New WSM owner - very impressed!


 
C

Clark J

New member
Hi All

New WSM owner and new forum member here. I'm happy I found this site because I'm not a very good smoker cook.
icon_smile.gif


Anyway, I've been struggling for years to smoke using a very cranky New Braunfels offset vertical smoker. I just cannot get the temperature up in that thing or hold it very long without going through a lot of fuel. I know I'm not a good cook but wow did I mess up a bunch of meat in that thing over the years. Still had a few successes though. But getting the temp over 200 is marathon of fueling and wide open vents.

But yesterday I put my new 18.5" WSM through its first firing (no food) and I'm just stunned how much better behaved it is over the NB. My intent was to begin building up a carbon layer on the inside to bring the temps down for real cooking this weekend. I used simply one chimney of Kingsford Originals for this test. Once the coals were all lit I dumped them in the bottom and set on the center cylinder, pan, top grill with a remote thermometer, and the lid. Not that using the NB is hard, but launching the WSM seems even easier because the fuel cage is easier to work with. Also the WSM's fuel cage, screen bottom, and ash reservoir are much better designed.

Initially the temp shot up to 350+ with my sensor lagging a bit behind the Weber lid sensor. I closed the bottom vents to 25%-open and the temp settled at 320 and stayed steady as a rock for 90 minutes. I've never gotten that stable in the NB, or that hot. At 90 minutes the temps started to fall slowly, staying above 300 for another good 30 minutes. My sensor lagged the lid sensor. I'm guessing that since my sensor was attached via a metal mount to the metal grate, it was influenced slightly by the thermal momentum of the metal grate. I closed the vents and went to bed.

This morning I had another pleasant surprise. I found I could clean up the coal dust without risk of getting my work clothes dirty because clean up of the ash is simply to pour them from the round bowl into the ash can. Cleaning ash from the NB involves shoveling, like cleaning an old furnace. Joy!

So to wrap this up: I'm a happy new WSM owner and I'm happy to be here!

Next up: chicken on Saturday, then the grand opening event: smoked sirloin for Mother's Day (I'm a little nervous about that).

Smoke on
Clark
 
Hi Clark and welcome aboard.

Glad you are happy with your new WSM. I've been using an 18 1/2" WSM for over a year and love it.

Chicken is fast and easy. I've never done sirloin on mine.

Good luck,

Bob
 
Congrats on the new purchase, Clark!

After years of using a Weber Kettle for all kinds of outdoor cooking, I too began my "traditional" backyard barbequing career with something other than a WSM, (a consumer grade offset) and the challenges of heat control are mighty! Nothing like the kind of control I had enjoyed with the Kettle. Moving to a WSM was the best move ever!

We cooked our first competition using that small offset and the Kettle but the remaining 90+ contests have all been cooked on 18.5" WSMs although we do use a 22" ever now and then, like this weekend in Albuquerque.

Like many before you, you are going to discover how much fun it is to not have to constantly tend the fire and how well the WSM will hold a temperature for you. And you really don't need to waste time "seasoning" the cooker either. Since it is porcelain coated, like a Weber Kettle, it is ready to cook on right after assembly. We actually won a sanctioned 4 meat contest using four 18.5" cookers that we assembled at the contest site!

Congrats again and now go out and get those grates dirty!
 
Keep in mind that unless you're doing the chicken at high heat, the skin is rubbery. My turkey skin turned out that way (meat juicy/skin bleh).

It'll look fantastic, just not eatable (at low temps).

And my own personal opinion on beef: less smoke is better (at least first time around). I had never eaten smoked (prime rib) beef at home before. It was always done in the oven hence no smoke.

I thought after that first time "what went wrong" in that I preferred oven-roasted vs smoke prime rib.

I came to the conclusion that I (maybe) had either A)used too much smoke wood or B) just wasn't used to smoked beef.

You can always add more but you can't take it away. Go light on smoke (wood) the first time.

This is from a newbie smoker.
 
Thanks everyone! Ok, I'll smoke the chicken for an hour or two not too low, then crisp the skin by taking out the center section and putting the grate right on the coals for a few minutes as I read someone else here does. Thinking about 275-300 for the chicken.

Vince, maybe I don't really need to "break in" the smoker but it gave me an excuse to play with fire after dinner last night. We don't need to tell anyone about this
icon_smile.gif


Len, I'll stick with 1 tennis ball sized wood chunk for the chicken session, and maybe go with 2 for the sirloin (specifically a top sirloin cap) that my wife wants very smokey. Might do some ribs along with the sirloin. Thinking about 250-275 for this cook.

I also designed up a log sheet so I can track temperature. One thing I just learned on this site was the "temperature plateau" effect where the meat temp mysteriously levels off while the heat begins to break down the collagen(?). I've messed up a few smokes by thinking that the plateau was a problem with the smoker and I took the meat off in confusion. I'll push through that this time.

Otherwise, I plan to follow very closely the successful smoke stories I've been reading here.

Clark
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Clark J:
Thanks everyone! Ok, I'll smoke the chicken for an hour or two not too low, then crisp the skin by taking out the center section and putting the grate right on the coals for a few minutes as I read someone else here does. Thinking about 275-300 for the chicken.

Vince, maybe I don't really need to "break in" the smoker but it gave me an excuse to play with fire after dinner last night. We don't need to tell anyone about this
icon_smile.gif


Len, I'll stick with 1 tennis ball sized wood chunk for the chicken session, and maybe go with 2 for the sirloin (specifically a top sirloin cap) that my wife wants very smokey. Might do some ribs along with the sirloin. Thinking about 250-275 for this cook.

I also designed up a log sheet so I can track temperature. One thing I just learned on this site was the "temperature plateau" effect where the meat temp mysteriously levels off while the heat begins to break down the collagen(?). I've messed up a few smokes by thinking that the plateau was a problem with the smoker and I took the meat off in confusion. I'll push through that this time.

Otherwise, I plan to follow very closely the successful smoke stories I've been reading here.

Clark </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

The plateau you speak of is known as "The Stall" and it's happening as the meat "sweats", causing it to cool the surface of the meat. You can get around it by foiling your meat tightly once it hits the stall. Personally, I just account for it in my cook schedule and let things run their course.
 
If you haven't seen it already, the cooking topics pages are very handy: http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/cook.html

re: the chicken - I'd either go low and slow and get a very juicy smoky chicken with garbage skin, or hot and fast (as hot as you can get) and get slightly less juicy chicken with great skin. Trying to move the temps around seems to always end up with the worst of both worlds. I'd make one each way and see what your family prefers.
 
Thanks for the tip. I'll just do it then the way it is described in the "Beginner recipes" section (hot and fast). That's exactly what I'm looking for.

I've got my apple and hickory chunks standing by.
icon_smile.gif


Clark
 
First cook was a smashing success! I followed the Basic Barbecue Chicken recipe in the cooking section and the chicken came out very tasty as advertised. Everyone enjoyed it. Good smoke flavor, tender breast meat, crispy skin in most places.

Some minor negatives I'd like to try to fix for next time include:

* using about 1/3 less charcoal (author did say 1.5 chimneys would be too much). I want to make sure I get the temp I need; I just don't need the longevity
* increasing the doneness of the thighs which were a bit red. might try to trim the fat away from them better, and remove some skin or back flesh that may have been insulating them. The meat had to come off the grill when it did or the breasts would have dried. Breasts were at 160; I forgot to measure the thighs. Doh!
* need to remove them from the last step of high heat grill/sear faster than I had done. All they can really take is about 30 seconds over those coals before the skin really burns up.
* breast skin was cripsy, but thigh skin was leathery. More aggressive fat/skin/flesh trimming around the thighs may address this.

Lid therm read 300 for most of the cook; my vent therm read 330 or so. Chicken was done and plated at the 60 minute mark.

Please note I'm not complaining about the recipe on this site; it's a perfect level of complexity for a beginner and I know it does not represent any advanced techniques that are yet to come. My comments above are minor points about my own techniques that one can always tweak. Many thanks to the site author for giving me a great first experience on the WSM!

As people tipped on the forums, I foiled the pan and the greasy mess in the foil was so simple to dispose of. Pan is still nice and shiny.
icon_smile.gif


Tomorrow is the big event - ribs and wife's choice - rib roast. Planning begins...

Smoke on
Clark
 
Mission accomplished: the Mothers Day boneless rib roast over Kingsford spiked with pecan wood was the best roast we've ever had (home or restaurant). Took 90 minutes at 365 (vent temp). Removed at 135 internal and seared over the coals for a minute per side. Crunchy, juicy, and nutty!
Ribs didn't go as planned- used the beginner recipe from the cooking section but the temp was too low (210 at the vent) perhaps because of the full water bowl. Started at 33% open vents as instructed but gradually opened to 100% by the 3 hour mark just to maintain 210. Next time I'll ditch the water and maybe go with a small amount of sand or some other medium which will stabilize the heat but not take so much away. Took ribs off at 4 hour mark because they were going nowhere but hard and dry, and finished for another hour foiled in a 350 degree oven. Ribs turned out really good: pull apart tender, juicy, and crunchy bark. They just needed some heat to finally break down.

All in all, a great experience with the new WSM - it's a keeper!

To round it out, my daughter chipped in with homemade bread, and my 7 yr old son made us s'mores. Good times!

Smoke on
Clark
 
I am new user and I did bb ribs for 2.5 hours at 240-250 with water pan. Vents were 1/2 to 1/4. Wrapped in foil with apple juice for 1 hour and then sauced and cooked uncovered for 30 more min.

Whole time I have water in pan and was at 240 - 250. Turned out great.

Keep trying - I guess I got lucky with how I did the charcoal.
 
Thanks for the data, Steve. Could be you used slightly more charcoal, slightly less water, or a different organization of hot and cold coals but its good to hear it can be done.

Smoke on
Clark
 
I've cooked BB ribs three times on my 18.5 WSM and I've always used a foiled water pan with no water and the ribs turned out good. They were the best the last time when I cooked them from around 250-275.

I've yet to use water in my WSM and have not had any problems with temp control.

Wayne
 
Thanks Wayne

I've done a few more cooks and have gotten higher temps with water in the pan so that day was some kind of fluke. I think I may have started with too low a ratio of lit to unlit charcoal, and the charcoal bin was so full the wood chunks were bumping the water pan so I think that stifled the air flow a bit.

A few days ago I gave away my vertical offset smoker to my neighbor (who happens to like them). I'm a monogamous smoker again and I'm liking it.
icon_smile.gif


Clark
 
Clark, you said you were not a very good cook. It sounds to me like all you needed was the right tool. Thanks for filling us in on your evolution.
 
If you are not concerned about the skin, cook chicken Brest side down. The thighs cook through without any problem.
 
Thanks Jim, I'll try that. I did the BBQ chicken a second time this past weekend, and did some extra trimming of skin, fat, and the "thin flap" of meat between the thigh and rib bones. This also did the trick and the thighs were more exposed and done better this time. So many ways, eh!

Thanks Lew. The WSM/tvwbb.com sure are raising my confidence.
icon_smile.gif


Keeping a log book with starting fuel load and 30 minute intervals of temps/vents is working out really good too. I'm homing in closer to the proper settings with each cook.

Smoke on
Clark
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top