Refer back to my original post....
No water pan - I have a {really nice silver plated serving platter} pizza pan that I foil for a heat deflector/drippings catcher.
Probes are good - placed right thru the grommet so it it right at bottom grate level ~4" in --- I used to put it on the top grate, but this is way easier and I don't have to scrub the cable every time. Lid temp reads ~250ish when the probe is reading 275-280 - as expected.
My coal setup may be a point of contention.... I made a 'basket' to fit in the fire ring -- ~1/2 chimney of unlit in the basket and ~1/2 chimney of lit on top. I made the basket because I just can't bring myself to fill the ring with 10# of coals to cook one or two birds -- I realized that the coal bed needs to be deep - not wide - for heat - so the basket contains the coals nicely at a good depth. I figure this way I'm only using ~3# of coals per cook. I've realized that even if I do use a ****load more coals, the temp just doesn't go any higher - it tops out at ~300 - and I'm left with a whole bunch of half burnt coals that just kinda suck to deal with. I had tried to make a vortex for it at one point out of a popcorn can and it worked kinda okay.... but I gave up on it in favor of the basket. Looking back on those cooks, I'm realizing they did run hotter and got even hotter when the lid was off for a while, but it would still always settle back down to ~275 --- it probably would've worked well with cracking the lid now with hindsight. I still have plenty of coals left a the end of the cook so I've come to the conclusion the issue is not enough air flow.
After the last cook I did give it a good scrub down to get rid of all the grease and smoke stains on the outside and I scrubbed the sealing lip between the lid and the barrel --- the lid was getting to the point where it would 'stick' horribly with all the grease --- I'm betting that was a really GOOD seal at that point.... Next round I plan on running it with NO pan for more direct/radiant heat - and probably flipping it on its breast at some point too. Also thinking it may be time to give the inside of the barrel a good scrubbing too... there is quite a bit of build up that could be sucking up a lot of heat.... but that requires a lot of commitment.
I 'know' the right thing to do is to just 'throw a whole bag of coal in there and let it rip'..... but I just can't bring myself to do that - nor can I afford that - just to get crispy skin that is only good the first night. Finishing in the oven is fine with me - and it works well to make a cornbread or biscuits for the meal too. I will add too that I've run into a kettle - sweet Performa Deluxe - that I've still got to get some cook time on -- I figure that will work well for parts and spatchcock and should give me crispy skin.... Added bonus is the kettle has gas assist so the half burnt coals are easily dealt with now.
Quite honestly, I'm happier that the WSM self limits to ~300 instead of fighting to keep temps down..... I chased the 225-250 for too long only to realize that running it wide open only gets me ~275 to 300 max. Makes pork butts set and forget..... need to work up the courage (and $$) to try a brisket.
Wait til I show you my snake set up for pork butts..... eezypeezy set and forget.... except for more smoke and spritzing.
No water pan - I have a {really nice silver plated serving platter} pizza pan that I foil for a heat deflector/drippings catcher.
Probes are good - placed right thru the grommet so it it right at bottom grate level ~4" in --- I used to put it on the top grate, but this is way easier and I don't have to scrub the cable every time. Lid temp reads ~250ish when the probe is reading 275-280 - as expected.
My coal setup may be a point of contention.... I made a 'basket' to fit in the fire ring -- ~1/2 chimney of unlit in the basket and ~1/2 chimney of lit on top. I made the basket because I just can't bring myself to fill the ring with 10# of coals to cook one or two birds -- I realized that the coal bed needs to be deep - not wide - for heat - so the basket contains the coals nicely at a good depth. I figure this way I'm only using ~3# of coals per cook. I've realized that even if I do use a ****load more coals, the temp just doesn't go any higher - it tops out at ~300 - and I'm left with a whole bunch of half burnt coals that just kinda suck to deal with. I had tried to make a vortex for it at one point out of a popcorn can and it worked kinda okay.... but I gave up on it in favor of the basket. Looking back on those cooks, I'm realizing they did run hotter and got even hotter when the lid was off for a while, but it would still always settle back down to ~275 --- it probably would've worked well with cracking the lid now with hindsight. I still have plenty of coals left a the end of the cook so I've come to the conclusion the issue is not enough air flow.
After the last cook I did give it a good scrub down to get rid of all the grease and smoke stains on the outside and I scrubbed the sealing lip between the lid and the barrel --- the lid was getting to the point where it would 'stick' horribly with all the grease --- I'm betting that was a really GOOD seal at that point.... Next round I plan on running it with NO pan for more direct/radiant heat - and probably flipping it on its breast at some point too. Also thinking it may be time to give the inside of the barrel a good scrubbing too... there is quite a bit of build up that could be sucking up a lot of heat.... but that requires a lot of commitment.
I 'know' the right thing to do is to just 'throw a whole bag of coal in there and let it rip'..... but I just can't bring myself to do that - nor can I afford that - just to get crispy skin that is only good the first night. Finishing in the oven is fine with me - and it works well to make a cornbread or biscuits for the meal too. I will add too that I've run into a kettle - sweet Performa Deluxe - that I've still got to get some cook time on -- I figure that will work well for parts and spatchcock and should give me crispy skin.... Added bonus is the kettle has gas assist so the half burnt coals are easily dealt with now.
Quite honestly, I'm happier that the WSM self limits to ~300 instead of fighting to keep temps down..... I chased the 225-250 for too long only to realize that running it wide open only gets me ~275 to 300 max. Makes pork butts set and forget..... need to work up the courage (and $$) to try a brisket.
Wait til I show you my snake set up for pork butts..... eezypeezy set and forget.... except for more smoke and spritzing.
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