally shipped ten days after the order was placed. Amazon finally shipped it last Friday so it should be here sometime this week. I want to do my first cook this weekend.

I tend to like Texan or Santa Maria type bbq. Can anyone suggest what to try for my first ever "low and slow" bbq in my new WSM?

I have grilled a fair amount in my Weber Little Joe, but never cooked anything more than an hour or so. I'd like to try something that is somewhat forgiving of beginner mistakes, and don't want to pull an all-nighter. Any ideas?

My only experience with a "real" bbq or smoker was an "el cheapo" Brinkman that my uncle has. I helped him to smoke an extra turkey the day after Thanksgiving a few years ago in his brand new smoker. The instructions said it would take 6 hours. We got started about noon, planning for dinner at 6. The charcoal may have been damp, since it was hard to get going. Once we had the whole thing going, the temp guage on the lid was almost impossible to keep above 160*. We didn't give it enough air apparently, plus it was windy, snowing, and 7000 feet elevation. At 10:00 we ordered pizza for dinner and went to bed at 1:00 with a cold turkey still in the smoker. At 7:00 we went outside to find a perfectly cooked bird ready for breakfast. That's my story of a 18 hour turkey cook.

Thanks,
Jim
Southern California
 
spatchcock.jpg

The fastest thing to do would be a chicken. Pork Shoulder "Boston Butt" is not that hard if you let it reach at least 190f internal but it is an 8+ hour cook. Don't try Brisket it is harder than it looks /infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif

Chicken is simple use a serrated knife or kitchen shears and cut out the spine. Rinse. Marinade overnight in a salad dressing like Wishbone Italian, Kraft Zesty Italian or any of the KC Masterpiece Marinades are good. Use a gallon ziplock to marinade, vent as much air as possible and keep refrigerated.
Forget the minion method for chicken high temp equals good skin IME. About 1 1/2 to 2 weber chimneys full of charcoal in the fire ring one of which is lit. Leave off the body until the coals are burning real good. Put on the body with the water pan in it. Load the chicken dripping wet with marinade and sprinkle with rub. Almost any general purpose, chicken or pork rub will work. At 350 it will take about an hour at 275 about 2 hours for a 4 to 5 pound bird. Time is not the issue the dark meat hitting 180f minimum and the breast 160f minimum is what you are shooting for. If cooking with another meat put the chicken on the bottom.
Oh yeah you do have a metal stem digital meat thermometer?
Enjoy,
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Konrad Haskins:
[qb]
The fastest thing to do would be a chicken. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Actually, I had read that on this site. It's just that IMO chicken isn't as yummy as some other items. I guess I have time to try everything eventually.

I appreciate the comments on brisket since I was considering that one. Maybe the pork shoulder though, or the chicken Saturday, Pork Sunday, ?? Monday etc...

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> Oh yeah you do have a metal stem digital meat thermometer?
Enjoy, [/qb] <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Unfortunately DW hasn't spent the hours researching that I have. Since the bbq wasn't here for my birthday, she went to BBQ's Galore and picked up a few trinkets to tide me over. She bought a digital thermometer "fork". I guess I should have asked for a remote probe thermometer but didn't want to seem greedy. I do have a dial meat thermometer plus a candy thermo so I'll try the first cook with the candy thermo in the lid and the meat thermo to check the old fashioned way.


Thanks for the advice

Jim
 
If you prefer beef a whole sirloin or tri-tip is quick. Don't knock the Chicken until you've tried it. It makes other chicken look bad /infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif
 
Hi Jim,
Another Jim from SoCal here.
It's not "low and slow", but as Konrad said, if you like beef, tri tip on the WSM is killer!
This isn't exactly Santa Maria style, but it works for me.
I rub the roast(s) the night before with a whatever I feel like at the time ( salt, pepper, garlic, and some ground chipotle is nice).
I get a good bed of hot coals going, add some oak chunks, and once the wood is well charred I put the smoker body ( without the water pan ) on.
Temp is usually in the 350- 400 degree range when I add the meat.
Depending on the size of the roast(s), it should be medium rare in 45 to 60 minutes- maybe less, maybe more- a good therm helps. I usually flip the meat after about 20-30 minutes.
I end up with tri tip with a nice outside crust, and a pink and juicy interior.
Makes for great sandwiches, or my favorite- wrapped in good, thick fresh corn tortillas, with a good homemade salsa and some ripe avocado.
I hope this was helpful.
Jim

GO LAKERS !!
 
Jim W.

Ribs are an excellent choice for a first cook if you are looking for "low and slow" and don't want to do an overnighter. The BRITU recipe is a very popular choice. Just don't over do the rub or it will taste salty. Pay close attention to the pictures in the article for BRITU on this site.
----------------------
Mark WAR EAGLE!!
 
I got home yesterday to find a big box from Amazon! Assembly was pretty easy.

There are a couple defects though. The rim of the bottom section has an area where the outer layer of enamel came off. It looked okay but when I put my hand on it some enamel flaked off. It appears that the steel is still coated with enamel. I wonder if this area was just thicker due to the way they coat and bake the bowl?

Also the middle section doesn't fit perfectly in the bottom. If I turn it I can get it pretty good, plus with weight on the top it seems to seal better.

Are these issues common or did I get a lemon? The box was the original Weber box and didn't show signs of abuse in transit.

Jim
 
Weber is really good about replacing any defective parts just call them and they will take care of it. In the mean time you can use what you've got.

Thanks Konrad for the chicken recipie. I was one on the bandwagon of not really loving chichen on the WSM (for the skin issue) but that sounds downright tasty to fire it up higher in temps!! Great idea may have to try that this week.

I vote for trying the BRITU as a great place to start and make some pretty tasty ribs!!
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Jim W.:
[qb]Are these issues common or did I get a lemon?[/qb] <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Well, anything that's not perfect out of the box is a lemon in my book, but then I'm a perfectionist. /infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif

If I were you, I'd call Weber at 800-446-1071 and ask for a replacement bowl. I'd cook with the middle section a few times to see how it works, and if it turns out to be problematic in terms of temperature control, I'd make another call to Weber.

Regards,
Chris
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>I bought my baby brother who lives in AZ and grills year round (I'm so jealous) a remote digital thermometer from Brookstone for Christmas and he loves to use it with his Weber performer grill, would this be a good thermometer to use on the WSM? Does anyone have any experience using it? /infopop/emoticons/icon_confused.gif
 
I'm new here; just got my new WSM last week and finally got home long enough to test it this weekend. Based on advice here, decided to do chicken (cheap in case I goofed it up /infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif ) I used Chris's "Chicken, Chicken!" recipe.

Everything went well except I couldn't keep my target temp of 250 at the top grill. After 3 hours, it started dropping about 10 degrees every 15 min. I must not have used enough fuel...1 1/2 Weber chimneys of Kingsford. I was figuring since the WSM was brand new that I would have problems keeping it under 250, but that's part of the fun of learning. I finished the chicken in the oven and it was still delicious. I'll try more fuel next time.

Thanks to everyone for their advice and especially to Chris for the great site. I hope to report better results next week.
 
It's actually easier to use more fuel than you need for a particular cook, and use the vents to starve it of O2 to get down to the temp you want. With too little fuel, once all vents are open all the way, there's nowhere left to go. Charcoal re-uses just fine if you keep it dry, so use at least a full Weber chimney for chicken, more for longer cooks. Close all vents at cook's end and it will quickly extinguish.

I just re-read your post and noticed you said 1-1/2, not 1/2 chimney. That's plenty. Was it fresh?
 
Hi Doug,

Yes, I had just purchased the Kingsford. The unknown factor I think is probably the wind. It was gusting up to 10-15 mph during the first two hours of the cook, then calmed down. Temperature was in the mid-70's so it wasn't cold, but it was a bit windy. Of course, around here that's just a breeze.... /infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif
 
For my first cook just I couldn't wait .. I had to try a brisket, using the Minnion method.
Konrad is right, it's a tricky meat to perfect. I still haven't. But my first brisket on the wsm was better than anything I'd ever done before by a country mile. I still remember how good that thing tasted. Would it have won awards? Hell no. But it tased like a real brisket should. I was so proud!
I say, go for the brisket!!!!
 
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