Newbie on the path to smoke


 
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NickB

TVWBB Member
Greetings Learned Forum:

I decided to start a new thread, since the decision on which size WSM to get is in the rear view mirror.

As anticipate, my new WSM was waiting for me when I got home. I think it was just about 24 hours from hitting "Add to Cart" to "standard" free delivery. I am still in shock.

Even though I got the 18.5", it's a big box:

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It's a VERY big box:

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Assembly was a breeze. After many sessions of struggling to assemble overseas junk, this was a pleasure. The metal, hardware, and fasteners were top notch and sturdy. And I got to use my 7/16 wrench! No metric! Good old SAE. It has been far too long.

Here she is, standing proud in my living room:

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Now, its off to cryovac heaven to find some loin back ribs. From what I read, ribs seem as good a meat as any for THE MAIDEN SMOKE.

Take care all.

NickB
 
Congrats on your new WSM! I received mine last weekend and will be doing the same thing this weekend. It's good to know how it should look.
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Happy smoking and be sure to post pics.
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Congrats! I had my first smoke on my new WSM 22 last weekend and enjoyed the experience as I've only used a propane smoker up to this point. Let's see some pics of your first cook!
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Greetings Learned Forum:

My hopes for smoking some baby backs today have been dashed. I have pulled together everything I need, but the weather is putting the kabosh on my plans. We are experiencing sustained winds of 25 MPH, with gusts over 30.

Sunday calls for the winds to drop down to a lowly 20 MPH. Monday may be my first realistic opportunity to fire up the WSM. I guess I will have to shoot for ribs worthy of a President.

Praying for spring in New Hampshire....

NickB
 
Well, the winds died down to a dull roar yesterday (Monday), and I figured it was either now, or freeze the ribs. So I went for it. Wow did the weather suck. We were still having gusts over 15 MPH, and the mercury did not get above 20.

At least I did not have to deal with snow, as I've constructed a covered and somewhat sheltered area for BBQ:

https://picasaweb.google.com/l...FYKM?feat=directlink

When I first put the cooker together, I closed all bottom vents and had the top vent fully open, pursuant to the BRITU instructions. This was the result:

https://picasaweb.google.com/l...FYKM?feat=directlink

PERFECT temperature.

After I put the ribs on, it was another story. After about half an hour, I went to check and saw that the temp was down to 170. I started opening bottom vents, and slowly, it crept up. And I mean CREPT. Eventually, the only way I could keep 225 was by having every single vent wide open. Any less oxygen was no match for the wind and bitter cold. Even wide open wasn't doing it after about 3 hours, so I used the hammer tapping technique on the legs. This got me back up where things belonged, and I was able to get it up to just under 250 for the last hour or so.

I was scared of running out of fuel and heat, even though I used the BRITU technique of two heaping full chimneys, so I never opened the cooker. Not at half time. Not to do the tear test. I just prayed. After 4 1/2 hours, the temp started to drop again and I just took them off.

They were great. My company was amazed, and they got a rack to take home. I was very pleased.

In retrospect, even though I am definitely a noobie, I am seriously considering forgoing the water next time, under these conditions. Those coals needed all the help they could get, not braking by a heat sink. What do the veterans think?

A pork butt or two seems to be the next logical choice, but I don't want to try an overnight smoke until I am no longer fighting severe cold and wind. Perhaps a chicken? Yeah. That's the ticket...

Thanks to all for your continued support and inspiration. Take care.

NickB
 
Greetings All:

I am just getting ready to dive into my second cook on the new WSM. This time, chicken. I cooked two whole chickens according to the "Beer Can Chicken" recipe, but without the beer can. I cooked them breast side down, so the fattier dark meat juices will run down to the white meat (at least in theory). Because it is so cold and windy here, I went waterless, and just foiled the heck out of the bowl. I was able to control the temps easily, keeping a steady 225 for 4 1/2 hours. Well, I am being called to the table, so I had better run. I am LOVING my WSM.

NickB
 
YUM!

The chicken turned out great. People said that the beer is not required to keep the chicken moist, and they were right. It was perfect. I am psyched I was able to do it waterless. You just have to be very stingy with the oxygen and not let it get out of control to start with. I suspect this will be my new cold weather technique. Take care all.

NickB
 
OK.
Getting ready to do ribs again. Being up here in northern NE, it is still very cold outside. So I am waiting for the temps to come up before I try an overnight smoke, like for pulled pork.

I have 6 slabs this time. I figure I might as well use both grates and fill 'er up. I sprang for one of those food sealers, so the leftovers will be properly stored and frozen.

I will be using the BRITU recipe, which ROCKS. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Given the cold temps, and my positive experience last time, I am planning on skipping the water, and just going with an empty, but well foil-lined bowl. I was able to keep the temps under control with my last smoke. I think the key is not to let them get out of hand to begin with. If I continue to have good control without water, I may try the sand approach, so that there is some sort of heat sink involved to moderate things.

I will post afterward with how it went.

Smoke 'em if you've got 'en..

NickB
 
Don't let cold temps discourage overnight cooks. I've done a overnight brisket cook in -25c/ -13f with no problem.
 
That is encouraging, Stefan. I got a little intimidated during my first smoke several weeks ago. I did ribs, and I used the water. It was very cold out, and I was barely able to keep it at 225 for as long as I needed. In fact, I skipped turning them and the "every half hour" check for doneness because I was afraid I would lose too much heat.

Do you use water even when the temps are that low?

NickB
 
Hey, Nick. Wind is your biggest problem. Cold is just uncomfortable for you -- the WSM doesn't care much. As it gets warmer, find a way to shield your WSM from the wind.

I don't get temps that low here in NC, but I do almost always use water. Again, you issue was wind, but choose to use water or no as you want.

But DON'T open your WSM and turn the ribs every half hour. I'm amazed you actually got them done in 4 1/2 hours. (I'd be amazed at 4 1/2 hours even if you didn't open it.) One guesstimate I read say that you will extend your cook by 10 - 20 minutes every time you remove the lid. Do some more reading here on TVWBB about how others do their ribs (or anything else you want to try.)

And on the water, I find it helpful to use hot tap water to start as it won't take as long to come to temp. That may be why you had such a time getting your temps up to start (along with the wind
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). In really cold weather, you might even pre-heat your water on the stove.

Last, I like 3-2-1 method for ribs. Not really suggesting it if you're happy with what you got, but you might take a look at it.

Rich
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by NickB:
Do you use water even when the temps are that low?
NickB </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I don't use water ever... Just foil the water pan and go.
 
Disappointment....

Greetings Learned Forum:

My ribs turned out worse than the time before, which was my very first smoke. I am still trying to figure out what happened and why. As I said earlier, given the cold and wind, I decided to go without water. Well, as soon as I assembled the smoker, the temp shot up immediately and pegged the thermometer at 350. I closed all three bottom vents and waited. Nada. The horse was out of the barn. I opened her back up, took the foil off the water bowl, and filled it up with hot tap water. That calmed things down pretty quick, and I was able to get the ribs on at about 10:30 AM.

Since my last smoke, my Maverick ET-732 came in, so I was eager to try it out. Since I was cooking ribs, I only used the cooker thermometer. I noticed almost immediately that 225 by the Maverick, at top grate level, was significantly cooler compared to how the Weber thermometer was reading. Like 50 degrees cooler. I went with the Maverick readings, and was able to keep it between 215 and 250 pretty consistently.

For a variety of reasons, we were not able to eat until 6:30, so the ribs were on for about 8 hours. After about 6 hours, the temp was dropping regularly. I knocked on the legs with a hammer a couple of times to try to keep the coals going, but by 6:30, the temp had dropped down to about 175. I never opened it once.

I was prepared for them to be a little mushy, given the extended cook. I was unprepared for what I got. They were underdone! They had not shrunk off the bones at all. Nothing. And cutting them apart was pretty tough going. The flavor was excellent. I put on just the right amount of rub. And the smokiness was perfect. But the texture was off. I was floored that they were underdone, as opposed to overdone.

I smoked 6 slabs, and there were only 2 people eating! I had planned on using my Foodsaver and freezing the bulk of them for later meals. So maybe underdone will work well with reheating. Maybe an hour at 275 is just what they need at this point. I don't know, but I will certainly find out and post my experience.

So now I am perplexed. My last batch were cooked at 225 as per the Weber thermometer. I am now thinking this is the measure I should be going by. My plan, at this point, is to find how the Maverick reads when the Weber is at 225, and use this temp next time. As an aside, I know my Maverick is accurate. This morning, I did the boiling water test. 212, on the nose.

Any thoughts, suggestions and reality checks will be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

NickB
 
Do it again -- more, more...

Sorry, Nick. I know it can get frustrating. My suggestion would be that you cook loin back ribs (baby backs -- and someone else is sure to say "no, make that spares") and look up and use the 3-2-1 method. Perhaps even better would be to consider doing a pork butt (Boston butt) first if you like pulled pork. That will help get your WSM seasoned and hopefully will help you get more stable temps. Personally, I think using water in the pan also is a big help on lower (225 - 250) stable temps.

Finally, using the Maverick is ok, but it can also just confuse the issue. Yeah, there are some differences between the grate temp and the lid therm, but if you keep the lid therm temps in that grey "smoking" range, you'll be fine. Weber put a lot experience and research into the WSM and added a thermometer just for wusses like us who want to "see" a temp. But it works. Your Maverick can be influenced by air currents and drafts, meat temp on the grill, time into the cook, lid removal, etc. etc. It's ok to see and observe, but don't obsess.

Oh, and also, I would suggest reading about rib cooking (and any other meat you try) in the "Cooking Topics" section. Some great info there free for the taking.

Rich
 
I recently cooked BB ribs on my WSM using a foiled water pan with no water and had no problem keeping the temps at 246-261. I used my Maverick 732 just using the grate probe and the temps above were at grate level. My WSM is older and does not have a built in thermometer and from all the posts I've been reading about how much they are off from other thermometers used at different places, I have no problem just using the Maverick as my temp gauge.

I catch my temps coming up and partially close my bottom vents to do so and so far have not had any problems with temp control.

My ribs turned out great so my method worked for me.

Wayne
 
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